People who live in New York City know how difficult it can be to find an apartment. With a city that is over 70% renters, high demand creates a seller's market, resulting in high costs and low quality.

After talking with NYC tenants, I recognized the lack of information they had before committing to a new home. I considered the idea of making information about specific apartments readily available to tenants before they negotiate and sign expensive contracts.

Looking into tools that were already on the market, there seemed to be a space for a service that provided government tracked data (code violations, 311 complaints, etc.) along with user generated information.

To validate this idea, I created a simple Hey Neighbor landing page mockup to compare with one of the leading companies in the space, Rentlogic.

For the test, I didn't want to show a NYC renter both landing pages and ask which service they prefer. Instead, I simulated an impartial third-party source that could equally introduce each website and allow the NYC renter to explore each service, then choose which they would us first.

I took the code from a recent online article that featured Rentlogic, changed the copy so that it would also include Hey Neighbor, then allowed the user to click through to each service. The user would share their unprompted thoughts as they went through the test.

Since I took the code from a real publication and had the edited code open in a browser, the online article looked authentic which helped users to give honest insight to the prototype.

View prototype here.

Out of ten interviews, eight preferred Hey Neighbor. While both Hey Neighbor and Rentlogic provided government information, Hey Neighbor also presents first-hand experiences and opinions from tenants that lived in the same apartment or building. Users valued the social proof that Hey Neighbor provided and Rentlogic lacked.

Some quotes from the test:

“Hey Neighbor feels less corporate. It seems more of a friendlier environment where people can give the real deal on what an apartment is like. It feels like the service wants to help you as if a neighbor/friend was looking out for you.”

“I feel like the actual tenant opinions, stories and reviews in regards to the apartment building, landlords and supers would be very helpful in making the best decision on where I want to call home.”

I felt validated that NYC tenants needed a tool that offers both data and personal experiences on NYC apartment buildings. With information taken from city tracked data-bases and user generated content, Hey Neighbor could help New Yorkers with one of their most important decisions⁠—finding a home.

After finishing the interviews and tests, I created personas and continued mapping out a NYC renter user experience.

To see another project page that highlights Hey Neighbor's brand and functionality, click here.