RentUp is a platform to facilitate the apartment renting process between tenants and landlords. Tenants can easily browse and compare between units all over Egypt. In addition to, the ability to negotiate on the offer with the landlord by raising the bid and messaging feature from the dashboard. On the other hand, for the landlord user role, listing properties and accepting offers was never that easy through his/her dashboard which is slightly different from the tenant dashboard to suit listing and negotiating offers needs.
Problem
Landlords are facing challenges while renting their properties, especially those who have multiple properties, as there is no one place to list properties, choose between offers received from trusted tenants and communicate with them.
Solution
An online platform for both of them without third parties fees to match between landlords and tenants, while offering a communicating channel, comparison and booking.
The Challenge
The platform should be designed to balance the needs of both tenants and landlords This may involve designing features that address the unique needs and concerns of each group. For example, the tenants should have a perfect search, browsing and comparing experience to find the unit that they are looking for. Also, the landlords should be able to list, manage and track the deals for their apartments through a single easy-to-use dashboard.
Connecting the tenant to the landlord in a way that helps in building trust between tenants and landlords. Tenants may be hesitant to rent from landlords they do not know, and landlords may be hesitant to rent to tenants with no established relationship. Moreover, the connection should facilitate the rental process through a set of features to ensure that both parties stay informed throughout the process and to maintain an effective communication between them.
Credibility
Removing the fear barrier that may block the start of the rental process cause of the uncertainity and the lack of an established relationship between tenants and landlords, through verifying the landlord user profile, approving their listings before publishing, reviews and ratings.
Tremendous Information
Managing the large amounts of data involved for apartments, such as photos, aminities, amenities, property reviews, ...etc. These information should be perfectly handled for both sides, the read view when the tenant preview an apartment details, also for the create/update view when the landlord list an apartment for rent.
Effective Communication
Effective communication is crucial in the rental process, as the platform should include features that facilitate clear and timely communication between tenants and landlords. For example, in-platform messaging, real-time notifications and payment reminders.
Bidding
The bidding system helps both the landlord and the tenant to reach an agreement on the rental price. The tenant can purpose an offer lower than the property original price, the landlord should be able to either agree, disagree or tell the tenant to price up the proposal more.
Design Process
The whole project involves UX and UI work from the Design Thinking Process
6. What’s the problem your product is trying to solve?
7. What is the value added to whom will use the product?
8. What would be the product like in two years?
B) User Research
I conducted user research using semi-structured interviews method and as there are 2 user roles (Landlord and Tenant),Landlords were referred by the CEO and I recruited the tenants from the social circle, who are currently living in rented apartments.
Interview Questions For Landlords
1. How do you price your apartment's rent value?
2. Tell me about the last time you offered your apartment for rent, what went well and what went wrong?
3. How do you check for the tenant and guarantee him/her?
4. How do you experience negotiating for the rent value? how do you both agree on the offer?
5. Do you use third parties? if yes, what do you like/dislike about them?
6. What do you think tenant's challenges when searching for an apartment for rent?
7. Have you ever used an online platform for listing your apartment? if yes, what do you like/dislike? what's the best platform?
8. What's your experience communicating with tenants? what channels do you use for communication? which one do you prefer?
Interview Questions For Tenants
1. How do you search for an apartment to rent?
2. What are the main criteria you look for?
3. Tell me about the experience you walked through to find the apartment you are currently in?
4. What do you think about rental third parties?
5. How do you prioritize the options?
6. Do you use online platforms for searching? if yes, what do you like/dislike? what's the best platform do you like?
7. What's your experience communicating with landlords? what channels do you use for communication? which one do you prefer?
8. How do you negotiate with the landlord on the rent offer?
9. How do you make sure of the landlord's behavior? How do you guarantee him/her?
Define
A) Personas
B) Problem Statements
Landlord
Abdelkhalek is a landlord who needs to rent his apartment with the best offer to a trusted tenant because he wants to increase his income.
Tenant
Yehia is a tenant who needs to rent an apartment with a suitable price and location quickly because he wants to save time and money.
