Work

About

Resume

Work

About

Resume

Work

About

Resume

Zillow Group Hunt

Oct 2024 - Dec 2024

A new feature added to Zillow helps international students sharing rentals make more efficient housing decisions by ensuring tailored house matches.

A new feature added to Zillow helps international students sharing rentals make more efficient housing decisions by ensuring tailored house matches.

A new feature added to Zillow helps international students sharing rentals make more efficient housing decisions by ensuring tailored house matches.

My Role

My Role

UI/UX Designer

Team

Team

Engineer ——— x1
UI/UX Designer ——— x2
Product Manager —— x1
User Researcher ——- x1

Engineer — x1
UI/UX Designer — x2
Product Manager — x1
User Researcher — x1

Engineer — x1
UI/UX Designer — x2
Product Manager — x1
User Researcher — x1

Design Process & Skills

Design Process & Skills

Double Diamond, Journey Mapping, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Testing

Overview

Problem

Problem

Problem

People sharing rentals consider house hunting a stressful and time-consuming process with endless listings and exhaustive decision-making.

Pain Points

Pain Points

Pain Points

Information overload, Back-and-forth communication with housemate, Decision fatigue, Extensive time spent

Solution

Solution

Solution

A new feature on Zillow that help users speeds up decisions, and ensures tailored house matches.

Success Metrics

Success Metrics

Success Metrics

Users can shorten decision making process from 1-2 months to 2 weeks; 83% users implies that they would like to use the feature.

Problem

Problem

Problem

New international students in Pittsburgh struggle to find ideal housing

New international students in Pittsburgh struggle to find affordable, safe, and reliable housing due to their unfamiliarity with the local rental market, often leading to difficulties securing housing, settling into their new environment, and obtaining fair rental agreements.

User Research

User Research

User Research

People looking to share a rental often find roommates first, then search for a place together

Through 20+ survey responses and 12 user interviews, we found that most international students prefer living with others to stay within their budget. However, each person has non-negotiable factors when house hunting, making the process time-consuming as they must find a place that meets everyone's needs.

63%

63%

of users take 1-2 months in finalizing a house.

We identified the need to distinguish between external disruptions (e.g., notifications) and internal, habit-driven interruptions to avoid attention mechanisms that disrupt focus.

3-4

3-4

key attributes are typically non-negotiable for users when searching for a house.

70%

70%

of users find that narrowing down options is time-consuming as housemates work to align their priorities with available choices.

Key Insight

Key Insight

Key Insight

Everyone has different priorities, such as amenities, convenience, neighborhood, and budget. These can be categorized as negotiable and non-negotiable factors. For non-negotiable factors, they prioritize them in their search and filter out unsuitable options.

Everyone has different priorities, such as amenities, convenience, neighborhood, and budget. These can be categorized as negotiable and non-negotiable factors. For non-negotiable factors, they prioritize them in their search and filter out unsuitable options.

Persona & User Journey Map

HMW Statement

HMW Statement

HMW Statement

How might we enable international students moving to Pittsburgh to efficiently align housemate preferences and navigate endless housing listings, minimizing the time spent searching for suitable accommodation?

How might we enable international students moving to Pittsburgh to efficiently align housemate preferences and navigate endless housing listings, minimizing the time spent searching for suitable accommodation?

From

A stressful and time-consuming process with endless listings and exhaustive decision-making.

To

A streamlined process that delivers clarity, speeds up decisions, and ensures tailored house matches.

Design Iteration

Design Iteration

Design Iteration

House Match

We first considered designing a brand-new platform called 'House Match.' This platform allows housemates to input negotiable factors (e.g., budget, room size, location), then aggregates their preferences to find the best listings and features voting and polling for collaborative decision-making.

Resolve users' pain points

We were challenged on the source of our house listings—are we collaborating with all local properties? Additionally, how can we convince users that we are a reliable platform?

We were challenged on the source of our house listings—are we collaborating with all local properties? Additionally, how can we convince users that we are a reliable platform?


Final Solution

Final Solution

Final Solution

Zillow Group Hunt

We aim to design a new feature within Zillow, offering a one-stop solution that includes group formation, a chat room, and a ranking system.

We chose Zillow for three reasons: (1) it is one of the most popular rental platforms, well-known among international students, (2) it offers thousands of housing options, and (3) it supports the entire rental process, from searching and tour reservations to applications.

Users Value Efficiency

House hunting requires constant communication with housemates. We designed a built-in chat room to eliminate the need to switch back and forth between the housing platform and communication apps.

We identified the need to distinguish between external disruptions (e.g., notifications) and internal, habit-driven interruptions to avoid attention mechanisms that disrupt focus.

Users Value Effective Decision Making

After users input their non-negotiable factors, we provide a curated list, and the rating and ranking system quantifies their best options.

Users Value Convenience

We offer a one-stop solution, including house tour reservations and applications, allowing users to complete the entire process on Zillow.

Ideation

Ideation

Ideation

Low-Fi & Hi-Fi Prototyping

Low Fidelity Prototype

High Fidelity Prototype

Highlight 01 - Curated House List

Based on housemates' must-haves, the system will generate a list of houses sorted by match score—indicating how many must-have criteria each house fulfills.

We also offer a 'Suggested List' that includes housing slightly outside the requirements (e.g., budget).

Highlight 02 - Save and Compare

Each group member can save housing they are interested in to a shared list. Users can select up to 5 options to compare in detail. This helps them evaluate their options more effectively and make informed decisions.

Highlight 03 - Rating and Ranking

After the tour, a rating prompt will appear for each group member to submit their rating. Once everyone has rated, they can access the final house ranking, sorted by the average housemate rating. This facilitates efficient and rational decision-making.

Success Metrics

Success Metrics

Success Metrics

User Validation

With Zillow Group Hunt, we aim to shorten the decision-making process for international students to secure their ideal house from 1–2 months to 2 weeks. We tested our prototype with 6 users, and 5 indicated that it effectively addresses their pain points and that they would like to use this feature.

Reflection

Lesson Learned

This is my first time working on a project that adding a new feature to an existing platform rather than designing a product from scratch. Unlike a 0–1 case, adding a feature to an established product like Zillow required deep consideration of existing user flows, platform constraints, and seamless integration with current functionalities.

Reflection

Lesson Learned

This is my first time working on a project that adding a new feature to an existing platform rather than designing a product from scratch. Unlike a 0–1 case, adding a feature to an established product like Zillow required deep consideration of existing user flows, platform constraints, and seamless integration with current functionalities.

Reflection

Lesson Learned

This is my first time working on a project that adding a new feature to an existing platform rather than designing a product from scratch. Unlike a 0–1 case, adding a feature to an established product like Zillow required deep consideration of existing user flows, platform constraints, and seamless integration with current functionalities.