Sankalp R

EXPERIENCE DESIGNER

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Sankalp R

EXPERIENCE DESIGNER

Sankalp R

EXPERIENCE DESIGNER

Sankalp R

EXPERIENCE DESIGNER

04:20

Nov 22, 2025

Student Rental Solution: Monetizing Trust

A Case Study on Designing a Closed-Loop, Verified Housing Platform for International Students

Case Study

Enhancing the home-search experience for international students by designing a trustworthy, community-focused platform that supports safety, belonging, and confident decision-making in a new city.

Case Study

Enhancing the home-search experience for international students by designing a trustworthy, community-focused platform that supports safety, belonging, and confident decision-making in a new city.

Case Study

Enhancing the home-search experience for international students by designing a trustworthy, community-focused platform that supports safety, belonging, and confident decision-making in a new city.

Case Study

Enhancing the home-search experience for international students by designing a trustworthy, community-focused platform that supports safety, belonging, and confident decision-making in a new city.

My Role:

UX Research + Design

Category:

User Research, Competitve Analysis, UI Design, UX Strategy

Client:

Stealth Startup

Duration:

3 Months

Overview

Base is a housing rental mobile application created to help international students relocating to New York City find trustworthy, verified, and affordable housing. The concept was inspired by firsthand experiences — the confusion, scams, and communication barriers faced by students moving abroad.

The concept was inspired by firsthand experiences — the confusion, scams, and communication barriers faced by students moving abroad.

Base emerged as a response to this gap — a platform designed around trust, transparency, and community.

The Strategic Challenge

New York City draws over 126,782 international students annually (Source: IIE Open Doors, 2023), injecting billions into the economy. However, this high-value demographic faces a critical market failure: a rental ecosystem plagued by fraud.

With consumers losing over $39 Million to rental scams in 2023 (Source: FTC), the challenge wasn't just user friction. It was a complete breakdown of trust, representing a clear business opportunity to build a platform on the foundation of safety.

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Students that come to USA every year and Lose money to Scams

Based on the the research, we defined the problem statement:

How might we create a platform that helps international students find trustworthy homes while fostering a sense of safety and community in a new city?

Leading the Research Initiative

To build a defensible strategy, I directed a mixed-methods research initiative. We combined qualitative insights from 10 student and landlord interviews with a comprehensive competitive analysis to identify market gaps and define our core value proposition.

Research & Discovery

We conducted 10 qualitative interviews with international students, local landlords, and housing brokers to map the user journey and pinpoint frustrations.

Synthesizing the Data

The research synthesized market data with direct user feedback, validating our strategic direction.

My analysis revealed a critical market gap: no major platform verified both listings *and* users, creating the very "trust gap" our users reported.

Strategic Takeaway

"The core business opportunity was not just a listing app. It was to monetize trust by building a verified, closed-loop ecosystem."

Strategic Design Solutions

Verification as a Pillar

This was the core strategic feature. Visual verification badges for landlords, listings (via utility bills), and tenants (via .edu emails or visas) create a "triangle of trust."

Scalable Community Tools

An in-app chat with built-in translation to bridge communication gaps. This feature was designed to increase engagement and build a pre-arrival community, creating a defensible "moat."

Context-Aware Filters

Beyond price, I designed filters for student-specific needs: proximity to campus (by walking/subway time) and detailed roommate lifestyle preferences to reduce cultural friction.

Figma Demo

Business & User Impact

The design strategy directly linked user trust to key business metrics, proving the ROI of a safety-first design approach. This data was derived from our initial User Testing and third round of interviews with the same set of Users from our initial testing.

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Strategic Learnings

This project proved that for high-stakes marketplaces, designing for trust is the primary driver of growth. My role was to elevate the design conversation from 'features' to 'strategy,' successfully turning a qualitative user insight (fear) into a defensible business model (verification) that created a safer, more valuable platform for all users.