The
Shared Housing
Dilemma
| Product Design and Development
Redefining Roommate Matching Through Trust
Duration: 15 Weeks
Contributors: Lynn Lin and Shruti Lodh
Research and Findings
1.1 million
international students to US annually
​43 million
rental households in the US in 2024
41.1%
of the US renters are under the age of 35
These are the most highlighted pain points across all the 10 interviews conducted
"I was stuck. He ditched, and I did not have a roommate."
Adi
"People try their
best foot forward than being honest."
Tara
" I suffer a lot from their steps, snores, & patting"
Stev
"Not comfortable with roommate online because I don’t trust."
Zikang
"My roommate and I often get into conflicts."
Zikang
"I felt anxious when knowing that I’ll be having a roommate"
Michael
"It could be scam!"
Nivea
"I feel frustrated & have no idea at first."
Sawani
Finding compatible roommates is
Challenging.
Competitive Landscape
High Peer-to-Peer Matching
Entry Point
Low integrated Rental & Leasing Service
High integrated Rental & Leasing Service
Low Peer-to-Peer Matching
Prioritized Concept & Value Proposition
Transperancy
Trust
Efficiency
Fun/
Interactive
Personalized
“find roommates near me!” feature
AI- based roommate matching platform
Common dashboards
For interacting
and browsing.
Pre Move-in
Assisstance
A virtual simulation of game to help know people
Information Architecture
Signup/Login
Account Creation
Profile Setup
Preference Setup
Feed
Find Roommates Near Me
Roommates Common Dashboard
Browsing House Listings
Pre Move-in Assisstance
01
02
03
04
(Roommate Matching)
(Roommate Interacting)
(3rd party API integration)
(Finalizing Apartments)
Edge Cases
Engaging PR, Marketing and Customer Support for customer relationship and brand reputation
Privacy and Security
T&C protects PadPal from legal conflicts and accusation
Scams
PadPal.
Where
finding
roommates
is less random
and more right