Finding Housing in the Section 8 Market
Client
Human Services Coalition
Timeline
4 months
Skills
Product Thinking
User Research
Wireframing
Prototyping
Information Architecture
Role
Product Designer
Tools
Figma
Miro
Team
3 Designers
7 Developers
1 Product Manager
1 Tech Lead
Brief
Design the admin tools of a brand new housing marketplace website for desktop.
Scoped-Down Problem
How might HSC staff help potential tenants apply for housing with Section 8 vouchers?
Solution
HSC staff can manage multiple tenants, each with multiple housing applications, in a private and time-sensitive manner on a single site.
I created the admins' profile management system for a 0-1 housing marketplace site.
Final Prototype
Context
HSC staff and potential tenants apply to housing applications across various marketplaces.
Tracking their application process is extremely challenging due to applying through multiple sites. We created a marketplace to streamline the application process.
Vouchers expire before they are used and in order to re-apply for eligibility, staff have to retrace their steps and submit proof of search.
Section 8 vouchers: A government subsidy paid by the Public Housing Agency directly to the landlord, on behalf of tenants.
Key Insights
User research with 40% of the housing department showed that staff:
sit side-by-side with potential tenants to submit applications
manage multiple applications simultaneously
respond to unpredictable application timelines
prioritize confidentiality
The housing application and eligibility cycle looks like:
Building the Solution
Task 1: How might staff manage the number of potential tenants they are assisting?
Results list display with filters, keyword search,
and tab view between admin and non-admin
To make it easy for admin to sort through user profiles, we designed the profiles in a list display, searchable by key words and filterable by voucher types.
Because admin users will primarily view and edit potential tenants’ profiles, and not other admins’, we included a tab view to easily differentiate between the user groups.
Task 2: How might staff help potential tenants apply for eligibility period extensions?
Card Iteration
✘ Too many CTA
✔︎ Clear display of profile info without crowded UI
✘ Limited amount of profiles viewed at once
List Iteration with 2 buttons
✔︎ Fewer CTA
✔︎ More profiles viewed easily at once
✘ "View Recents" unclear language
List Iteration with 3 buttons
✘ Too many CTA
✔︎ Clear entry points into key admin functions
Final List Display
✔︎ Clear primary CTA and secondary CTA
✔︎ "Search History" precise language
✔︎ List view displays more profiles viewed at once
Admin users will view non-admin users’ profiles primarily to apply or reapply for voucher eligibility with proof of search. Staff can submit search histories as proof of search, so clicking “search history” is the primary CTA.
We emphasize the primary CTA by limiting the amount of CTA and designing the button UI to be bright orange.
Task 3: How might staff maintain confidentiality while storing relevant user-specific data?
Selecting a 30-day time extension in a drop-down menu in the user profile details, with pop-up feedback after changes are saved.
Profiles expire. Non-admin users’ data is stored only while applying.
Admin need to extend non-admin users’ profiles if eligibility period extensions are approved, which is the most frequent use case for admin to review non-admin users’ profile details as extensions can occur in 30 day increments.
Thus, we included the “extend profile” function first at the top of the page, ordered the information fields top to bottom from what changes admins are most to least likely to make.
Behind the Solution
Principles
Design for the path of least resistance.
Consistency is key.
CTAs should be simple and singular.
Problem-solve with sensitivity and humility.
Thank you for reading.
If you'd like to hear more about this project, please email me michelle.yw.wei@gmail.com.