Named profile prompts for cautious Flatmate users

Journal 13 describes the questionnaire hypothesis behind Flatmate. This note records a separate profile decision.

The starting point

An open biography field asks the user to decide both what to disclose and how to structure it. That can be a difficult first task for someone using a second language or entering a new housing market.

The Flatmate profile concept gives several short prompts a fixed place in the layout. The current set includes a main photo, a domestic ritual, a boundary and one detail the person values in the home.

What the prompts do

Each prompt names the kind of information requested. A domestic ritual can describe Tuesday cooking. A boundary can state how the person handles guests or noise. The home detail gives the user a concrete subject for a short answer.

The profile can therefore remain brief while still showing several distinct parts of domestic life. The interface supplies the categories; the user chooses what to say inside them.

Evidence boundary

Flatmate has not measured whether these prompts improve response rates, matching quality or tenancy outcomes. The present evidence is the implemented profile concept and its editorial rationale.

A future evaluation would need to compare completion and conversation outcomes for defined groups of users. Until then, the prompts should be described as a design choice.