Case Study · UX/UI & Product Design
Bridging the gap between excluded tenants and risk-averse owners through trust-based design
Status
Product designer (UX/UI)
End-to-end: research, problem framing, flows, system design, visual design
4 months
Trust & transparency
Context & Challenge
The context:
Madrid's rental paradox
Madrid is booming, yet the rental market is constrained. Outdated filters like permanent contracts fail to recognise modern realities. This locks out solvent tenants and leaves Hosts with a limited, homogenised pool of candidates.
The challenge:
The paperwork wall
Freelancers and expats face closed doors. 70% of solvent applicants are blocked simply for lacking a standard payslip. Hosts are trapped too as they rely on rigid paperwork to mitigate risk rather than verifying actual trust.
The objective:
Designing for trust
The aim is to replace bureaucratic hurdles with transparent "trust signals". By validating reliability through alternative data, Urbiqo empowers hosts to rent confidently and give tenants the dignity of being seen for more than a job title.
Mapping the full journey
Before designing any screens, I mapped the complete user flow for both tenants and hosts, covering every decision point from first login through verification, application and payment. This became the source of truth for prioritising which screens to design first.
User flow
Swim lanes
Finding the Shared Value
The tenant
Needs eligibility without a permanent contract.
The landlord
Needs reliable tenants, not just paper candidates.
The difference
Validating reliability, not just salary.
01
Verification
Fairer screening
Replaced rigid salary requirements with alternative proofs (bank statements, invoices) to unlock housing for the gig economy.
Alternative Data
Fair Access
02
Trust
Humanising the transaction
Video intros and verified badges build trust before the viewing, reducing fear of scams.
Video Profiles
Verified Badges
Where Urbiqo sits
I mapped the Madrid rental market across two axes: complexity of service and target market specialisation. The gap was clear: no platform combines trust-based verification with accessible pricing for freelancers, expats, and non-traditional tenants.
User flow
Swim lanes
Built for trust
What I learned
This project is currently in development, with the launch targeted for the beginning of Q3 2026. That means there are no validated metrics yet, so I want to be honest about what this case study represents: product definition and design work, not measured outcomes.
Working on Urbiqo taught me three things:
First, designing for two-sided trust is fundamentally different from designing for a single user type. Every decision that reduces friction for tenants (fewer documents, faster verification) increases perceived risk for hosts. Balancing those tensions shaped the entire product structure.
Second, the gap between a founder's concept and a buildable product is larger than it looks. The founder had a clear vision for what Urbiqo should feel like. Translating that into conditional verification logic, system states and edge case handling was where most of the actual design work happened.
Third, I underestimated how much the visual design system would need to carry trust on its own. In a platform where users are sharing personal documents and financial information, every colour choice, every micro-interaction, every piece of copy either builds or erodes confidence. I'd spend more time on that layer if I were starting again.
Status & next steps
Q3 2026
Live release
10.000
Projection of listings 1st year
50,000
Growth goal 2027
In a market paralyzed by bureaucracy, trust is the only way to unlock liquidity. By shifting the verification model from 'rigid contracts' to 'reputation signals,' we turned a risk-management problem into a human connection opportunity, unlocking the market for thousands of excluded tenants.
Witty Wolf Design
Madrid