Okaeri Mobile Application UX Case Study

All-in-one platform of necessary tasks when moving in to a new home

"Getting an apartment in Japan is stressful enough,
moving in shouldn’t be as stressful as well."

Project Summary

Okaeri is a mobile application that aims to help people move in to their new place in Japan smoothly and feel at home the soonest. This app offers convenience to people moving in by providing an all-in-one platform of tasks to do to fully settle in to their new home, like activating gas line, water supply, electricity, and other necessary tasks to ease the anxiety of moving in.

My Role

UX Designer
UX Researcher
UI Designer

Tools Used

Figma
FigJam
Miro

Problem

• People moving in often get stressed when moving in to their new apartment in Japan due to the unforeseen tasks they get after getting the key to our new apartment
• Moving in tasks in Japan are too many and are spread out in different platforms
• People moving in in Japan often have a hard time completing moving in tasks immediately due to lack of information and long process of accomplishing a task

Goal

• Provide an all-in-one platform that has all the necessary tasks after moving in
• Include usual overlooked tasks when moving in
• Offer other helpful tips when moving in

Design Process

Discover > Empathize > Ideate > Prototype

How It Started...

The idea to start this project began when I first moved out and started living on my own in Japan.
Finding an apartment was stressful as expected, but I didn't expect that moving in after getting my key could be as stressful as well. My real estate agency gave me a thick folder of things that I have to do and call for my apartment to be livable. And suddenly, I found myself overwhelmed with the tasks and burdened with the repetitive tasks of giving out my information to multiple entities.

I wanted to know if the experience was the same to other people, so I've decided to conduct a survey amongst my friends who also had experienced moving apartments in Japan.

Discover

User Research

User research was conducted to gain more insight. 9 participants were surveyed to understand more about their needs, motivations and frustrations.

Research Goals

I want to understand common challenges people face after moving in to their new place in Japan.
I want to identify frustrations people experience during the process of moving in to their new place in Japan.

Target Participants

People who had experienced moving house in Japan
Ages 20-30
Participants with different genders and nationalities

Research Questions

○ Tell me about the experience you had after moving in to your new place.
○ What are the problems you faced after moving in to your new place?
○ Were there any unforeseen tasks that you had to do that you didn’t know you had to do beforehand? What were these tasks and how did you try to solve it?
○ What is something that you wished you knew or have before moving in to your new place?
○ How was the whole experience of moving in to your new place?

Survey Responses

"[I wish there is] a list about things to do before moving in or maybe one platform to do everything before moving in"

"I was also overwhelmed with the things I need to set up by myself."

"I wish I had more information on how to layout my room haha or what are the best plans available for utilities or internet. Or like a guide with all the 101 for moving"

"[I wish there is] a service that can summarize all the things I need so I won’t worry that i’m missing something. Something to ensure me that the place i’m moving to has a nice and safe environment"

"[I wish I knew] how to install wifi, gas, electricity, water, and amenities around the place"

"[I want to know the] accessibility to public transportation.

"インターネットを自分で契約しなければいけないことは知っていたけど、契約準備が間に合わなかった。引っ越し先で、おすすめを紹介してくれたらいいなと思いながら、探しているところ。"
(I knew that I had to make a contract for the Internet myself, but I couldn't prepare the contract in time. I'm looking for a place to move to, hoping that someone will introduce me to some recommendations.)

"[I wish I knew] the difference between the gas set up, the insurances and also the discounts I can get if I set up all of it in one company. Ex Au offers denki [electricity], wifi and phone setup at one payment monthly. Stuff like that."

🇯🇵 🇮🇩 🇵🇭 🇸🇬

Based on the research, it was apparent that people moving in to a new apartment in Japan experience stress after moving in, and they wish that there's an easy way to handle the moving in tasks in one platform.

Empathize

User Journey

Based on the user journey that is complicated and repetitive for users, I aim to simplify the steps to the users so that they'd feel at home to soonest.

Ideate

User Flow

Wireframes

Typography and Colors

I've decided to use a shade of red as the main brand color to represent Japan, and matched it with homey colors so that it could add into "feel-at-home" experience while accomplishing tasks in the app.

Final Pages

Home

Tasks

Other useful information

Apartment Information & Notifications

Chat Box

Prototype

My Apartment Information • Notifications • Chat Box

Tasks

Other useful information

View Protoype on Figma

Takeaways

What I have learned

• I have learned a lot during the process of doing this case study. It was an interesting journey that I wish I took more time on each process, because while going through each step, I realize more things and the more I want to redo things because I know I can do better.
• While studying my UX Design course, I have learned the steps of making a case study project one by one. But as I was building up this case study, I found myself struggling to connect each parts as it felt like just parts but not really conveying a message. Therefore, I helped myself to learn the art of storytelling in a case study. After applying it to my case study, the communication felt more satisfying and not forced.

Next Steps

• I plan to do a usability study next to test if my design and prototype is user-friendly and allows the users to accomplish their tasks after moving in to their new apartment.