RateMyDorm

A one-stop shop for college dorm reviews.

OVERVIEW: Hundreds of thousands of college students need to pick their dorms every year, and have relied on various forums or word of mouth to decide where to live. RateMyDorm is a site for dorm reviews written by verified college students that helps prospective students choose where to live.

MY ROLE: I am the sole UX/UI designer for this site. I sketch, wireframe, prototype, and conduct usability tests, collaborating directly with the web developer to make changes as needed.

TOOLS & METHODS: Figma, Procreate, Illustrator, Card Sorting, Interviews

My Design Process

For this personal project, I used a Double Diamond Design Process. I began conducted research (discover and define) to first empathize with prospective users to define the current problem. Then I moved on to designing (develop and deliver). This process is recurring, as there is always more to learn and more improvements to make.

The first research question:

What barriers do current and prospective college students face when searching for dorms?

Interviews

I conducted 9 interviews with current college students and recent graduates. Many expressed that they relied on Facebook groups, Reddit threads, or word of mouth to choose their dorms—and not always being happy with their decision.

What participants said…

“Much like rate my professor, one of the best ways to learn about a place or person is by hearing or reading about the experiences of others. Of course it is not the only thing to consider, but the ability to gather more info about a dorm from a site…would be tremendous.”

“No school actually tells you the real story about dorms and it would be nice to have actual student opinions in a consolidated place”

“I lived in a terrible dorm that was super old and falling in over itself my freshman year of undergrad…If there was a site where I could have looked at detailed exterior AND interior photos, reviews, and hear what current students are saying…I would have chosen a different dorm.”

The second research question:

What information do students care about when searching for dorm reviews?

Conducting a Card Sort

For this part of the research, I conducted a card sort with 12 participants. This was done remotely due to COVID restrictions, which hindered my ability to observe participants’ movements and hesitations. However, conducting remotely also allowed me to draw quantitative insights much more quickly and accurately.

Each participant was presented with 20 different cards, each containing possible features for the site, i.e. a search bar to search for dorms, a Q&A section, the ability to like/dislike reviews, and a feature to see student-uploaded photos of the reviews. Their task was to sort these features into 3 categories: Must have, Nice to have, and Not needed.

*Participants’ view of the card sorting exercise*

Card Sort Insights & Design Considerations

01

Amenities Took the Throne

The overwhelming majority of participants said having a list of available amenities was must-have. This bumped up the priority for this feature, which originally was not even considered as part of initial launch.

02

Visuals Matter

Both of our image features, the image gallery and images attached to reviews, were ranked high (67% and 83% in “must have,” respectively). This also bumped up the priority for an “upload photo” feature, which was still in progress.

03

Not interested in other schools

Participants expressed little interest in a blog section, and even less interest in seeing a section with the most reviewed schools. This is likely because college students may decide what dorm to live in after they have already committed to a school.

Developing and Delivering the Design

Although the project is still ongoing, these were my design priorities:

A memorable, inviting home page
A dashboard for verified “.edu” users
A dorm page with a compilation of reviews
A school page with a compilation of dorms

Main Pages

Dashboard

*Key interaction on the dorm page: a two-part scroll*

Final Thoughts + Preparing for Beta Launch

As we prepare for our beta launch, I’m working on improving existing pages and tackling another significant aspect of the site: writing reviews and uploading photos. The beta launch will also be a great opportunity to conduct usability tests and iterate as needed. Another exciting addition we’re working on: forums!

Creating these designs made me realize the value that a site like this would have had when I was picking my dorm during college. I’m excited to see the new features we add over time and watch the site grow.

Check back later to see updates on this ongoing project!