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UX Research, Service Design
Branding, Concept Video
Academic Case Study
@Carnegie Mellon University
Generative Research
Service Design
6 weeks
Diary Studies, In-depth Interview, Site Visit
2 Designers (Jean Chu, Jiwon Pyo)
In the Interaction Studio course, I had the opportunity to conceptualize a product ecosystem that spans multiple channels, incorporating both digital and physical touchpoints. Our goal was to reimagine household work as enjoyable, team-building activities that foster bonding and collaboration among housemates.
- Understand the current household work experiences in a shared living.
- Discover opportunities for changing mundane chores into engaging experiences.
- Explore technology's role in creating an interactive chore management system.
Roomie A connected home service for shared chore management
In the United States, 14.4 million Americans live with non-family roommates, accounting for 18% of all shared households. This trend is driven by increasing housing cost
Differing cleaning habits was cited as the main pet peeve by 37% of renters with roommates. communication came in next, listed as a primary concern among 12.2% of roommates.
While co-living provides benefits like cost savings, safety, and reduced loneliness, it also demands compromises to align different lifestyles.
We developed a comprehensive territory map to visualize the landscape of chore distribution challenges across various living environments. This mapping allows us to pinpoint key friction areas and identify potential design intervention opportunities. Based on this analysis, we formulated a targeted research plan focused on understanding students' current experience and needs in off-campus shared living situations.
Our research centered around two main criteria.
1Household Work (Effectiveness + Playfulness)
2. Housemate Relationships (Playfulness + Togetherness)
In-depth Interview
We asked the participants to complete a pre-survey before the interview. This allows us to ask tailored questions based on the information they provide.
Focus Area:
1) The meaning of chores and triggers that initiate them.
2) Collaborative solutions to address these challenges.
3) The significance of living together and fostering relationships.
Site Vist
We created emotion stickers as a tool to facilitate the conversation. It helped us understand users' emotions and encourage them to express themselves chronologically.
Focus Area:
1) Chore workflows in living arrangements: private & shared spaces.
2) Current pain points, personal hacks, and any digital solutions to assist.
Diary Study
We asked 11 people to complete chores with their housemates over the week in four different ways: individual chores, individual chores done in a fun way, group chores, and group chores done in a fun way.
Employing 6 key insight categories and clustering, we analyzed the raw data from qualitative research, identifying perception, motivation, activities, and interaction patterns and developing dimensions analysis for individual preference and comparing them to other personas.
Shared chores serve as a medium to increase communication among housemates, ultimately improving their relationships.
Foster a collaborative culture in household works built on trust and mutual gratitude.
Stay engaged in daily houseworks by finding varied sources of enjoyment.
Understand each other’s preferences and improve chore management systems.
ROOMIE is a service designed to transform shared chores into opportunities for connection and collaboration among housemates.
Service Overview
Three touchpoints across the digital and physical world work together to transform shared chores into opportunities for bonding, communication, and enhanced quality of life.
Step 1. Get on the same page with the Roommie onboarding toolkit.
Start your journey together with a physical onboarding kit, including a pixel pet creator and a vision card to define shared goals for your home.
Step 2. Monitor and enjoy chores together through the interactive board.
Track your home's cleanliness via a pixel-based floor plan and receive alerts when it’s time to do chores, making tasks more enjoyable with four creative methods.
Step 3. Stay Connected with the Roomie App
Manage tasks, chat about chores, and relive shared memories through the app’s dashboard, messaging, and activity history features.
