Case study
HouseHunt
A rental discovery app
Overview
A usual problem in big cities is finding a rented house.
For this case study I have considered Chennai and Coimbatore because I visited these cities and did ground-level research.
Research
I've interviewed some people who are looking for a rental house in Chennai and Coimbatore. Based on this research, I chose to focus on people working in IT and other private sectors, as these people prefer to shift jobs and move to a different city or new location.
User interview outcomes
Feature and flow comprehension
Ease of use
Current user problems or difficulties
Worried about the broker's fee
Security and safety
Travelling / commuting expenses between home and office when relocating
Personas
Lokesh Krishnan
Front end developer · Coimbatore, India
Personality
Needs
Habits
Goals
Pain points
Use social networking apps while on the go
The apartment can't be viewed properly in their website/app
To find an apartment closer to my gym
Listen music when he frustrated
Agents are annoying the insist registration fee is valid just once
To check my desired apartment with an owner to avoid agent fee
He interested to play online games
My house is far from gym
To check my desired apartment with an owner to avoid agent fee
Thamarai Anjari
Operations executive · Chennai, India
Personality
Needs
Habits
Goals
Pain points
Reading lot of books
To find apartments for lease
Apartment can't be viewed properly on website/app
Insterest to play outoor games
Nice apartment that suit my needs and not so far where i work
Can't find closer to my gym and where i work
Listen music when he frustrated
Would be nice to see newly constructed property
To check my desired apartment with an owner to avoid agent fee
Story
Lokesh Krishnan is an employee working in Coimbatore, staying with his wife. He got an opportunity in Chennai, a city that's completely new to him. Now it's difficult for him to find a decent house in a good area with the right urban facilities nearby.
He is also worried about the commuting time between office and home. In spite of this, he can't let go of the opportunity, as it's important for his career growth.
Design solution
The design of my house rental app gives a big relief from tension and stress by providing a product that's better suited to renters' needs.
Ability to search for a home based on location.
Ability to view nearby places and their distances.
Every house can be viewed in 360° instead of static photos, so renters can properly see the house without visiting it in person.
User flow chart
I proceeded to the app's user interface design next. After user research and understanding the users' needs and wants, I created a user flow map to ease the designing process.
Medium fidelity wireframes
Wireframes are effective artifacts that save time and expense for both software teams and their business partners. Offering a simple way to validate ideas early — before design or development work has begun — they decrease the chances of major pivots later, during technical implementation.
Visual design
Visual design is the use of imagery, color, shapes, typography, and forms to enhance usability and improve user experience. There was a lot of back and forth in my designs, as I wasn't sure what visual direction would suit the users best, and I wanted to make it perfect.
Visual style
I chose a warm, trustworthy palette paired with rounded, friendly shapes to make house-hunting feel less stressful. Clear imagery and generous whitespace keep the focus on the listings themselves rather than the interface.
Typography
AaNunito — Headings
AaRoboto — Body
Colors
#3D5AFE
#FF5C5C
#3A3A3E
#E4E4F5
Key learnings
Broker fees, safety, and commute distance kept coming up across interviews, which is what shaped the three core features: location search, nearby places, and 360° views.
360° views address a real gap — renters said photos alone weren't enough to judge a space before deciding to visit it in person.
The two personas revealed different renter mindsets — cautious/budget-driven vs. convenience-first — a useful cue for how filters and defaults should be prioritized.
Next step: usability-test the 360° viewing flow specifically, since it's the most technically ambitious part of the solution.
Let’s create impactful design together.
Get in touch
ram.productdesigner@gmail.com