UXR Case Study

roomease

UX Research based project

2024

My Role:

Lead UX Researcher

Results:

I proposed the idea for Roomease, an app designed to ease tensions among roommates, backed by extensive research and thorough planning. I created detailed personas, conducted a competitive analysis, and developed a comprehensive research brief outlining my methodologies.

Additionally I set up the parameters for future research methodologies, ensuring a structured approach to data collection.

The next steps involve completing these research processes, analyzing the gathered information, and synthesizing the findings to inform the app's development.

Problem:
Having roommates isn't always easy!

I have been living with roommates for the past 4 years now, and bringing up the uncomfortable but necessary conversations to make a living environment flow comfortably has never been the easiest task. So many people face these issues yet there are little to no resources to help.

Goals:

With Roomease I wanted to focus on 4 main areas to help ease unavoidable tensions.

1)

Voice clear boundaries and responsibilities

2)

Encourage open and honest communication

3)

Support conflict resolution techniques

4)

Cultivate a respectful and inclusive atmosphere

Research Methodologies:

All these methodologies were chosen because they work together to highlight both individual and group experiences, validate feelings, and create a holistic and user-centered solution to address a variety of complexities that come with living in a shared environment.

It was clear after conducting initial research that women are passionate and involved gamers. Women consist of nearly half of the gaming community and offer greater brand loyalty and play more frequently compared to males. With all this research proving that women game, it wasn't lining up with what was holding them back from the metaverse specifically.

•Usability testing
•Expert interviews
•Diary study
•Focus group
•survey

Findings:

Book Consultation

Research plan

Who is all of this for?

Mental model

Card sorting

Interviews

Sample size:

2-5 participants

Demographics:

Age- 30+

Gender- All

Cultural background- diverse background to account for different communication styles and living habits

Career- Background in psychology or communication

Objective:

learn more about the psychology behind communication, gain insight on communicating in close quarters, psychological dynamics, pain points, and explore conflict resolution techniques.

Sample size:

2-5 participants

Demographics:

Age- 30+

Gender- All

Cultural background- diverse background to account for different communication styles and living habits

Career- Background in psychology or communication

Objective:

learn more about the psychology behind communication, gain insight on communicating in close quarters, psychological dynamics, pain points, and explore conflict resolution techniques.

Main questions

From a psychological perspective what are some common sources of challenges between roommates?
How important is effective communication when it comes to ones overall quality of life?
What is the most affect way to communicate when tensions might already be high?
Are there any psychological theories/models that are based around communication in a shared living environment?
Are there cognitive biases that might impact communication and challenges between roommates?
Is there psychological reasoning behind why people face more challenges when they live together?
How might an app merge with behavioral psychology principles to encourage healthy communication?

Main takeaways

Pause during high stress and step away from the emotional situation.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization.
Different definitions and rankings of needs can cause tension.
Understanding your roommates' valued needs is crucial as they may differ from your own.
Humans tend to focus on negatives, making it hard to remember positives during conflicts.
All roommates should equally participate in household chores.
Closer relationships often lead to unfair standards in chore expectations among roommates.

Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs

Diary study

The idea is to have all roommates within a co-living environment complete these diary entries. The diary study will also be extended to multiple living spaces to collect entries from a variety of living environments and roommate dynamics to identify instances of miscommunication and challenges.

Sample size:

8-12 participants

Demographics:

Age- 18-25

Gender- All genders who are living with different genders as well

Living situation- Different types of co-living situations such as dorm living, apartment, house

Cultural background- Diverse backgrounds to account for different communication styles and habits

Objective:

Foster an understanding of diverse perspectives in shared living spaces, identify root problems, and document physical and social factors affecting roommates. Learn what roommates wish to express and understand their communication styles, schedule sharing, and resource management.

Plan:

Recruitment- Find 4-5 shared living situations that meet the demographics

Post flyers around dorm buildings and apartment buildings
Get on college students email lists
Screen participants and roommates

Onboarding- Inform all participants with clear and simple instructions on how they are expected to maintain the diary and what information should be included.

Instructions- Complete a diary entry every day for 2 weeks.

Discuss your emotions that occurred throughout the day: what were some moments of stress, what were some moments of joy and what caused these moments…

Share any significant communication moments (positive or negative) or challenges you experienced with your roommates today

Focus on communication with roommates, scheduling, household expenses, social interactions and conflict, the physical living environment

Weekly Checkin- Reach out to all participates at the beginning of each week to make sure they are keeping up to date with their diaries

Sample size:

8-12 participants

Demographics:

Age- 18-25

Gender- All genders who are living with different genders as well

Living situation- Different types of co-living situations such as dorm living, apartment, house

Cultural background- Diverse backgrounds to account for different communication styles and habits

Objective:

Plan:

Recruitment- Find 4-5 shared living situations that meet the demographics

Post flyers around dorm buildings and apartment buildings
Get on college students email lists
Screen participants and roommates

Onboarding- Inform all participants with clear and simple instructions on how they are expected to maintain the diary and what information should be included.

Instructions- Complete a diary entry every day for 2 weeks.

Discuss your emotions that occurred throughout the day: what were some moments of stress, what were some moments of joy and what caused these moments…

Share any significant communication moments (positive or negative) or challenges you experienced with your roommates today

Focus on communication with roommates, scheduling, household expenses, social interactions and conflict, the physical living environment

Weekly Checkin- Reach out to all participates at the beginning of each week to make sure they are keeping up to date with their diaries

Deliverables:

Book Consultation

Presentation deck

lofi wireframes

With this initial research framework finished the next steps would be to analyze and implement!

My Role:

Lead UX Researcher

Results:

Additionally I set up the parameters for future research methodologies, ensuring a structured approach to data collection.

The next steps involve completing these research processes, analyzing the gathered information, and synthesizing the findings to inform the app's development.

roomease

roomease

roomease