A co-living service in two parts: finding a commune, then living in it. This 2022 concept designs the second, the app a commune runs for its residents, from services and bills to meeting the neighbours. I took it from research to a high-fidelity prototype, following the double diamond.
Three problems, one opportunity
A housing shortage in growing cities.
Single households, the type of housing that grew most over the last decade.
Loneliness becoming a problem at the level of society.
More opportunities for co-living address all three.
Meet Sofia
The persona builds on Space10’s survey of 14,000 people about what they would and wouldn’t share in co-living. Sofia, a DevOps lead who moved to Stockholm, hopes co-living solves two problems at once: finding her own place and meeting people. Today she works on both by hand, in the hours after work.
Scope
Finding a commune is a different product, a marketplace with its own business model. This case designs the app for people who already live in one, answering the pain points about neighbours and loneliness.
Structure before style
Sign up, home and timeline, wireframed before any visual design
Three decisions shaped the commune app, each answering a pain point from Sofia’s journey.
Join your commune, don’t search for it
A home ID or a QR scan connects a resident to their commune. Each commune runs its own white-label app, so joining means joining a community, not a platform.
Home as the unit’s control panel
Four one-tap services (Services, Parcels, Bills and Visitors), announcements from the commune, and shared facilities such as the meeting room, co-kitchen and daycare, bookable from home.
A timeline to meet the neighbours
Market, Event and Announcement posts, filterable so they don’t drown each other out. Events show who’s going, and any resident can host one.
Where it stands
A concept, not a launched product: persona and journey, service architecture, wireframes and a high-fidelity prototype, with success metrics and a usability test plan defined before testing. Next would be the planned interviews and a remote usability test.
Join your commune, don’t search for it
① Home ID ② Or scan the commune’s QR code
Home as the unit’s control panel
① Four one-tap services ② Commune announcements ③ Shared facilities, bookable from home
A timeline to meet the neighbours
① Market, Event and Announcement filters ② Who’s going ③ Any resident can post or host
Want the full story?
The full case study goes deeper, with every decision up close, more screens and the reasoning behind them.