Hou-llo

How often do we truly settle down?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American relocates 11.7 times in their lifetime. Each move marks a new chapter, filled with excitement, challenges, and endless to-dos. That's where Hou-llo comes in—an innovative, intuitive solution designed to make your next move smoother and stress-free.

Details: Apartment searching app

Role: UX/UI design / Brand design, UX researcher

Duration: March to July 2024

Tools: Figma, FigJam

This project is started with…

  • Why do people want/have to move?

  • Why do people specifically want to move to that area?

  • How do people get information, like websites, apps, etc?

  • Have people ever regretted their move?

Methods for identifying problems

User Interview

We interviewed five people. We found:

  • Almost everyone feels anxious when moving to a new place because they don’t have any knowledge.

  • Users couldn’t trust sellers perfectly.

  • Language barriers can be an obstacle to finding houses.

  • Some services didn’t update the apartment status frequently.

  • Pet-friendly apartments request the pet fee, but services do not provide those details.

Affinity Map

I used FigJam to organize the opinions of the interviewees.

I got why they want to move, good memories about the move, and pain points.

Competitive Analysis

I compared 3 moving apps, Apartments.com, Craigslist.org, and Radiokorea.com, in terms of basic information, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

If you want to check the details, please visit:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cO-1nNxeyYVc2ha42B70Nv7aT4k_umlb/view?usp=sharing

Personas

The Solutions

  • Give grades to the landlords.

Who: Users who have to contact multiple times to verify the information

How: Rate and manage the trust level of landlords.

What can they achieve? Users can sort the list as great-rated landlords first. This will help them reduce search time and mitigate trust issues. Connecting with another idea, ‘Feedback/review system’, it will be easy to live-adjust the grades.

  • Use the hub contact between landlords and rentals

Who: For rentals who are worried about spam.

How: Use the hub contact number between landlords and rentals

What can they achieve? First, the rental can be safe from scams, and the information can be protected. Also, when users feel less burdened, they can contact landlords more easily. Ultimately, this could be a way to increase usage volume.

  • Put lots of filters and categorize it

Who: For rentals who have specific criteria for their desired apartment

How: Categorize the amenities and show it only when rentals click the all filters

What can they achieve? Rentals can find the exact home they want. At this stage, no complicated steps are necessary

User Flow

I crafted the user flows for managing accounts and finding apartments, using real user feedback and competitor research as a guide.

Prototype

Low-fidelity Wireframe

Final Prototype

  • Home & Sign up

I prioritized a clear and prominent CTA button on the homepage that quickly guides users to sign up, ensuring a seamless onboarding experience. By showcasing the most recent listings, the app gives a sense of being actively managed and up-to-date.

During the sign-up process, users are prompted to select the purpose of using the app. This choice allows for effective data collection and enables personalized content recommendations tailored to each user's needs.

  • All Filters

The map highlights recommended apartments and houses with pins, making them easy to spot at a glance. The extensive filter options allow users to select detailed criteria, ensuring they find a home that closely matches their preferences.

  • Lists & Hub contact

The listing page provides comprehensive details about each property, ensuring users can make informed decisions. To build trust, verified badges are displayed, indicating that the information providers are reliable. Additionally, when using the contact feature, our intermediary service ensures that personal phone numbers remain private, safeguarding users' privacy.

Final Prototype

If you want to check my full prototype, please click Rinah.s.design_Houllo

For Summary

Challenges: Through UX research, I identified problems and designed solutions, completing all steps up to the prototype stage.

In conclusion, As a result of designing based on user experience, I found that users could proceed with their desired processes more quickly. During this stage, I upgraded my skills in prioritizing tasks. This project further emphasizes the importance of user experience-based design.