RentSpreeProduct design · 2023

Tenant Screening

Making the first step unmistakably interactive.

The Apartment List screening page let users start a RentSpree screening request without logging in. In its third iteration, I focused on a basic usability problem: people were mistaking the screening widget for a static image.

Team: Product Manager, Product Designer, and Tech Lead.

Role: Product Designer
Company: RentSpree
Timeline: 1 month · 2023
Scope: Desktop & mobile

Apartment List tenant-screening interface — Tenant screening for Apartment List, powered by RentSpree.

My contribution

Improving the entry point to screening.

I worked on the site structure, user flows, wireframes, interaction design, and final desktop and mobile interfaces. The project took one month in 2023.

The problem

People saw an image where we intended an interaction.

After a widget update on April 22, usage decreased. Users said the widget looked like a picture, and some clicked text that looked like a button without getting a response.

The next iteration needed to make both the interactive area and the next action easier to recognize.

Usage evidence from the previous screening-widget version — Usage evidence reviewed after the previous widget update.

Evidence showing where users clicked in the screening widget — Users attempted to interact with text that did not respond.

Design direction

Three ways to make the interaction visible.

I explored three approaches to help users recognize that they could begin screening directly on the page.

Invite a first interaction: Leave screening items unchecked and guide users to select them, demonstrating that the widget is interactive.
Draw attention to the next step: If screening items must remain selected by default, use an animated cue to draw attention to the action button.
Create a dedicated page: Give the screening task its own page with one clear purpose.

What launched

A clearer invitation to start screening.

The launched page used a pulse effect beside the button to draw attention to the next action. The screening options remained selected in the final interface.

Launched Apartment List page with screening options and the Next button — The launched page. The live version included a pulse beside the button; this static image shows the layout.

Reported result

Usage increased after the update.

The project notes report that usage increased from 5–10% to 30–40%.

5–10%: Reported usage before the update.
30–40%: Reported usage after the update.

The original case study does not specify the measurement window or the exact definition of usage.

Reflection

Motion alone did not remove the ambiguity.

Some users still interpreted the animated button or guide as part of an image. The improvement did not fully resolve the underlying interaction problem.