Introduction
For this project I worked with Rent24, a coworking company based out Berlin. Rent24 has several coworking offices in Europe, and has recently opened offices here in the US. The current branding of the Rent24 website is geared toward the European market. For this project I worked with two teammates to brand the Rent24 site so that it appeals to the American market in order to increase revenue in their American offices.
Research Process
We began by doing a competitive analysis of several coworking companies both local and global. From this we concluded that the Rent24 website is branded to appeal more to the European market. The site is darker and saturated with color and does not seem to reflect their physical spaces. The other spaces we looked at were all very bright, clean and professional looking and reflected what you would find in their physical spaces.
We then interviewed users about coworking spaces. From this we concluded that users are looking for a site that light, crisp and professional. We also found that their is a balance of information that needs to be on the website. Too little information will cause the user to bounce from the site, too much information is unnecessary. Also the information needs to be consistent across all pages of the site. Users also want to know they are working with a real person when inquiring about the space.
We then did an affinity map and findings and recommendations matrix. From here we were able to form our problem statement, solution statement and user persona.
Problem Statement: User needs to find a space for their needs through a site that reflects a refreshing and familiar experience.
Solution Statement: Decrease user frustration when booking a space so that users will be more likely to stay on site and rent through Rent24 thus increasing revenue.
Design Process
We began the design process by participating in a design studio. We took these ideas from the design studio and created our sketches.
We created a low fidelity prototype and conducted usability testing. Feedback showed our copy needed to be more conversational and consistent across all pages. We then created our high fidelity prototype and conducted usability testing again. Feedback from this round of testing help us to make the prototype more visually appealing and more intuitive for the user.
Prototype
Conclusion
For future iterations of this project I would like to build out the other pages of the site to further reflect the American market and make more user friendly for the American user. Our prototype included a page for Rent24’s new and first ever American event space. I would like to have 360 degree imaging of the event space on the site so that a user can “walk through” the space online and get a better sense of what the space looks like and is capable of.