Turning student accommodation from a place to stay to a lifestyle.
Strategy - Experience Design - Visual Design
Created for iQ at Catch Digital
Turning Student Accomadation Into a Lifestyle Brand.
iQ Student Living is a leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation in the UK. They approached Catch looking for a future-proofed solution, where students could find and book a room at ease, as well as create a personal app for every resident.
We delivered a lifestyle and “room-first” approach, inspired by the likes of Airbnb, using language and functionality targeted directly at the post-millennial generation, Gen Z.
A Room First Approach.
Over the course of discovery, we spoke to 100s of students to find their pain points when looking for a place to live. The whole student accommodation sector leads with buildings and services first, where students were looking for a room that could offer them a lifestyle. The solution was a smart search that gave student rooms within cities while showcasing the lifestyle around that area.
This solution proved to be a hit with users during early-stage user testing, allowing us to create a validated product for iQ.
Creating A Seamless Booking Journey.
The old booking journey took users on average around 6 minutes to complete, with endless steps and an unfriendly interface. After countless interviews and user testing, we were able to design a journey that only took 3 steps and gave them the freedom to choose everything from their room to who they will be staying with.
A Personal App For Every Resident At iQ.
While conducting research during discovery, one key insight was that students wanted a product where they could find all the information about their room.
Our solution was a dedicated app for each resident with current and real-time information about their room, events in the nearby area, as well as a tool to make their stay easier.
