Roomee iOS Mobile Application

Overview - 5 Min Read

Roomee is a roommate and rental room finder app designed specifically for college students in cities, prioritizing safety and convenience. The platform helps students search for rooms rentals, and find compatible roommates through listings, lifestyle-based matching, and chat features.

Visit Prototype

Role

Product Designer

Industry

B2B SaaS

status

Prototype

Year

March-June 2024

Problem

Problem

55% of

College students in major populated cities often struggle to find safe and affordable rentals and reliable roommates. Existing platforms lack trust, leading to mismatches and unsafe encounters.

55% of

College students in major populated cities often struggle to find safe and affordable rentals and reliable roommates. Existing platforms lack trust, leading to mismatches and unsafe encounters.

My Parsons friend got scammed $5000 by a fake broker in New York while trying to look for apartment rentals.

Not only she lost the money, she lost trust for online platforms and do not know where to find rentals.

My Parsons friend got scammed $5000 by a fake broker in New York while trying to look for apartment rentals.

Not only she lost the money, she lost trust for online platforms and do not know where to find rentals.

.

“Design assets and branding theme.”

“Design assets and branding theme.”

— Haley

— Haley

Try moving things

User Research

User Research

I conducted both qualitative and quantitative research to figure out the pain points with the existing room rental apps:

  • Surveys: Over 10 college students from NYU, Parsons, and colleges in NYC

  • Interviews: 10 interview conversations exploring frustrations with existing apps

Core Pain Points

  • Safety issues: Difficulty verifying listings and avoiding scams.

  • Lack of trust: No reliable way to confirm roommate compatibility.

  • Lifestyle mismatches: Existing filters (gender, budget) ignore habits like schedules, cleanliness, and study preferences.

User interviews

User interviews

User Research

User Research

Problem 1.

While there are many websites and applications design for finding roommates and renting out places, it can often be dangerous to meet and live with strangers online

Problem 2.

Having conversations with college students across the city allowed me to understood that many issues with the existing apps/sites, or it is often difficult to find a matching roommate with similar living habits. 

Tech Stack

5 Files

Strategy

  • Problem framing

  • User research

  • Product thinking

Design

  • Product design

  • UX & UI

  • Design systems

  • Prototyping

Tech Stack

5 Files

Affinity mapping

Affinity mapping

Roomee provides a trusted roommate and rental platform tailored to students’ needs. With verified listings, a compatibility quiz, and chat, it makes finding housing safer & easier.

Roomee provides a trusted roommate and rental platform tailored to students’ needs. With verified listings, a compatibility quiz, and chat, it makes finding housing safer & easier.

Solution

Solution

My skills focus on designing and building clear, usable digital products. I work across product design, mobile app design, and website creation.

My skills focus on designing and building clear, usable digital products. I work across product design, mobile app design, and website creation.

IA + Wireframes

IA + Wireframes

Information Architecture (User Flow)

Information Architecture (User Flow)

Low FI Wireframe

Low FI Wireframe

Final Prototype

Final Prototype

Core Features

  • Verified Listings: Ensures safety and reduces scams by validating all rooms and rentals

  • Matching Quiz: Connects students with compatible roommates based on lifestyle habits

  • Built-in Chat: Provides secure chat communication without relying on external platforms

Core Features

  • Verified Listings: Ensures safety and reduces scams by validating all rooms and rentals

  • Matching Quiz: Connects students with compatible roommates based on lifestyle habits

  • Built-in Chat: Provides secure chat communication without relying on external platforms

outcome

outcome

80% of students preferred Roomee over existing apps in usability testing

student 1

Students felt safer and more confident finding housing and roommates

student 2

Final design proved that safety + compatibility

student 3

Easier, efficient navigation app

student 4

nice all in one app!

Reflections & Feedback

A few words from people I’ve worked with.

Jan Darsen

UX Professor

“Working with Thomas was a smooth and thoughtful process. He quickly understood the problem, communicated clearly, and delivered a clean, well-structured design.”

Daniel Mack

Founder — Agenta

“Thomas brings clarity to every project. Their attention to detail and calm approach made collaboration easy. Very good job.”

00X

Roomee

Projects

More projects.

More projects.

More projects.

View all projects

View all projects

May 2, 2025

Tech@NYU Classroom LM

Tech@NYU Classroom LM

Tech@NYU Classroom LM

Tech@NYU Classroom LM

Apr 2, 2023

Roomee

Roomee

Roomee

Roomee

Experiences.

Experiences.

+ answers

01

Speakeasy - Product Design Intern (Sept 2025 - Now)

Developing consumer facing app for operations & intelligence platform for nightlife events

02

Lexor - UX Engineer Intern (2025)

03

Tech@NYU Dev Team - UX Developer (2025)

04

Hex Trust - UX Design Intern (2024)

05

McCANN Health - Design Intern (2023)