Hood Sweet Hood
An App that helps people find the right neighborhood for them
Year: 2019
Team: Liz Brochert, Elle Lee
My Role: Design Researcher, UX/UI Designer
Background
People in the 21st century move countries, cities, and neighborhoods constantly. After our research, we identified that the main pain point when moving cities is landing in the right neighborhood. Our users needed a way to find a neighborhood to live in that suits their needs because online research does not give an accurate impression as to what it is like to actually live there. We sought to create an online service for our users, which would allow them to move to the right neighborhood right away.
How might we provide people who are moving an accurate impression of what a neighborhood looks/feels like, thus preventing them from relocating to a location that is wrong for them?
Tools & Methods
Process
The project started by clarifying which were the goals to be achieved with our research. Once those were set, we moved on to conducting interviews with a group of diverse people who, within the past 2 years, had the experience of moving cities. Based on our conversations we were able to find common joys and pains during the moving process. We noted that, for example, having an "insider knowledge" of the place they're moving to was key. Those who lacked it ended up in places they felt were wrong for them, while the opposite was true for those who did have that "insider knowledge".
With this and other insights on hand, we proceeded to create refine our problem statement, developed Personas, and formulated How Might We statements.
Our research also included a Market Landscape Analysis, where we examined services (formal and informal), organizations, and products within the "moving ecosystem". Based on all the primary and secondary research and the insights from them, we moved to evaluate which features were the most important to incorporate in our design intervention. From that prioritization process, we developed User Flows, then moved on to design basic UI and screens for each step of the flow. We tested and refined our prototypes based on user feedback.
Outputs
• Our proposal consisted of a web app (that would later be developed as a native app) where users could input their information and then be "matched" with neighborhoods that aligned with their preferences and needs.
• Users could explore the suggested neighborhoods through location, access to transportation, other demographic information, plus quotes from residents, and photos ad videos.
• Once the users choose a neighborhood, they are also provided with neighborhood listings and groups, local moving companies, housing resources, and other useful local information.