Ideate
We used brainstorming ideation method together with all the stakeholders, starting with the How Might We Statement, to end up with a feature list and a clear user flow.
A) How Might We
HWM easily and efficiently connect both landlord and tenant together to reach on the best deal in the least amount of time.
B) Main Features List
- In-platform chatting between landlords and tenants.
- Apartments comparison for tenants and offers comparison for landlords
- Reviews on properties, tenants and landlords.
- Single dashboard for both user roles, to manage and track.
B) User Flow
Listing a property flow
Sending an offer flow
Prototype
Test
1. Listed property data inserted by the landlord need to increase as there are more advantages and properties each apartment has which will help it stand out.
2. Increasing listed property data will reflect on the apartment’s inner page.
3. Tenants need to see the written reviews.
4. Messaging went very well, as it is inspired by whatsapp web which is a popular design pattern.
5. Comparison between apartments went well also, clear and straight to the point.
Final Solution
Rentup, a web-based platform that connects tenants and landlords for apartment rental purposes. It offers a secure and user-friendly interface for tenants to search for available rental units and for landlords to list their units and find reliable tenants. Rentup also includes features like verified user profiles, reviews, and ratings to establish trust and transparency between parties. Overall, Rentup streamlines the rental process for both tenants and landlords, providing a reliable and efficient platform for finding and managing rental units.
Homepage
Where both tenants and landlords firstly land to give them information about what's Rentup, how it works and what they can do on Rentup. Tenants can search by area to see properties available in it or browse by cities and featured properties. Landlords can navigate to their dashboards to manage their listed properties and track received offers.
Area Search Results
Tenants can view the available properties in the selected area, their price, amenities, photos, rating, ...etc. Filter the results by price range, property type, ...etc. Moreover, tenants can add up-to 4 properties in-time for comparison. Lastly, can send an offer or view the properties' details for more information.
Comparison
To help the tenant find the property that best match their desire and need, they can add up-to 4 properties for comparing the properties' price, area, details, amenities, ...etc
Property Details
Tenants can view photos of the property, read a detailed description, and access important information such as the rental price, location, and availability. In addition to viewing property details, tenants can read the reviews, see the neighbourhood around the property and see similar properties.
In-app Chatting
To facilitate a clear, timely and effective communication between the landlord and the tenant. They can chat together to schedule a tour, arrange a call and agree on a rental price.
Sent Offers
Tenants can track their sent offers to see if they are accepted or rejected by the landlord, or the landlord wants them to raise the bid of the rental price proposal.
My Properties
Landlords can manage their listed properties, view their approval status and track the received offers on each property.
Property Listing
Adding a property to listing, the landlord should fill in the form with the ability to save an continue later. The form is clustered into logical groups to be easily digested and reduce the choice paralysis.
Impact Overview
Rentup helped both the tenant and the landlord to meet their rental purposes. The tenant can now find a property to rent meeting their requirements and affordability. The landlord can easily and quickly rent their property to trusted tenants with a satisfying rental price
Renting
Providing access to a larger pool of rental properties, including those that may not be advertised elsewhere. This can help tenants to find a property that meets their specific needs and preferences. Secondly, helping streamline the rental application process, saving tenants time and reducing the hassle of paperwork. Additionally, providing transparency in the rental process by offering information about rental properties such as rental rates, amenities, and lease terms, enabling tenants to make informed decisions. Finally, Negotiating on lower rental rates to tenants, potentially saving tenants money on rent.
Listing
Increased visibility for rental properties for a large user base of tenants. Secondly, allowing landlords to receive rental applications from tenants in a streamlined and organized manner. Additionally, offering tenant screening services, including reviews and ratings, helping landlords make more informed decisions about potential tenants and reducing the risk. landlords can easily manage their rental properties and received offers in a more efficient manner, including managing properties' status, tracking offers received on each property separetly, and communicating with tenants through chatting.
ℹ️ About Rentup, 🤔 The Challenge, 🛠️ Design Process, 💡 Final Solution, 🌱 Impact Overview
