Enlace: A rental platform that repairs

  • COURSE

    Masters in Design Thesis
    Harvard Graduate School of Design

  • AREAS

    UX/UI design and reserach, product

  • SKILLS

    UX/UI, wireframing, user research, data review, social media analysis, housing policy analysis, user and expert interviews, rapid prototyping

  • TEAM

    Collaborator: Alejandra Fernández
    Mentors: Eric Gordon, Helena Rong

Problem

How can we simultaneously create an easy and exciting long term rental process while also prompting action to amplify affordable housing efforts?

  • How can we leverage technology to funnel wealth from rentals for foreigners directly into affordable housing projects? 

  • How can we make long term renting easier and safer for foreigners and landlords in Mexico City?

Accelerated by the pandemic, in Mexico City there has been an influx of wealth in certain neighborhoods due to the arrival of middle class foreigners from the Global North. This–coupled with the nonrestrictive regulatory system–has led to a rise in housing prices in those neighborhoods. The city hopes for the wealth brought by foreigners to benefit the city as a whole, but does not have a plan in place to do so. Simultaneously, the capacity of the city government to address affordable housing needs in the city is limited.

Mexico City housing rental landscape

Research Process

To understand the complexity of the housing landscape and the process of long-term renting, the research process included user interviews with expat renters, landlords, and NGOs, expert interviews, analysis of housing data, policy, and social media, as well as a review of gentrification theory, and histories and realities of development in Mexico City.

It is difficult for foreigners to find long-term housing in Mexico City. They generally lack trust in the rental process and landlords because of the plethora of listing platforms, the extensive requirements for renting, and the non-standardized methods of payment.

Personas

Landlords, due to existing policy and prior experience, do not trust renters and therefore ask for extensive documentation and interviews before approving a tenant. 

Rental Process

The rental process for long-term accommodation can take anywhere from 1-3 months. For the renter, the key pain point is navigating multiple platforms and a myriad of different requirements to rent is difficult. The lack of trust in a non-standardized process often leads them to check in with locals, lawyers, or real estate agents for guidance.

Design Process

Ideation: App Concept

Given the housing context in Mexico City as well as the difficulties faced by expat renters and landlords, we aimed to address user pain points while also redistributing wealth to areas of the city with housing needs. 

Making the rental process easier through…

Standardized documentation requirements

Standardized payment methods

Verification system for landlords and tenants

Give back through wealth redistribution…

Housing NGOs: Partner with housing organizations to channel resources to areas of the city with housing need

Sister Neighborhood: Renters and landlords are paired with “sister neighborhoods” to which they contribute through the use of the platform. They are able to see their contributions to the sister neighborhoods via updates from the NGOs working there.

Ideation: Redistribution methods

A portion of the fees charged for platform use are given to vetted housing organizations. 

User flows

User flows incorporate different points of verification in order to generate trust in the platform. Narratives around giving back are integrated into the process of renting an apartment.

Wireframes

Initial design brainstorms experimented with how to integrate the narratives of an improved housing process (immediate user need) and a more equitable city (fuzzier user desire). Our ideas focused on gamifying charitable contributions through showing how much other users had given, creating a point system, and allowing users to learn about and choose their housing partners.

Design

User experience

Expat renter

Meet Anika. A 28 year old graphic designer from Georgia who loves to travel. Her job is now remote and she’s excited to move to Mexico City, which she is hoping to make her new home. She has heard about expat effects on rising housing prices, so she is searching for ways to rent that minimize harm.  She is looking for an apartment to stay in for the next few years. As she hunts, she’s confused by the extensive documentation and cash payments required to rent.

Housing NGO

Part of Anika and Carla’s monthly fee goes to Habitat for Humanity, an Enlace partner NGO that works in Xochimilco on earthquake recovery projects. The Mexico chapter of Habitat needs more donations to finish their work rebuilding housing in Xochimilco after the 2017 earthquake. Enlace sets up a partnership with them. 

Landlord

Carla is Anika’s landlord. Three years ago Carla moved back to Mexico City, which they love. They grew up outside of the center and upon returning, they were surprised by how much the cost of living had risen. They don’t want to contribute to the increasing inaccessibility of housing in the city, but also need to rent out their grandmother’s apartment. Carla just completed a one year process to evict a tenant who missed 5 months of rent. They are desperate to find a trustworthy renter. 

Learnings

Design Process

  • Spoken vs. enacted social good: Users may state that they want to do good, but that is not a reflection of the effort they are willing to put in to enact good. In Enlace, the best way to ensure social impact was to incorporate it automatically, as opposed to adding steps for the user to choose how they would contribute. This eliminated resistance to action.

  • Storytelling for social impact: The way social good is narrated is as important as the impact itself, as it attracts users to choose one application over another.

Role of Technology in Redistributive Economies

In an economy centered on redistribution, designers of sharing economy technologies would:

  • Develop technologies that are situated within the larger economic, cultural, political and physical systems of the city.

  • Leverage the technology and the talent and assets it gathers to repair divisions in the city created by unequal access to resources.

  • Use the technology to connect and serve stakeholders beyond those who channel capital into the platform.

  • Create networks of support that span the city through using the platform to share resources among paying and no paying users of the technology.

  • Make visible for users of the technology their connections to redistributive networks that span the city.