Making Room for What Matters.

☆ Overview

Moving in with roommates can be an exciting journey, but it often comes with unforeseen challenges. Miscommunication, unequal workloads, and financial disagreements can quickly turn harmonious living into a source of stress and drastically affect your quality of life.

HouseMate is an app designed to tackle these common issues while also enhancing the roommate experience through shared memories and proactive resources. HouseMate’s core features—a chore gamification system, a memory album, a finance tracker, and a discovery hub—create a seamless platform that helps roommates live together harmoniously.

This project aimed to combine utility with a touch of fun and positivity to transform the shared living experience.

Timeframe

36 hours

Team

Solo project

Tools

Figma, Adobe Photoshop

Role

⋆ User Researcher, UI/UX Designer

Disciplines

Design Systems, Prototyping, User Research Ineraction Design, Product Design

✦ PROBLEM STATEMENT

"How can we reduce isolation and foster joy in shared living?"

Living with roommates brings both joys and struggles. Common issues include:

Poor communication: Difficult conversations about house rules or unmet expectations often
Unequal workload: Chores often fall on the shoulders of a few, leading to tension.
Financial stress: Tracking and settling shared expenses is cumbersome and sometimes awkward.
Lack of connection: Roommates often don’t take time to bond, leading to feelings of isolation.

☆ My Goal:

How might we design a solution to:

Promote accountability and fairness in shared responsibilities.
Simplify financial tracking and settlements.
Strengthen relationships between roommates.
Provide useful tools and resources to navigate shared living.

✦ USER RESEARCH

☆ Exploring Roommate Dynamics

I conducted surveys and interviews with 10 participants aged 18–20 who had experience living with roommates. Through affinity mapping, I identified key insights:

Chore Fatigue:
- 65% of respondents felt frustrated by inconsistent effort from roommates.
- Gamification was suggested by several participants as a way to make chores less tedious.
Financial Frustrations:
- Over 50% found splitting and tracking expenses stressful, particularly with inconsistent repayment habits.
- Many wanted an easier way to track and settle payments without external apps.
The Power of Connection:
- 70% said they rarely spent time bonding with their roommates beyond household discussions - which led to feelings of disconnect and isolation even within their home.
- Participants highlighted the value of shared memories, like celebrating milestones or laughing over past mishaps.
Information and Guidance:
- Many wished for practical advice on co-living, such as conflict resolution or stress management tips.
- Articles and guides were seen as a valuable addition to an app.

Who Are We Designing For?

A busy college student, Clara shares a house with three others. They are overwhelmed by balancing schoolwork with household responsibilities. Clara struggles to:

Track whether their housemates have completed their assigned chores.
Stay on top of splitting bills.
Find time to bond with roommates amidst the chaos of her day-to-day.
Manage conflicts without letting resentment build up.

✦ ITERATIVE DESIGN

Again, and Again: Designing Through Repetition

☆ Establishing Core Features
After conducting user research, I created a handwritten sitemap in order to finalise on the following core features:

Chore Tab: Gamifies completing chores with a leaderboard system that rewards tasks with points. Leaderboard rankings foster friendly competition and accountability.
Memory Album: A shared space for uploading photos of meaningful moments, helping roommates look back fondly on their time together.
Finances Tab: Tracks shared expenses, shows what each roommate owes and is owed, and provides in-app payment options for seamless settlements.
Discovery Section: A hub on the home page with curated articles about co-living, managing roommate stress, and fostering positive relationships.

☆ Wireframing & Prototyping
I started with low-fidelity wireframes, focusing on usability and simplicity. Key design decisions included:

Gamification UI: Clear, color-coded task assignments and point tracking for chores to encourage participation.
Visual Storytelling: A clean, compact interface for the memory album to create a nostalgic feel.
Financial Transparency: A clean, tabular design for the finances section.
Resource Discovery: A scrollable feed for articles, categorized by themes like conflict resolution, co-living tips, and stress relief.

✦ FINAL DESIGN

Finally

HouseMate transforms shared living by addressing common pain points while fostering connection and positivity. Here’s how the app’s key features came together:

Chore Tab: Gamifies household responsibilities with a leaderboard, points, and optional cooperative goals to make cleaning a team effort.
Memory Album: Provides a fun, nostalgic space to document and celebrate milestones and everyday moments.
Finances Tab: Simplifies expense tracking and settlements, ensuring transparency and ease of payment within the app.
Discovery Section: Empowers roommates with curated content on co-living best practices and stress relief techniques.

Visual Design Choices:

Playful Palette: Bright and fun colors to create a welcoming, high-energy environment.
Playful Illustrations: Friendly icons and animations that add personality to routine tasks.

Minimalistic Layout: An intuitive interface that prioritizes ease of navigation.

✦ EPILOGUE

Final Thoughts!

What I Learned:

Design for Real-Life Scenarios: User research uncovered nuances like the need for positive reinforcement and shared memories that shaped the app’s features.
Iterative Problem-Solving: Feedback loops were critical to balancing functionality and fun, especially in gamifying chores.
Create Opportunities for Joy: Beyond solving problems, features like the memory album added value by fostering connection and positivity.

Next Steps:

Expand testing with households of diverse sizes and demographics.
Integrate smart home device compatibility for automated reminders (e.g., Alexa or Google Assistant).
Develop premium features, such as advanced analytics for household expenses or custom themes for the memory album.

HouseMate was a deeply rewarding project that reinforced the importance of empathy and iteration in product design. By addressing practical challenges while promoting connection and joy, it reimagines shared living for the better.