Introduction
Introduction
For many students, especially those moving to a new country, finding housing, reliable roommates, and affordable essentials can feel overwhelming
Saciva aims to simplify that transition by bringing rooms, roommates, sublets, and a student marketplace together in one place
TLDR - Toggle between findings & recommendations
Findings
Recommendations
9:41
Finding 1
Inconsistent navigation and
unclear entry points made it
hard for students to find and
move between core sections
✦
Finding 3
Early onboarding friction hindered smooth entry into the app
✦
Finding 2
A lack of visible verification and unclear filtering behavior reduced students’ trust in the results
✦
Finding 4
Students struggle to confidently evaluate rooms, roommates, & products due to limited clarity in listings
✦
Current Experience
Behind the curtain
"We’re stuck in a
chicken-and-egg loop
Students hesitate to engage because
the app feels empty, & the app remains
empty until students engage"
- Founder, Saciva
Defining Objectives & Goals
High-level goals that defined our study
We started with a kick-off meeting with Saciva’s founder to understand the product’s vision, identify what wasn’t working, and define what
success would look like for the team
Transforming early conversations into north stars.gif
Making it easier for
students to complete
key tasks without
spending too much
time on the app
Improve student re-engagement after initial interaction
Increase onboarding completion rates among new students
Understand whether
students want an AI
assistant to help
them find relevant
options faster
Usability Testing
Investigating the unmet needs of Saciva users
01
User Interviews
We interviewed 8 students to understand what decisions
they made and what goals they had while finding housing,
roommates, & marketplace products
02
Tasks Performed by users
03
Post - Test Questionaire
Following the tasks, we asked participants to reflect on their
overall experience using the app
4/8 users said they would use
Marketplace the most, 4/8 for
finding roommates & 2/8
for rooms
5/8 users loved the
dark mode aesthetic,
while 1 user preferred
simpler visuals
4/8 users were unsure if they would continue using the app because the experience didn’t feel trust-worthy, revealing that they were looking for more credibility before committing to it
Major Findings & Insights
Transforming notes into insights
Our research helped identify 4 key issues
Finding 1
Inconsistent navigation and unclear entry points made it hard for students to find and move between core sections
A lack of a persistent navigation bar and unclear iconography led to frequent mis-taps, backtracking, and extra effort while moving between core actions
Unlabeled future features drew attention away from primary tasks, making it unclear what was usable and what wasn't
Marketplace was hard to browse because buying and selling lived in separate pathways and category-heavy flows often led to empty pages, reducing confidence in its value
Recommendation 1
Introduce a consistent global nav and unify marketplace flows to make core features easy to find
We added a global bottom navigation with clear icons so students always know where the core app features live, reducing mis-taps and backtracking between core actions
Grouped coming-soon features into a single AI tile to reduce visual noise and highlight interest through visible sign-up counts
For Marketplace, we replaced the split buy/sell pathways with a single entry point and "Sell a product" CTA, and shifted focus from category-heavy paths to real inventory first
Finding 1
Recommendation 1
Finding 2
A lack of visible verification and unclear filtering behavior reduced students’ trust in the results
Students couldn’t tell which profiles or listings were genuine, and filters didn’t behave in ways they expected, making it harder to trust the matches and results
Recommendation 2
Communicate match logic clearly and design flexible filtering to help students trust and act on the results
We added visible verification badges and a "compatibility breakdown" so students can immediately see which profiles are real and why someone is a good match.
To improve search accuracy, we added a dedicated filter page with familiar controls, multi-select options, and a clear display of active filters. An AI-powered search bar further accelerates discovery by surfacing personalized results quickly
Finding 2
Recommendation 2
9:41
Filters Screen
Finding 3
Early onboarding friction hindered smooth entry into the app
Users struggled to answer onboarding questions because location and preference prompts lacked context and felt restrictive, leading to hesitation and a less assured entry
Recommendation 2
Simplify location selection and expand preference options to make choices feel easier and more intentional
We clarified the purpose of location selection and introduced a more flexible preference model to make onboarding feel intuitive rather than restrictive. This helps students understand why certain inputs were needed and gives them options that better reflect their real-life habits. It encourages students to complete setup without hesitation.
