Compatibility
Age, personality and shared interests influence whether roommate relationships feel positive.
MASTER THESIS · UX/UI · 2024
HarmonyHome
A roommate-matching concept that looks beyond rooms and locations to consider personality, lifestyle preferences and communication styles.
My roleDesigner
Duration4 months
ContextMaster’s thesis
FocusResearch · Product design
THE OPPORTUNITY
Match people—not only rooms.
Finding a shared home is only one part of the challenge. Personality differences, routines, cleanliness standards and privacy concerns can turn a practical match into a difficult living experience.
HarmonyHome explores a more human approach: detailed profiles and compatibility signals help people find roommates and spaces that better align with how they actually live and communicate.
MASTER’S THESISEnhancing Shared Living Experiences through User-Centered Design
Read the manuscript ↗01
Conduct user research
02
Define the problem and synthesize insights
03
Create personas, journeys, empathy maps and flows
04
Design and test low- and high-fidelity prototypes
01 · UNDERSTANDING THE USER
What makes shared living feel compatible?
Semi-structured interviews with young adults revealed that compatibility is shaped by far more than location and price. Personality, lifestyle, cleanliness and daily routines all affect whether a shared home works.
Cleanliness
Different expectations around shared spaces are a common source of tension.
Noise & routines
Conflicting study, work and sleep routines can quickly create friction.
RESEARCH ARTIFACTS
From interviews to a shared view of the user
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A crowded market with a human-information gap.
I reviewed Swedish and international housing and roommate services to understand how they support search, trust and compatibility.
Bo tillsammansRoomiSpareRoomBlocket BostadFacebook GroupsKombo
Recurring gaps
- Limited detail about roommates and current tenants
- Little personality-based matching
- Language and geographic limitations
- Inconsistent mobile experiences
Design opportunities
- Detailed roommate profiles
- Visibility into who already lives in a home
- Personality-based matching
- A focused mobile experience with language support
02 · IDEATION
Turning research into shared design decisions.
After defining the problem, I facilitated and participated in workshops that reframed insights as “How Might We” questions. Participants generated ideas individually, clustered them together and prioritized directions through an impact-and-feasibility lens.
Key insights
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03 · FROM IDEAS TO INTERFACE
Designing both sides of the match.
Prioritized ideas became paper sketches and then digital flows for creating a profile, finding a room and finding a roommate. Filters, maps, compatibility information and preference icons supported informed decisions.
Digital wireframes
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REFINED PROTOTYPE
A clearer path from profile to compatible match.
The prototype combines personalized content, rich profiles, search and filters, map interfaces, messaging and preference signals in a clean white-and-blue visual system.
04 · TEST & REFINE
Feedback made the matching experience more direct.
Participants valued the idea of using social connections to improve compatibility, but unclear labels and navigation caused confusion. Three focused changes improved clarity and matching accuracy.
Merge competing actions
“Save to the App” and “Save to Profile” became one clear Save button, reducing hesitation and simplifying the flow.
Surface relevant content sooner
The home page became dynamic, using preferences chosen during account creation to shorten the path to relevant rooms and roommates.
Connect more than one network
The redesigned concept incorporated multiple social networks to provide more compatibility context and support more informed matching.
05 · ACCESSIBILITY
Support different languages and visual needs.
Language choice
A language switch during onboarding lets users choose the experience that works for them.
High-contrast interface
White surfaces, focused blue actions and a quiet navigation tone improve readability and reduce distraction.
OUTCOME
A more human model for roommate matching.
HarmonyHome demonstrates how user-centered design and insights from psychology and sociology can make compatibility visible, reduce conflict and improve the experience of finding a shared home.
Interdisciplinary thinking helped connect design decisions with real relationship dynamics.
Iterative feedback turned a promising concept into a clearer, more usable matching experience.
NEXT STEPS
Strengthen the matching logic and expand its reach.
Further development
Refine the questionnaire and use machine learning to improve matching accuracy—with psychology and data-science expertise shaping the model.
Broader applications
Explore how compatibility features could support other relationship-based products, including dating and community platforms.