2. Izzy, 21, Brighton: I feel I’m at the
mercy of my landlord
Lizzie, 23, Glasgow: If I wasn’t
splitting the rent with my partner I
would already be feeling the pinch
Patrick, 28, London: The cost of
rent is part of the reason that we’re
leaving in a few months
4. “The joy of renting is that,
because you pay so much
money in rent, it’s their
problem to deal with it”
“The landlord’s husband was a handyman, by which I
mean he stopped things being broken, I wouldn’t
necessarily say he fixed things”
5. Landlord VS Tenants
The issue of responsibility for maintenance of the
home was identified as a pain point for both landlords and
tenants.
For tenants, there is a pressure to prove they fulfill their
responsibility of reporting all issues - and the deposit is
seen as being at risk if they haven’t.
6. “Instead of phoning I would always email because
then there’s a record [...] if I don’t hear back from them
within 24 - 48hours I would send them another email”
“I prefer to do it by email rather than phone because
they can kind of fob you off otherwise.”
TENANT BIGGEST PAIN POINT
Report issues: current process
Discover
issue
Confirm it’s
fixed
Communicate to
Landlord
Coordinate access with
supplier / contractor
Wait for
solution
7. LANDLORD BIGGEST PAIN POINT
Coordination to fix issues: current process
Receive
report of
issue
Establish
it’s fixed
Decide suitable
solution
Coordinate
supplier /
contractor
Confirm
access for
supplier
“You can’t be a good landlord without good tenants
[...] the one thing that would really bother me is a
tenant reporting an issue that’s been going on 3
months and not having mentioned it.”
9. Building The User Persona
Who are the people most affected by the current
and forecasted changes in the rental market?
10. Persona Assumptions
1. More affluent means higher expectations of home
2. Willing to use technology to help solve problems
3. Cares enough about home to be proactive
11. Market sizing
● Private Rental Market is
worth more than
£12 billion per year
● 2 million landlords in the UK
● 11.6 million private rental
units in the UK by 2032
72% UK
landlords own
single rental
property
13. Pricing Model
Gain traction through free product use to
the large user base (Tenants).
Charge £2 subscription fee per month to
the businesses (Landlords) for access to
features which will help them save time and
money.
16. How to bring the product to market
1. Traditional startup route - raise funding, gain
traction, introduce the premium landlord
features, IPO, sell to larger brand, buy private
island
2. Intrapreneurial route - product is taken up by
an established company with relevant targeted
database already in place - product offering
complements company goals
3. Public service route - funded by government
or charity sector to bring value to citizens.
18. Value Proposition:
The Tenancy Project is an app which enables
tenants to report, track and record their in-
tenancy issues. Unlike FixFlo and Rentr, The
Tenancy Project is a tenants-first app which
increases quality of communication.
19. Synthesis into Design
The coffee table wireframing / MVP features board!
GREEN = User actions within app
ORANGE = Functionality / Feature to make that happen
PINK = Data which is stored from the action
20. In order for the app to add more user value than the
current process, these were the key points I believed
would be necessary to include.
Some of the features / functionality in orange are non-
essentials to MVP and could deprioritized depending on
timing and budget constants.
21. The bells and whistles...
● Downloadable tenancy reports with
quantitative data
● Landlord dashboard and interface
● Important docs section for all the
tenancy documentation
23. Registration User Flow
As a tenant, I need to be able to add my contact
details, the contact details of those I live with,
the contact details of my landlord and my
house information so that all my tenancy
information is stored in one secure place
24. Iterations on Registration User Flow
● User wanted to put all tenants details in
at same time as entering own details
● Identified inconsistency on Name field -
removed Last Name to make consistent
● Added Phone number to user registration
page
● Removed ‘Register’ button to encourage
completion of sign up form
27. Persona: Tenant
Name: Laura
Age: 29
Other stuff:
Full time job,
professional, living with
friends, time poor, house
proud, income £35,000
+, spends ⅓ to ½
income on rent
Needs
● Home to be in good condition
● To know when works in the home will take
place
● To pay rent
● Easy, consistent communication channels
about the home
● To feel that the landlord cares for the
home
Behaviours
● Aspiring to buy a flat but doesn’t prioritise
savings over lifestyle
● Reports issues when they directly impact
lifestyle
● Spends a lot of time out of the home
● Reports issues with exaggerated urgency
to ensure they are landlord/agents priority
● Controlling / wants to be in control
Contextual Goals
● To feel value for money for the rent paid
● Able to stay longer term in tenancy
● To feel in control of the home
● Home in good condition
28. COSTS
● Developers / labour
● Marketing / partnerships
● Operational costs
● Other (legal etc)
REVENUE
● Charge landlords monthly subscription to
access property dashboard
CUSTOMERS
- Tenants who care for
their homes
- Landlords who care for
their properties
PROBLEM
- Currently no consistent
communication channel
- Bad stereotypes which
become self-fulfilling
SOLUTION
- App to facilitate comms
- In-tenancy health
checks
- Proactive reporting from
tenants
VALUE PROPOSITION
- Longer tenancies
- More efficient work
coordination (fewer call-
out fees)
- Remove middlemen
- Landlord saves money
ENGINE OF
GROWTH
- Viral - tenants
recommend to
friends & seek
landlords using it
- Sticky - record
of issues for
tenants and
landlords to draw
on at end of
tenancy
- Paid - search
engine, partner
with online agents
MARKET
STAKEHOLDERS
GAINS
- Landlords and
tenants
- Contractors -
new business
source
- Government
(closer eye on
landlords + public
housing)
LOSSES
- Managing agents
- Competitors
(Fixflo)
DISTRIBUTION
- Partner with
online property
searches (e.g.
Zoopla)
- National
landlords
association
- Student
accommodation
/ NUS / Housing
officers
- White label
product to
estate agents
29. SOURCE: Understanding landlords: a study of private landlords in
the UK using the Wealth and Assets Survey
Private Rental Market
30. Add New Issue User Flow
As a tenant, I need to be able to log new
maintenance issues so that they will be dealt
with with appropriate urgency by my landlord
31. User feedback registration:
● As I live with my partner, I was unsure whose details
to put in on the first screen - I would have put both
● If it’s a one-off set up I don’t mind if this takes longer
so long as it is not entering all these details every
time I use it
● I don’t know my landlord’s contact details
● Rather than “Housemates” I would call it “Other tenants” - I think there
should be a “Relationship” drop down to demonstrate who the person is
● There’s no back button - what happens if I have made a mistake?
