House Swap for
Digital Nomads
House Swap for
Digital Nomads
Mobile App Design
Searching a place to swap
Searching a place to swap
After noticing friends constantly posting apartment availability across Berlin, Tokyo, New York, and Buenos Aires on Instagram, I explored why digital nomads avoid traditional platforms for flexible housing and designed a peer-to-peer swap solution that recreates the trust and ease of friend-to-friend subletting.
Ensuro is a blockchain-based, licensed (re)insurance company that aims to make insurance more accessible to the public, allowing anyone to invest in insurance risk and benefit from it.
My experience as an Ensuro user informed my design decisions
This solo project, part of my DesignLab bootcamp, involved designing and adding a new feature to the Ensuro website. I handled everything from identifying the problem to UX research, visual design, and prototyping.
Role
Role
UX/UI Designer
UX/UI Designer
Goal
Goal
Create a trustworthy platform where strangers feel confident exchanging their homes
Create a trustworthy platform where strangers feel confident exchanging their homes
Problem
Problem
Digital nomads post apartment availability on Instagram instead of using traditional rental platforms
Digital nomads post apartment availability on Instagram instead of using traditional rental platforms
Tool
Tool
Figma, Notion, Google Docs, Maze, FigJam
Figma, Notion, Google Docs, Maze, FigJam
Research and Analysis
Research and Analysis
Interviewed 6 people (2 in-person, 4 online) about their experiences moving to new places. Through affinity mapping, I identified common themes around concerns, priorities, and emotional aspects of relocation
Managed to interview 6 people, 2 in person, 4 online.
Mapping and organize the content of 6 interviews with moving to new places experiences
Themes
Themes
Reason for Moving
Concerns
Moving Experience
Adapt new place
Wish to have
Emotional Aspects
Reason for Moving
Concerns
Moving Experience
Adapt new place
Wish to have
Emotional Aspects
Information Collection
Difficulty
Moving within the same country
Priorities
Moving abroad
Information Collection
Difficulty
Moving within the same country
Priorities
Moving abroad
Personas
Personas
Interviews revealed 2 primary user patterns: independent explorers who prioritize discovering neighborhoods and local culture, and social connectors who focus on building community and friendships when relocating
Interviews revealed 2 primary user patterns: independent explorers who prioritize discovering neighborhoods and local culture, and social connectors who focus on building community and friendships when relocating
Sitemap
Sitemap
Information architecture organizing core features: search and discovery, listing management, user profiles, and booking flows
Information architecture organizing core features: search and discovery, listing management, user profiles, and booking flows
User Flow
User Flow
Primary user journeys: finding and booking a house swap (top) and listing your own apartment (bottom)
Primary user journeys: finding and booking a house swap (top) and listing your own apartment (bottom)
low-fidelity wireframes
low-fidelity wireframes
Wireframes mapping key user journeys: finding swaps and listing apartments
Wireframes mapping key user journeys: finding swaps and listing apartments
Brand voice
Brand voice
Concept of Logo
Concept of Logo
The logo uses geometric shapes “circle”, “triangle”, and “connecting lines” to represent movement, exchange, and the idea of spaces connecting across distances
The logo uses geometric shapes “circle”, “triangle”, and “connecting lines” to represent movement, exchange, and the idea of spaces connecting across distances
Color palette
Color palette
Bold pink and blue convey adventure and trust, balancing the excitement of travel with the reliability needed for home exchanges
Bold pink and blue convey adventure and trust, balancing the excitement of travel with the reliability needed for home exchanges
Typography
Typography
Open Sans provides clean readability across mobile screens while maintaining a friendly, approachable feel that suits a community-driven platform
Open Sans is the best fit to me.
I like the font it's neither too heavy
nor too light, and its height of x
makes it easy to read.
It also aligns well with my brand idea, offering a solid yet relaxed feeling
Open Sans provides clean readability across mobile screens while maintaining a friendly, approachable feel that suits a community-driven platform
Usability Testing & Iteration
Usability Testing & Iteration
Tested with 5 users and prioritized feedback based on impact and effort. Key improvements
Tested with 5 users and prioritized feedback based on impact and effort. Key improvements
Key Updates
Key Updates
Added privacy terms to contract upload flow
Introduced pop-up message notifications
Enhanced listing pages with card-based design and clearer information hierarchy
Added video upload capability for property listings
Refined Category and Home section content for better discovery
Added privacy terms to contract upload flow
Introduced pop-up message notifications
Enhanced listing pages with card-based design and clearer information hierarchy
Added video upload capability for property listings
Refined Category and Home section content for better discovery
Final screens
Final screens
Designed for mobile first, where users naturally completed booking and listing tasks
Designed for mobile first, where users naturally completed booking and listing tasks
Final High-Fidelity Prototype
Final High-Fidelity Prototype
Built and animated in Figma to demonstrate real-time interaction and responsiveness.
Built and animated in Figma to demonstrate real-time interaction and responsiveness.
Home page & Booking process
Home page & Booking process
Listing your apartment
Listing your apartment
Notification & Confirmation
Notification & Confirmation
Impact and Reflection
Impact and Reflection
The biggest challenge was designing for trust between strangers. Home exchanges require a higher level of confidence than typical transactions, which pushed me to think carefully about verification, reviews, social proof, and clear communication throughout the booking flow.
If I were to revisit this project, I'd conduct competitive analysis earlier to better understand existing solutions and identify more specific differentiation points.
Key takeaways:
Real user observation beats assumptions
Trust-building in peer-to-peer platforms requires layered design solutions, not just one feature
Iteration based on usability testing is essential
This project strengthened my research skills, taught me to design for complex user concerns like safety and trust, and reinforced the importance of grounding design decisions in real user behavior.