Tourly
End-to-end Service Design Project
Carnegie Mellon University, Fall 2024
Prompt : Apartment Renting Services
Outcome : Tourly - Eliminating uncertainty in remote renting through live, interactive virtual open house tours.
🔹 For Renters: Browse verified listings, schedule virtual tours, and engage with landlords in real time.
🔹 For Landlords: List properties, host live-streamed walkthroughs, and connect with prospective tenants efficiently.
Overview
Duration
6 weeks
Team
Sapna Vohra, Manasi Mehta, Cicy Zhao, Yun-Ching Chuang, Christy Yao
Software Used
Figma, Adobe Suite, Miro
🔸 Conducted primary and secondary research into the problem area.
🔸 Generated problem statement led brainstorming ideating sessions.
🔸 Formulated the solution and created UX maps and App maps.
🔸 Assisted with lo-fi wireframes and conducted usability testing.
🔸 Prototyped hi-fi screens.
Contribution
Role
UX Research, UI/UX Design
Problem Area
Pittsburgh hosted 10,300+ international students in 2023. Landlords can attract reliable tenants, reduce vacancies, and streamline leasing by offering verified listings and remote-friendly tools, creating a more inclusive and efficient rental experience.
International students struggle to find secure, budget-friendly apartments in safe neighborhoods due to limited remote resources. This leads to prolonged stress and risks of substandard housing.
Tourly enhances remote renting by providing verified listings and live-streamed virtual tours, ensuring transparency and security. Its interactive format allows renters to engage directly with property representatives, overcoming geographic and language barriers. By prioritizing trust, accessibility, and seamless communication, Tourly makes remote leasing stress-free and reliable.
Solution and Outcome
POV of Tenant :
Booking the virtual tour :
Tenants browsing platforms like Zillow or Apartments.com can click the Tourly icon to be redirected to sign up for a virtual tour, selecting a convenient date and time with ease.
Attending the virtual tour :
The My Tours section allows tenants to track and join upcoming tours effortlessly.
The interactive tour screen features real-time chat with AI-assisted prompts, apartment details, and a live floor plan view, helping tenants navigate and understand the space clearly.
Rating the virtual tour :
Tenants can save and rewatch tours, rate tour quality, and take notes for easy comparison. The Past Tours section helps them stay organized and make informed rental decisions.
POV of Landlord / Rental Agency :
Onboarding and Verification
Tourly’s landing page prompts users to choose between “Give Tours” or “Take Tours”, determining which side of the platform they access. Landlords who select “Give Tours” are guided through the account creation process and must verify their property details and rental license, ensuring all listings are credible and trustworthy.
Listings and Schedulings
Landlords can sync listings from external platforms like Zillow, ensuring all details are accurate. Once verified, they set virtual tour dates and times, making the listing live for tenants to book.
Landlords can track and modify scheduled tours through their My Tours page, ensuring flexibility and easy updates.
Key Research Insights
Inadequate Remote Support and Flexibility :
🔹 Virtual tours lack real-time interaction and up-to-date visuals, causing move-in surprises.
🔹 Renters face outdated tools and minimal local support, creating stress during viewings and follow-ups.
Challenges with Payment Security and Accessibility :
🔹 Income requirements and reliance on local guarantors create barriers for international renters.
🔹 Hidden costs and exclusion of international payment methods add financial strain and dependence on local assistance.
Need for Reliable, Transparent Information :
🔹 Online rental platforms often have fake listings and complex lease terms, leading to confusion and scams.
🔹 Renters seek verified property details and prior tenant feedback for clarity and trust.
Social and Emotional Challenges of Remote Renting :
🔹 Lack of cultural compatibility and community initiatives increases isolation for international renters.
🔹 Lack of direct communication with landlord doesn’t enable trust between both parties.
How might we establish transparent and reliable communication between international tenants and stakeholders to address key concerns, foster trust, and ease the challenges of remote renting?
Seamless, End-to-End Process :
🔸Enable renters to navigate the entire rental journey from search to lease.
Verified Listing and Transparency :
🔸 Provide accurate, up-to-date listings with verified property details, ensuring tenants can make informed decisions.
Remote Viewing and Accessibility :
🔸 Include virtual tours, high quality images, and translation tools for geographical and language inclusivity.
Community and Communication Features :
🔸 Offer tools to locate nearby amenities and connect with potential flatmates, along with real-time listing updates to prevent application overlaps.
UX Mapping
Early User Testing
Early testing revealed UX issues with the tour scheduling calendar, as users found it overwhelming and lacking visual flow. Additionally, testers requested a clearer way to track their booked tours. In response, we redesigned the layout for better clarity and introduced a structured My Tours page for both renters and landlords to easily manage their scheduled tours.
Additionally, users expressed the need to better understand their location within the property during tours, as if they were there in person. To address this, we superimposed a live-updating floor plan over the tour, showing the real-time position of the tour giver to enhance spatial awareness.
UI Design
Prototyping
Key Performance Indicators
User Acquisition :
🔹 # of tenants reaching Tourly through external websites
🔹 # of tenant and landlord sign-ups with
Engagement :
🔹# of scheduled tours by tenants and landlords
🔹 % of scheduled tours attended/conducted
🔹 Interaction rate during tours
Conversion :
🔹 Listing-to-Tour Scheduling Rate
🔹 Tour-to-Lease Conversion Rate
User Satisfaction :
🔹 Tenant / Landlord Satisfaction Score
🔹 Net Promoter Score