A sattvic lifestyle emphasizes balance, harmony, and purity through mindful habits and spiritual practices.
They provide guidelines for optimal digestion and health through proper food combinations, cooking methods, and eating habits.
We conducted market research and competitor analysis because we wanted to see how the current market for student accommodations look like and where this business idea would fit. Especially with targeting such a niche audience.
London has a major shortage of affordable, quality housing for its over 400,000 university students. High demand has led to soaring rents and poor living conditions, impacting student wellbeing and performance. The housing crisis has forced strategic efforts by universities, private developers, and city planning to increase affordable purpose-built accommodations. However, providing diverse, suitable housing options at reasonable costs continues to be a major challenge.
We conducted an analysis of student accommodations in London to learn about what they offer. Below are some of them.
Student accommodation Competitor analysis
These helped guide us to create a position matrix to try to identify potential gap in the market.
identifying potential gap in the market
"Accommodation restricting students to explore other social habits would act as restriction on their personal freedoms and choices."
Student A, 18 years old
Student B, 20 years old
“It’s good to be part of such communities, it helps you escape from stresses, relax you from academic pressures”
Student C, 21 years old
LISA
Budget conscious creative
18 , undergrad, from York
She is incoming freshman. She's nervous about being in a new city but excited and she's looking forward to the learnings and freedom that comes with being a university student.
Pain-points:
Adjusting to independence
Academic challenges
Social integration
RAHUL
Disciplined scholar
26, post-grad, from India
He just completed his degree and is looking to study in London. He enjoys sports, cycling to university, and incorporates meditation into his daily routine.
Pain-points:
Space for meditation and quiet
Limited access to sports facilities
Not a lot of healthy options for food
DANNY
Outgoing post grad
24, post-grad, from Germany
Danny is currently at the end of his first year of his Master’s. He engages in activities that matches his interest like movies, or games. He isn't overly focused on his health but he maintains a balanced approach.
Pain-points:
Limited personal space
Balancing commitments
Lifestyle constraints
Location: London is known for its diversity
Students choose London to study because it is a global city with diverse population and multitude of perspectives.
Autonomy: University student life is about independence
It's about having the freedom and authority to make choices and take actions based on what their preferences.
Fraction: In UK, only 2-3% are vegan and 5-7% are vegetarian
This is according to YouGov's tracker data. On our student research only 3% were vegetarian, even then they have not heard of Sattvic or Ayurvedic living.
Problem Statement (Marketing Site)
Student accommodation needs a platform to effectively communicate its focus on students' health, well-being, and growth because it acknowledges the profound impact on academic success.
Problem Statement (Residents Site)
Student accommodation needs a platform for residents to connect and stay updated to align with its vision to foster community building through various means.
One of the design challenges was to create a brand, so our team did go through the brand design process. We built the brand that embodies togetherness, well-being and friendliness. We ended up with these designs.
Although the project was only for three months, I was adamant about building a design system to ensure consistency. I spearheaded this initiative, while my colleagues focused on refining various aspects of the project.
We began sketching out our initial ideas and constructing the foundational wireframes.
This phase was marked by close collaboration among team members, coupled with user testing. The feedback and insights gained from these tests were invaluable, requiring us to apply iterations of our design.
We conducted simple Heuristic approach in testing, we gave users a few objectives and observe how they interact.
We developed 2 websites
Marketing website
designed to attract students searching for accommodation.
Residents hub
that provides ongoing support and resources residents.
Marketing web pages
Creating a website that feels like more than just a place to live
We’ve designed the pages to ensure that we communicate business values, through the use of content & imagery, highlighting building the community.
Streamlining the booking process
PART I: Booking with your details and uploading documents
We have separated the booking process as we've added a pending status stage where users who have booked, will need their identification and address checked.
PART II: Completing payment to confirm booking
Once the user's details and documents have been reviewed, an email will be sent inviting them make a payment to secure their spot.
Why did we break it down to two parts?
Like any other rentals, we think they need to be vetted and their identity to be verified, this adds to the security that we highly think is very important for safety of the community.
Introducing the Hyve Residents Card
Use of residents card to encourage community participation
This was one of my favourite ideas that came out of this project, it may seem to just be an access card, but beyond that, we also implemented the use of HYVE CREDITS.
Hyve credits is a residents currency that people use within the accommodation. Residents can add credits by converting normal money BUT they also EARN credits by participating in the community. By participating in Hyve activities, volunteering and skill sharing, residents earn credits which they can spend on paid activities OR spend on food in the cafeteria.
This is business’ way to encourage community engagement.
Residents hub web pages
Showcasing the different community involvement opportunities
We show different type of things residents can participate in like classes, sports, Skill-sharing programme and volunteering. We've also added a page for meal bookings, it revolves around the Hyve mantra of sustainability, no food goes to waste.
Applying to participate in Skill-sharing programme
Our residents will have different speciality and we feel that this is a good opportunity for them to share their knowledge and help build the community.
To evaluate the success we recommend to track the following metrics:
Website Engagement: Increased traffic, longer session durations, and reduced bounce rates on both the marketing and resident hub websites indicate more effective communication and user interest.
Conversion Rate: A higher percentage of website visitors completing the accommodation booking process reflects the effectiveness of our marketing website in converting prospects into residents.
Resident Card Usage: The frequency of use of the Hyve Residents Card for accessing facilities, booking activities, and participating in events serves as a direct measure of enhanced community engagement and convenience.
Activity Participation: An increase in the number of residents signing up for and attending community events and activities, indicating a stronger community bond and engagement.
Reflecting on this project, a major challenge was aligning a business idea with an initially unresponsive market. Early user research revealed that the restrictions we intended to implement were not well-received. Through diligent research and data analysis, we were able to craft a proposal that not only pinpointed a market fit but also ensured business viability, demonstrating the critical role of evidence-based strategy in shaping successful ventures.
