AtHearth is a real estate agency offering specialized services for expats in Tokyo.
Problem Statement:
Foreign newcomers relocating to Tokyo often feel overwhelmed by the city’s scale, complex rental procedures, and cultural barriers, making it difficult to find housing with confidence. Despite a growing interest in moving to Japan, many expats lack accessible, trustworthy information tailored to their unique needs. AtHearth needed a way to communicate housing options more clearly and empathetically to this audience, particularly through social media, to build trust, increase engagement, and ultimately convert followers into customers.
Research Plan:
My job was to design social media posts that would increase the number of followers and customers for the business. Using a mix of UX research and graphic design, I tried to understand the needs of expats in Tokyo and created designs based on the information expatriates communicated they wanted to learn.
Timeline: 2 months in 2022
Tools: Figma and Canva
Results: After conducting user research with expats in Tokyo, we learned that foreign newcomers are usually overwhelmed with the following before their move:
The size and urban sprawl of Tokyo
The rumors and realities of ethnic prejudice: It's common to hear that finding an apartment to rent in Tokyo is difficult as a foreigner. Tokyo and the entirety of Japan have strict rental procedures, and oftentimes, foreigners are not allowed to rent in Tokyo without Japanese guarantors such as their Japanese boss or Japanese spouse.
Complex upfront costs: In Japan, there are upfront costs to move-in that don't apply in other countries such as key money, a non-refundable gift to the landlord as a gesture of appreciation, and guarantor fees.
Recommendations:
While we can not address the complex upfront costs by attempting to solve for this challenge, we could start by offering solutions to the frist two pain points renters face in their apartment search: the size of Tokyo and the rumors/realities. We could offer value to our customers by simplifying Tokyo with detailed descriptions of each area where foreigners could find apartments, and only include the areas most favored and most welcoming to expats. This made Tokyo seem less daunting and our friendly graphics encouraged users to look to AtHearth for their rental needs. Through a simple message, AtHearth could get started on their rental process.