moving out is hard.
The Problem
When moving out and living alone for the first time, it is hard to know where to start in terms of what items to buy, what to look for in a rental property, or general advice and knowledge, in order to feel prepared and be confident in living in a new space.
What do young adults aged 18-28 need to know about moving out and living alone for the first time so that they can be confident in the process?
Success Statement
Finding the right tools to help us become confident in the moving out process can be hard to navigate. The “moving out is hard.” app combines all of the basic tools you need in order to do just that.
Target Audience
The only parameters for my audience were age and stage of life so I targeted young adults aged 18-28 who are in some stage of the moving out process. Whether that stage is moving out soon, already moved out, or just thinking about moving out.
Research
After analyzing what I found online through things like articles and discussion forums, I came up with a 12-question survey which I sent out to several group chats, added to my social media, and posted in a subreddit dedicated to people looking for moving advice.
Out of 55 total responses, I found that no matter what stage of the moving out process they were in, a very large chunk of my audience was not prepared for moving out but there were a lot of similarities in what they said would have been helpful. More specifically, my audience showed that there was a need for money, food, mental, and supplies related advice.
Design Process + Testing
Because of what I found in my research, I decided to create an app centered around the four main problem ares people face when moving out. Each advice component in the app is designed to help one of the four categories in different ways. To always remain helpful, parts of the app are constantly in a “testing phase”. To explain, under the mental component, there is a feature where users can submit suggestions for topics they would like to be covered that aren’t already. Ideally, this would be monitored and implemented frequently.
Design Solution
moving out is hard.
The “moving out is hard.” app is an easy to understand tool for anyone looking to move out for the first time. The app is designed to help users figure out rent prices, save some money, have grocery and supplies lists, and connect with each other in a way that allows for relatability in community forums and growth through question/answer boards.
My goal was to give my audience a solution that would help them be more confident in the moving out process. Through my app with four easy to understand components and categorized features, I gave users a tool to help keep them stay organized throughout what tends to be a chaotic stage in our lives.