9:41
Mid-range options make it easier to reflect real-life habits
Finding 3
Recommendation 3
Finding 4
Students struggle to confidently evaluate rooms, roommates, and products due to limited clarity in listings
Both room and marketplaceproduct listings lacked essential details making it difficult for students to assess whether options were suitable or trustworthy
Recommendation 4
Make listings clearer and easier to revisit so students can quickly judge fit now and have strong reasons to come back later
We made oom, roommate, and product listings more scannable by surfacing the most relevant details up front
Added dedicated detail pages so students can review full information before deciding to reach out
Introduced wishlist and saved-search patterns across rooms and products so students can track options they like and revisit them
Finding 4
Recommendation 4
AI Feature Insights
During post-test questionnaire, we asked users how an AI assistant could support their search experience and what role they wanted it to play
💬 Hover to see real user quotes
Students saw value in AI only if it saved them time by reducing manual searching
💡Recommendation: AI-assisted search alerts & personalized suggestions for new or similar items
Students wanted AI to enhance, not replace, filtering, they still wanted control over the criteria
💡Recommendation: Integrate AI-assisted search bar that works on top of existing filters instead of overriding them
AI was appealing when it helped match very specific lifestyle preferences (spending habits, cleanliness, food choices, amenities)
💡Recommendation: Introduce richer lifestyle inputs so future AI matching can suggest roommates & rooms that mirror how students actually live together
Second Round of User Testing
How Users Responded to the Redesign
Overall, user responses suggest that the redesign has strong potential to reduce task completion time and improve feature discoverability
~ 62%
Reduction in time to complete onboarding
3/4
found where to sell a product on first try & used
the product page to evaluate listings
All 4
understood how the compatibility percentage was derived
Meet the team!
A huge thank you to Professor Tankha for his valuable guidance throughout the project & my increadible team!🥰
Truly the best people I could’ve asked to learn and create with <3
Thank you!
Feel free to flip through our usability report here!
Psst, you've reached the end…how about another story?
Driving team productivity with a dashboard that cut soak test time by 81%
Product Strategy/Full-Stack Development
Made with coffee(lots of it) & duck-approved decisions
©️2026
Say Hello!
My spidey-sense says we’d get along ;)
Eliminating early friction & trust gaps to
increase user adoption & return rates
Eliminating early friction & trust gaps to
increase user adoption & return rates
SACIVA
ROLE
User Research
Recruitment
Usability Testing
Interaction Design
TEAM
4 UX Designers,
1 Design Mentor
MADE IN
6 Weeks
(Oct 2025 -
Dec 2025)
Introduction
For many students, especially those moving to a new country, finding housing, reliable roommates, and affordable essentials can feel overwhelming
Saciva aims to simplify that transition by bringing rooms, roommates, sublets, and a student marketplace together in one place
Eliminating early friction & trust gaps to
increase user adoption & return rates
SACIVA
ROLE
User Research, Recruitment, Usability Testing, Interaction Design
TEAM
4 UX Designers, Design Mentor
MADE IN
6 Weeks (Oct 2025 - Dec 2025)
Findings
Recommendations
9:41
Current Experience
Finding 1
Inconsistent navigation and unclear entry points made it hard for students to find and move between core sections
Finding 2
A lack of visible verification and unclear filtering behavior reduced students’ trust in the results
Finding 3
Early onboarding friction hindered smooth entry into the app
Finding 4
Students struggle to confidently evaluate rooms, roommates, & products due to limited clarity in listings
TL;DR
The redesigned onboarding flow
Buying and selling in Marketplace
Choosing a housemate using updated listings and filters
Psst…this is just a preview, view the complete journey on a larger screen!
How Users Responded to the Redesign
Overall, user responses suggest that the redesign has strong potential to reduce task completion time and improve feature discoverability
~ 62%
Reduction in time to complete onboarding
3/4
found where to sell a product on first try & used
the product page to evaluate listings
All 4
understood how the compatibility percentage was derived
Say Hello!
My spidey-sense says we’d get along ;)
Made with coffee(lots of it) & duck-approved decisions
©️2026