Usability Test of Personality Type within a Roommate Matching Website: A Case Study

We designed and built a roommate matching website, exclusively for students, which allow students to have a central point in which they can meet credible roommate candidates, search for verified housing, and easily reach out to these individuals to further their relationship, and eventually share living space. Our website aims to allow a user to search for compatible roommates not just by living habits, but by tying in the personality of candidates in reference to their own personality type. This type of personality matching in conjunction with a standard behavioral survey is the basis of the algorithm used for roommate matching. In addition to designing and building this website, we also conducted a research around two questions. First, does the idea of personality type in conjunction with living habits have the capacity to form a stronger foundation on which roommates can be selected? Second, is there a means in which we can collect this information from a user and apply it, while avoiding the typical result of survey fatigue that is inherent in existing personality quizzes? We found that majority of our respondents felt that knowing the personality compatibility would influence their decision of sharing a living space with someone. Our respondents also preferred a more visual and interactive quiz to determine personality type in comparison to questionnaires