Context setting

Roomies is an application that helps in the management of shared flats. With Roomies, each member of the community will have the opportunity to add tasks, create lists and manage the different community expenses in an easy way. Roomies also integrates a randomiser that helps distribute evenly the most tedious tasks among the different flatmates.

The opportunity

Although some flatmates are lovely, most of us can easily recall the perks of sharing a flat with evil people. It was part of the whole student package. Or was it? Between 2009 and 2014, the number of flatsharers aged between 35 and 44 rose by 186%, according to Spareroom, the UK’s biggest flatshare website, while the number of sharers aged 45 to 54 went up by 300%.

Understanding the audience

In London, recent studies certify that 43% of the population allocate almost 50% of their salary to pay for their rent, which means local people are forced to move elsewhere or find an alternative. We like it or not, this alternative is often flat-sharing. According to Spareroom, almost 1 out of 10 flatsharers who use their website are now over 45 years old, bringing the average user age of the site to nearly 29 years old. And this average is only expected to grow in the coming years.

Persona

Linda is a persona created based on a typical Roomies user. Linda is 37 years old. She just found a job in a call centre after returning from working abroad. Linda income is just below average but she’s unable to rent a one bed flat alone. Instead, she’s renting a double room in a shared flat in Bermondsey, London. Linda says: “people have the idea that flatsharing is like something out of Friends. It's not.”

Main goals/what do they want?

• to integrate flatmates

• to democratise tasks

• to favour communication

• to avoid confrontation

Motivations

• to equalise flat-sharing among ages and profiles

• to build good relations

• to evenly share the costs

• to live peacefully

Below is the ideal scenario for Lynda:

Linda returns home from a long day at work. It’s a cold and gloomy day and she can’t wait to take a hot shower. When she get’s home she runs to the bathroom just to realise the shampoo they’re sharing with her flatmate is about to run out. She reaches out her mobile phone and opens Roomies. She’s now adding shampoo to the shopping list, which ads 4 pounds to “shared expenses”. She also notices the laundry is done (her flatmate has marked laundry as completed under her tasks). When she finishes she’ll be able to enjoy the softness of a clean towel.

Flow chart

Crafting the solution

Prototype

Summary

• Roomies was born as an idea to help those living in shared apartments to better manage their space.

• The number of flats has increased in the latest years due to gentrification. Every year more and more people are being living in shared spaces.

• The main goals for this project were based on building a better rapport between flatmates, integrating, democratising and favouring communication in a flat share.