Make relocating easy and stress free.
Movesquad
Case Study - DesignLab Project
background
Almost everyone moves at some point in their lives, whether for education, job opportunities, family reasons, or personal growth. With the rise in work-from-home employment, many Americans are no longer geographically locked in for work. The moving process is often mentioned as one of the most stressful life events.
problem to solve
I wanted to identify and address specific user pain points through thoughtful UX design and create a website that allows users to find affordable, safe housing and trusted movers. It also provides helpful tips and support for staying organized during their significant transition.
project details
Project Type: End-to-end responsive website + branding.
Role: Sole UX/UI designer
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Zoom, Photoshop
Methods: User Research, Usability Testing, Information Architecture, UI Design, Visual Design, Brand Design
Duration: 80 hours
the user
I focused on three types of users:
-
Moving due to work or personal/family reasons.
-
Moving by themselves or with family and kids.
-
Moving to a new city/state where there’s no family or friends.
quick sneak PEEK
Homepage
-
The homepage allows users to find neighborhoods or movers based on the stage in their moving process.
-
Under both tabs, users can access additional tools to support their specific needs.
-
The homepage also features to educate users about moving/relocating trends.
Find Neighborhoods
-
Users can search by city, state, or zip code and have multiple options to filter their search to get the most relevant results.
-
The details page has an interactive map for the users. They can click/tap on areas to display additional information about the city.
Find Movers
-
Users can search by entering the address of the place they are moving to and where they are moving from, along with multiple options to filter their search to get the most relevant results.
-
The details page has a list of movers and allows users to request a quote.
the process
Discovery & Research
Research Objective:
-
Learn about the reason for moving.
-
Learn about the factors that implicate their decisions about the move. Are those factors different for people who are...
-
single vs. with family vs. with kids
-
moving for work vs. personal reasons
-
moving in a different city vs. state
-
-
Learn about the tools and resources they use in the process.
-
Learn about what the normal process looks like from the day they consider the move until the day they move and settle into a new place.
What I Already Knew Through Secondary Research:
-
According to Consumer Affairs, over eight million Americans made interstate moves in 2022.
-
The average move in the U.S. is completed by a couple between the ages of 18 and 34 with one or two children.
-
Individual and family moves account for 44% of relocations in the U.S., followed by corporate moves at 38%.
-
Gen Z and millennials are more likely to relocate than members of other generations.
-
53.5% of moves occurred within the same county.
By: Erin Schmidt
Moving Statistics 2024
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/movers/moving-statistics.html
Published: 21 November 2023
Asking Questions Through Survey:
I sent out a survey to 12 users to get quantitative feedback.
I learned that all the users mentioned that moving was stressful and time-consuming. The three main stressors they expressed were finding affordable housing in a good neighborhood, figuring out what items to take and what not to take, and finding reliable and affordable movers.
Competitive Analysis:
Researching the main competitors in the moving space helped me understand what problems were currently being solved on the market, and which problems still needed to be solved.
User Interviews:
Once I gained a strong understanding of the problems surrounding moving/relocating through competitive analysis, I selected five users to interview.
Who Were The Users (Age: 25-45):
I wanted to target users who moved within the last two years and were at least one of the following:
-
Family with kids moving to a different state for work where they didn’t have friends or family close by
-
Family with kids moving for personal reasons in different neighborhoods to be closer to family
-
Family without kids moving to a different state due to personal reasons or to be closer to family
-
Family without kids moving to a different state for work where they had some friends
-
Single person moving for work with no friends and family close by
Pulling Out The Key Themes:
Affinity mapping helped to organize the data from user interviews into actionable insights.
You don’t realize how much stuff you have until you start putting a list together.
It was stressful and needed a lot of planning and coordination
Movers helped with packing, and unloading which was a huge help.
We had to make sure we found a good home under a good school district.
Finding the apartment in the budget was another important factor.
Here are some of the biggest learnings from affinity mapping:
-
4/5 users preferred affordable housing in a good neighborhood.
-
Users used resources like greatschools.org, neighborhoodscout.com, areavibes.com, etc. to find good and safe neighborhoods.
- They also considered examining schools with higher ratings to narrow down neighborhoods because they believed good schools would correlate with safe neighborhoods.
-
-
5/5 users did research on the area before moving.
-
5/5 users wanted to find reliable movers with reasonable rates.
-
5/5 users mentioned that deciding what to take and not to take was very time-consuming and stressful. They had to make sure they didn’t take unnecessary items to their new home and didn’t overpay for moving items that they didn’t need.
-
5/5 users mentioned that it took a lot of time and research to find good, affordable housing in a safe neighborhood.
-
5/5 users expressed frustrations over working with movers or moving companies.
Creating Personas:
After I compiled the findings from the research through the affinity map, I was able to create personas that represent my target demographic.
Finding Project Direction :
I brainstormed several POVs and HMVs and narrowed them down to the ones below:
POV
-
I’d like to explore ways to help users figure out what to take or not to take.
-
I’d like to explore ways to provide options for users where to donate or trash items
-
they aren’t keeping.
-
I’d like to explore ways to provide recommendations to users to find affordable housing in a safe neighborhood.
-
I’d like to explore ways for the users to have options and find affordable and reliable movers.
HMV Statements:
-
How might we help people make confident and stress-free decisions about what to take and what to leave behind when moving?
-
How might we provide information about the neighborhood to help users better understand how to decide on housing?
-
How might we help users feel confident and prepared by giving them the right information and recommendations about their new location?
-
How might we provide options and help users to find reliable and affordable movers based on their requirements?
