Flatmate before move-in

This note records the reasoning behind the Flatmate questionnaire. It is not a longitudinal study, and it does not report which matches succeeded. The product does not yet have the follow-up evidence needed for either claim.

The question behind the product

Housing profiles usually ask for broad preferences: clean or relaxed, social or private, morning person or night owl. Those labels are quick to answer and hard to use.

“Clean” does not say when a cup becomes a problem. “Social” does not say whether a flatmate wants dinner together or simply says hello in the hallway. Two people can choose the same label while imagining different Tuesdays.

Flatmate therefore treats a preference as the start of a conversation. The useful unit is a scene with a time, a place and another person in it.

From labels to scenes

The questionnaire uses concrete prompts:

• When do dishes in the sink begin to bother you?
• What does a quiet weekday evening sound like?
• How much notice should an overnight guest give?
• When a household problem appears, do you raise it immediately or wait until you have thought it through?

These questions do not make people perfectly self-aware. They give both sides something specific to discuss before signing a lease.

The same principle shapes the compatibility view. Instead of compressing an answer into a flattering score, it can name the difference: one person cooks most evenings; the other expects an empty kitchen after work. The product has not proved that this produces longer or happier tenancies. It has made the first conversation more concrete.

What the current product can observe

Flatmate can record questionnaire answers and show where two accounts agree or differ. A pre-meeting brief can bring those differences into the room before the coffee.

That material supports product decisions about wording and flow. It does not establish a causal link between a questionnaire answer and a household that lasts. Claims about long-term outcomes would require data the product does not currently collect.

What would count as evidence

A proper follow-up would define its outcome before looking at the results. It would ask both flatmates the same questions after a fixed period, record whether they still live together, and separate a useful first conversation from a household that continues. The sample size, recruitment method and missing responses would need to be published with any conclusion.

Until that study exists, the claim stays modest: specific domestic scenes are better prompts for a pre-lease conversation than a row of unexplained adjectives.

The shipped questionnaire and pre-meeting brief are described in the Flatmate case study.