UI/UX DESIGN

MDST 499 Capstone Project

StrataRater is a website that connects strata owners with strata buyers to share essential information on the overall well-being of individual stratas.
This project is inspired by the housing affordability crisis, as strata units are often more affordable than single-family homes, and the climate crisis, as condos and townhomes are generally a more sustainable alternative when compared to single-family homes.
Despite the perceived benefits of strata living, many people are reluctant to buy into them due to the myriad of hidden problems that can exist within them, such as dysfunctional strata culture, bullies and bylaws, mishandled conflicts, unresponsive councils and management companies, underfunded reserves, and looming general assessments. Owners are forced to live with these problems daily. Currently, buyers have no simple tool to determine a strata’s pre-existing issues relating to strata culture, conflict, dysfunction, etc.
Stratarater focuses on helping two distinct yet interconnected groups: strata owners and buyers. While providing owners with a tool to improve their strata experience, Stratarater creates critical data for buyers to better understand if a particular strata is right for them. This process also aims to hold strata owners, councils and management companies accountable for their behaviours. It will provide transparency into how a strata functions and incentivize positive change.
Once I had created the vision for StrataRater, the next challenge was bringing it to life. I was familiar with Android Studio from a past HCI class; however, I had previous resolution struggles emulating apps through the software and decided to take a different route. Unsure of which software to choose, I began building the user interface side of StrataRater using Figma. I was instantly impressed by the prototyping quality, but I struggled to replicate this vision in the actual development stage. There were multiple plugins and programs promising a smooth transfer between Figma UI and the front end of their application. Still, after endless attempts, I decided that the technology wasn’t quite there for what I was trying to accomplish, as most of the plugins were in beta stages anyway.
After a couple of technical delays, I decided that a website might be more relevant to my skill set, as I plan to take web development classes in the future. With the help of a Bootstrap template, I was able to teach myself the basics of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. While the process was not exactly linear, my skills improved vastly over this past semester, solidifying my interest in future UI/UX design.
Apart from the technical elements, I was challenged with adapting StrataRater to the confines of an end-of-year exhibition; introducing a technical product to a gallery space has come with challenges. However, these challenges have pushed me outside the box and broadened my skills to simple sculptural elements as I assembled a 4-8 ft house crafted of wood and recyclable materials. This house acts as a “home” for a technical product and pairs well with the concept of StrataRater, the housing crisis, and the overall feeling of “home” – a sensation felt differently amongst many.