Define & Ideate
Understanding The User Journey:
I sketched storyboards to map the user's experience and predict likely scenarios at each stage.
Generating Ideas:
I selected two HMV statements from above and came up with the following ideas:
How might we help people make confident and stress-free decisions about what to take and what to leave behind when moving?
-
Personalized recommendations on what you should take based on where you’re moving, the size of the house, and the size of your family.
-
Chat Agent
-
Downloadable checklist
-
Professional Guidance/Help
-
Hire on an hourly basis/subscription-based service to call in person for help.
Social groups to sell/donate/buy items.
How might we help users feel confident and prepared by giving them the right information and recommendations about their new location?
-
Provide recommendations for neighborhoods based on your preference.
-
Search a specific neighborhood to get all the detailed info regarding school, crime, diversity, population, housing, etc.
-
A map view of the neighborhood that gives the most recent view.
-
A virtual reality feature where people can feel being there.
Prioritizing Design Decisions:
Based on these ideas and the information gathered from user interviews, I prioritized features:
User Flows & Task Flows:
I mapped out six different user flows and six task flows for primary tasks.
Design, Prototype & Test
Sketching Out The Possibilities:
I sketched multiple different variations and shared those options with 5 users for feedback.
Users preferred tabs for finding neighborhoods and movers as opposed to sections in single page. They didn’t prefer scrolling down to find either of the options.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes:
I incorporated the user feedback and did mid-fi wireframes.
Users were confused if the “Neighborhood” tab would find apartment listings or areas.
On the “Find Neighborhoods” detail page, users saw the map but weren’t sure what would the map show.
Users preferred filters to be all listed together instead of swipeable buttons.
-
Users were clear about the “Movers” tab because it had options and a “Find Movers” button.
-
Users preferred all the moving companies to be listed together with cards open and not in a collapsed state.
UI Kit:
Before moving on to my high-fidelity designs, I created a UI kit that reflects the MoveSquad brand objectives.
-
Opted for shades of blue to convey a sense of organization, trust, and reliability—essential for customers when choosing a moving company.
-
Introduced a splash of yellow to complement the monochromatic scheme and introduce excitement/playfulness.
-
For the header/title text, I chose a combination of Serif fonts to add playfulness and used sans serif for a smaller body copy that offers better readability.
-
Designed two separate component libraries. One for desktop view and another for mobile view to capture different behaviors and elements like navigation and footer.
Knowledge
Organized
Playful
Unique
Support
Welcoming
Trust
Excitement
-
The tabs on the homepage allow users to find neighborhoods or movers based on the stage of their moving process.
-
There are additional tools provided for the users to support their specific needs.
Creating a Polished Prototype:
Based on the chosen brand value and color palate I designed high-fi wireframes.
-
Both the neighborhood and movers detail pages have a way for users to filter their search.
-
The neighborhood detail has an interactive map for the users. They can tap on areas to display additional information about the city.
-
Filters are displayed as modal windows for better visual and usability.
Usability Testing With The Prototype:
I tested the mockups with 5 users remotely via the screen share feature. The usability test was moderated and took about 30-45 minutes per user to complete.
Key Research Goals:
-
Do users understand what the Neighborhoods tab and Movers tabs do?
-
Will users use filters to narrow down neighborhoods, and if they do, which options are important to them?
-
What will users expect on the map when it loads after searching neighborhoods?
-
What kind of services will users expect from the moving companies?
-
What do users find confusing or frustrating about the design?
-
What do they find satisfying or enjoyable?
-
What are users’ pre-existing expectations of this design, and how does this experience align (or not) with their expectations?
-
Can users envision using this product?
Measuring Success:
I evaluated the overall success of the product and any iterations needed with the following metrics gathered from my testing:
-
Users could easily find what they were looking for.
-
Users understood what the website does.
-
Users could correct their errors.
-
Users understood the options provided.
-
Users noticed the “Neighborhood” and “Movers” tabs.
-
Users could easily navigate the neighborhood details page and find the information useful.
-
Users could easily enter details to get a list of movers and know they could request quotes from them.
-
Users were still confused about what the Neighborhood tab does. They wondered if it helped them find neighborhoods or apartments in the neighborhoods.
-
Users liked the filters but were unsure why the Crime Score had a “Not Important” option.
Analyzing and Prioritizing Test Results:
I was able to prioritize the revisions to implement in the next iteration:
Final Design Iterations
Search UI and Functionality:
BEFORE
AFTER
-
Changed the search field titles and placeholder text under the “Neighborhood” and “Movers” tabs so it’s clearer as to what each tab is for.
BEFORE
Consistency in Functionality:
AFTER
-
Made the "Neighborhood" tab function the same way as the "Movers" tab to be consistent.
-
Removed filter option from detail page to keep the same behavior of search bar as homepage. Clicking on it will open a modal window with all the filters.
Consistency in Form Titles & Labels:
BEFORE
AFTER
-
Changed titles and place holder text under all the form fields and dropdowns to be consistent with the format.
-
Titles are more as questions and placeholder text will direct users to take an action.
-
Took out the titles above each fields and added those as titles under the fields to remove clutter as 3 items for each field felt unnecessary.
Neighborhood Detailed Info:
AFTER
Added city specific information under each tab that highlights what the city has to offer.
BEFORE
What I learned:
-
Trust the research and discovery process.
-
It is very important to test early and frequently and ask the right questions at the right time. Additionally, the way a question is phrased during research and user testing can yield very different insights.
-
Consistency is crucial for building user trust in a product and enabling quick and efficient learning.