CoHabit
Industry
Consumer Lifestyle
Role
Duration
3 months
Tools
Figma
Solving chore-related tensions between roommates with a digitized shores management system.
PROBLEM
It's just chores but…
Chores and cleanliness are the most common points of conflict between roommates. Between busy schedules, conflicting schedules, and lack of accountability, the built up tension becomes inevitable.
As the product designer…
How might we foster a sense of teamwork and cooperation in order to achieve a harmonious household dynamic?
Solution
Organize your household with a digital chore manager
Eliminate the legwork of manually managing a chore system and let CoHabit automate the distribution process, track details, and hold members accountable.
Everyone does their share
An automated chore list is evenly distributed among roommates each week, ensuring that everyone shares the workload equally on a rotating basis. I used color coding to personalize the chores, helping each individual take responsibility for their tasks.
Create and manage chore list
Add, edit, and delete chores as needed. Keeping track of all chores means everyone remembers what needs to get done. This can help households planning and reduce argument as expectations are clear on what needs to get done.
It’s purely business
The app will keep a thorough record of what chores were finished and who has yet to finish their tasks. The individual will no longer have to play the bad cop!
Research
Finding the most common points of conflict
Starting broad, I conducted a survey to see where the most common roommate conflicts stemmed from. Amongst all the issues, there was one that stood out most prominently.
56% of respondents on the survey reported that conflicts over chores and cleanliness are a common source of tension in shared living situations.
Equipped with this data, I decided to focus on pursuing this particular problem and dig deeper on how these issues impacts their lives and how they cope with them.
This showed me that while many households tried to establish a system, participation is short lived and begins to decline.
The lack of communication and accountability leads to resentment and tensions.
Which leads me to wonder…
How might we ease the mental strain of maintaining a chore system and improve the communication and accountability between roommates?
Designing
Designing the core flows to address the drop in chore completion.
Identifying the point of decline provided insight into what preventive measures were required to prevent chore incompletion. Roommates need a system that handles the logistic of the chore system, which in turn allows them to focus solely on finishing the chores.
Flow 1
"We wanted detailed steps to establish clear guidelines."
Flow 2
"We want to hold each other accountable."
Flow 3
"We want to remind each other to complete a chore."
Final Screens
Create new chores + manage the masterlist
View and edit your chores as needed on the Chores page. Never forget to add even the most obscure chores to your rotation!
Complete your tasks, be rewarded
CoHabit will remind you to finish chores before the deadline so you don't incur a penalty, and make it very obvious when you've missed one.
Remind your roommates!
Don't be afraid to address your chore related concerns through the app by nudging. There's also an option to include additional notes for more details.
Challenges
Gamified cleaning with robot personas
Another angle I tried exploring was gamifying the chore system through personal cleaning robots avatars. Through the pixel currency rewarded upon completing chores, participants can decorate their robots with items to show off their efforts.
However, due to time constraints, I found that fleshing this idea out to it full potential would be difficult. Usability testing also revealed that while participants did find the idea fun, they felt it was distracting from the overall goal of managing chore systems, especially for their busy lifestyles. They also felt the incentive and accountability aspect was not strong enough to motivate them to complete their chores.
CONCLUSION
Some lessons learned along the way …
😰 Don't get attached to the first idea and stay open minded to user feedback!
🤔 Understand the job of the user to stay focus and decide the design goals.
🔍 Let research set the foundation and guide the rest of the design process