Co Living
In Spring of 2023, I participated in Dialexa EDU, a unique educational program at a growing tech consulting firm. I worked alongside 5 aspiring designers with mentorship from designers, engineers, and managers of Dialexa, an IBM Company. In just 7 weeks we researched, designed, and demoed a conceptual web-based lifestyle/real estate product.
Role
UX Researcher
UX/UI Designer
Tools
Figma
FigJam
Adobe Illustrator
The Problem
With the vast number of employees working from home, today’s work environment looks far different than a few years ago.
As transplants move and make Dallas their home, deciding on housing presents new challenges. From home offices, coworking spaces, and proximity to the office, both locals and newcomers must carry these considerations as they settle into the new age of work.
The Solution
Co Living is a web-based service that allows users to collectively create their ideal multi-family communities, connect with local businesses, and try out different work/life setups.
Key Features
Priority Searching
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Unique filters and categories help users identify neighborhoods that align with their interests and lifestyle.
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Similar data on user profiles help like-minded users connect and build their community
Interactive Progress Tracking
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Custom interactive infographics motivate users towards collective goals.
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Message Boards
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Easy, open communication from the start ensures collaborative community-building between residents and management.
Empathize
User Personas & Empathy Map
From a group interview, we crafted 2 distinct user personas and plotted an empathy map. We used these to identify users' primary desires:
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deeper cultural connection to their local neighborhoods.
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simpler ways to compare housing options.
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a home that grows with them - accommodating life changes, such as a new job or raising children.
User Interviews & Personas
From a group interview, we crafted 2 distinct user personas and an empathy map. We identified desires for:
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Deeper cultural and personal connection to their neighborhoods.
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A home that grows with them- accommodating life changes without sacrificing a beloved community.
Competitive Analysis Matrix
We then compared features of existing home-finding products preferred by our users.
Most products offered 1 or 2 unique features to filter through or rank available houses and apartments. Few, however, helped users quickly compare options, and none provided insight on local culture or lifestyles.
Define
In Dallas’ melting pot community of both locals and transplants, how might we:
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Alleviate the stress of finding a home and emphasize the fun of living there?
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Connect folks to housing and coworking opportunities that correspond with broader work arrangements and lifestyles?
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Get users involved in local culture quickly and intentionally?
Ideate
User Flows
Challenge:
When should a user be prompted to create an account?
Our key features depend heavily on users’ personal preferences and identity verification, so we initially wanted to prompt account creation on the landing page. However, we also knew that users would need time to understand and trust the product concept before engaging more deeply.
We found a happy medium by
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allowing users to learn about the product and try an un-personalized key feature (the priority search map) without an account.
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only requiring an email to initiate sign-up. The account creation prompt appears across the website, but users can quickly continue exploring after submitting their email. If/when they are ready to finish the process, an invitation is waiting in their inbox.
Wireframes & Iterations
Information Hierarchy
We identified different needs for new users (still searching for their home) and established users (building up their community). We reordered and swapped out features in the main dashboard to accommodate the state of the user’s journey. For example, early users are first prompted to explore neighborhoods, while established users first see message boards and a progress infographic.
Distinguishing Types of Users
Our proof of concept focused on potential residents, Co Living also supports users interested in occupying retail space and community management. While their profiles contain similar information, we chose distinct layouts and components for residents, business owners, and management to visually suggest different types of interaction.
Simplifying Sign-Up
A lot of personal information is required to accept a potential resident into a new community, but a lengthy sign-up process deters new users. We focused on a visually appealing sign-up flow that gathered essential personal information in no more than 5 steps. The information gathered at each step directly correlates to a personalized experience in at least one key feature.
Prototype
Next Steps
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Add a feature to save/track new communities before applying for residence.
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Add a feature to directly compare priority features between communities.
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Build out user flows for other user types (business owners and management).
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Perform validation testing to ensure interfaces are understandable.
Lessons learned
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Consistent, clear communication is key when working in a team.
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This was my first opportunity to design as a group. As we shaped the concept and flows of our product idea, it was essential to find common language and re-confirm our shared ideas before putting pen to paper.
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Defining foundational UI patterns is key to creating a visually cohesive product on a short timeline.
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When we developed wireframes, individual style preferences arose. Taking time to collectively define a layout grid, 8-point sizing system, and illustration style for the screens created visual consistency despite working somewhat asynchronously.
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Define and maintain your project scope.
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The excitement of collaborating fueled my ambition for the potential of our project. Balancing energetic ideation with realistic, deadline-based goals helped us set shared expectations and ultimately create a robust, polished prototype ready in time for our final presentation.
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