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weroom.com
Simplistic design and layout, easy to manage functions. However, no back button. This means every time you want to go back to the list of pre-found options, you need to re-imput your location and advanced settings. This increases steps and decreases ease for the viewer, possibly a turn off for some viewers.
House hunting needs to be quick / simplistic / easy to follow and understand / visual breakdown / cost breakdown / ease of contacting a landlord
Simplistic infographic, explaining the benefits of 'sharing'. To some, sharing with strangers may seem daunting, yet these friendly info graphics are simplistic in nature, possibly appealing to a younger target audience.
Information on the 'roomer', aka, who your new friend will be. Also the property. This could instantly be improved by a 'Contact Lina' button, and perhaps further cost breakdown. All we know is that first months rent is £355- is that including bills? What about the second months rent? Is it possible to extend the tangency longer than 31st May 2017 or not?
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Spare Room.com
Really functional website, features great content and is adjustable to suit budget and personal specifications. However, the User Experience does not seem fully fit for purpose, as it is still causing stress rather than negating it.
Blue is the most popular colour on the internet, with Spare Room.com featuring blue and orange heavily. The typeface looks dated, especially featuring Arial- the standard go to type which is installed on everyones computer. Spare room.com also feature hidden costs- including sign up fee's and 'Early Bird' sign up. 'Early Bird' is aprox £10.99 for 7 days, giving you access to over '1400 properties' and provides the telephone number for each landlord- something which I feel should be provided regardless!
Uninspiring colour palette- resembellant of a prescription website or dated HTML, page width does not fit to screen- proving for a condensed user experience. All of the information just feels slightly cramped and claustrophobic, making the (already stressed out viewer) also feel like there is little breath room- or time for that matter.
The information feels overly cluttered, with little consideration given to the hirachy of information or even which property is a best match for YOU. As a house share means you'll have to adapt to someones way of living, this experience should be as welcoming and proactive as possible- helping match personalities not just property requirements. The advance search filters are varied, yet still limited.
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Air B&B
Unsuitable for long term lets, however simplistically chic user experience. Clear, modern graphics with large resolution pictures, giving a clear insight into what the viewers signing up for.
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Find a flat.com
Brought to you as a partnership with Spareroom.com, the same problems prevail when exploring housing options and user experience. The screen is once again, not fully fitting the browser, giving a cramped information.
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Flatmate Rooms.co.uk
Great website, yet bad user experience due to no back button. After viewing the property and sending a message to the landlord, there is no way of going back to the filtered list, meaning starting the whole process again.
It seems little consideration has been given to split up relevant information- including a cost breakdown- in the initial information.
Straight forward- simplistic at a glance way of showing what the property has to offer. The three catergory split between 'About the household' 'Welcomed Flatmate' and 'Bills Included' gives the viewer a good side-by-side comparison, comparing the property to their 'ideal' preferences. Simplistic infographics- does not illuminate a proportion of the audience through symbol ambiguity.
Again, flatmate finder are asking for a payment method to access mobile numbers. Naturally, people in this situation are desperate, so probably willing to pay for this service as it can speed the process up, and remove a lot of the stress. However, I do not feel this is a suitable action for the service to provided, the contact information should be there regardless.
Overall, web searching for properties for immediate access is a challenging process for students or working professionals to undertake. Some websites have made this a breeze- yet the design of others have hindered its potential. Keeping this in mind, I plan to conduct primary research on how people go about searching for properties, and what functions they would like to see.
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| Hard to read and distinguish between in in a rush |
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