sharesquare
ShareSquare totally changes the game for sharehouse living by making everything super chill and hassle-free. Imagine no more awkward money talks or endless debates about chores. This app handles it all. You can split bills in a snap, keep track of who's done what around the house, and keep everyone in the loop without lifting a finger. It’s like having a silent, super organised housemate that keeps the vibe positive and the home running like clockwork. Forget stress and drama; with ShareSquare, living with others just clicks.
Problem
Money fights and uneven chore splits in share houses often blow up into big conflicts, bringing stress, bad vibes, and tension. Misunderstandings about rent, bills, and who’s slacking on cleaning spark arguments, break trust, and make the place feel less like home, turning it into a toxic spot where it’s hard to get along.
How might we set up a clear, fair system to handle these tasks and keep things chill and friendly for everyone?
solution
Set up an easy, automated system to manage finances and chores in your share house. It keeps track of costs, sends reminders on time, splits bills fairly, shares tasks evenly, and keeps schedules clear. This way, everyone stays on the same page, avoids mix-ups, pitches in equally, and enjoys a relaxed, friendly living vibe.
Research Objective
We're looking into creating an app that makes managing a sharehouse way easier. It would help housemates stay on top of chores, rent, and bills, keeping everyone accountable and the house running smoothly.
Research Validation
By conducting 10 interviews, we aim to get a clear picture of what living in share houses is really like. This will help us identify the key features people expect from a housemate organization app and understand how they’d incorporate it into their daily routines.
“It's difficult when you have multiple people in a house and, you might have that certain individual that is not contributing so that accountability factor is a pretty good thing.”
Research Quotes
“I think the most common issue was probably the organisation that I felt in my experience, organisation in terms of make sure you pay this bill on time, make sure you transfer the money on time or just general upkeep of the house.”
“[When asked about dealing with any issues] just come across each other in the kitchen have a little bit of a brief chat and then someone might do something about it for a little bit and then it goes back to the way it was (...) that's pretty much the way it went.”
“To me it's all about accountability. Especially when you live with others in a sharehouse.”
Phase 2
who is our target audience?
our hypothesis (and a way to test it)
Hypothesis:
People living together struggle big time with dividing up chores, which often causes fights and kills the vibe of the whole shared space.
Quantitative Validation:
Measure the frequency and severity of financial disputes and chore imbalances in share houses by collecting numerical data to understand the scale of these problems.
Qualitative Discovery:
Explore the specific categories of issues experienced by individuals in share houses, breaking down financial disputes and chore imbalances into smaller, detailed components to gain deeper insights.
UNDERSTANDING OUR TARGET USERS (USING NUMBERS)
Understanding key stats from user feedback using numbers
Unpaid expenses
Chore distrubtion
product Usage
what do these numbers mean?
Over 40% of interviewees have had previous issues with unpaid expenses whilst living in a share house
There is a need for a system to ensure expenses are kept up to date
Over 60% of users were open to using an app that acts as a “all in one” platform for their sharehome (rent, chores etc)
There is a need to effectively allocate cleaning/chore distributions and make the allocation less awkward
Over 70% of interviewees agree that cleaning/chore distribution is a big issue in share houses
There is a want for a interface to ensure that all housemates can use and communicate effectively in the context of share house
User Persona
Goals
Maintain good relationship with housemates
Feel safe and comfortable in the house
Minimise conflict with housemates
Demographic
University/College Student
Lives in share-home with 3 people
Doesn’t like mess and finds it difficult to live with other people
Pain Points
Other people not cleaning up their mess
Lack of accountability Poor
communication with housemates
Needs
A way to solve conflict if it arises
Everyone is on the same page
Good relationships with their house mates
Phase 3
the design process
Early ideation
user testing & Feedback
Task Given:
We tasked our users with the following:
Make an account in the app and login
Tick a chore off the item list (take out bins)
Go to homepage and check pending rent payments
Remind John (hypothetical housemate) that he owes you $500 for rent coming up
We also asked for some general feedback on if the Interface is confusing, easy to understand, any expectations they were planning to see on the app etc.
Feedback:
“How do you set up the app? Does one person sign the whole house up?”
“What does it look like on my housemates phone when they receieve a notifcation?”
“It would be great if you can see the expenses owed/settled on the homepage just to make sure we can keep up to date”
“Pretty cool concept, the onboarding is a little tricky to understand, if you can figure out a way to flesh that out, i think this could be big”
future opportunities
Given that this is a concept project in a UX Bootcamp- we were asked to create a “Future Opportunities” section incase we ever revisit this project, Here are a couple of opportunities
Another round of tests on the design developments that were made after testing
Making sure that transitions are smooth between screens
Ensure interactions make sense
(notify rent payment directed notification to inbox)
Extra incentives to make the app unique and keep users coming back
Research on psychology of noise (how do certain noises/buzzers give users sense of familiarity)
final prototype
With ShareSquare, living in a sharehouse turns into a breeze, making everything smoother and way less stressful. You can easily handle bills, keep track of chores, and stay in touch with your housemates—all from a single, super convenient platform. This means less hassle and more time for the things that really count: relaxing, having fun, and enjoying the comfort of your home. Say goodbye to the usual headaches of shared living and say hello to a future where harmony and convenience are just part of everyday life. ShareSquare isn’t just an app—it’s the smart, simple way to make your sharehouse feel like a true home.