Didem Tereyagoglu
HAVEInn – Affordable Living, Global Community
UX/UI Designer, Branding Strategist, Visual Lead
HaveInn is a user-centric mobile app designed to solve one of the most critical challenges international students face: finding affordable, secure, and reliable housing before arriving in Canada. Developed at Seneca Polytechnic, the app was born from our shared lived experience as international students navigating the housing crisis in Toronto.
We envisioned HaveInn not just as a rental platform, but as a community-powered ecosystem, bridging students, homeowners, NGOs, and government bodies. From user research to interface design, every step was rooted in social empathy, collaboration, and transparency.Our design strategy focused on two interconnected goals:
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Empowering international students with a sense of safety, guidance, and agency.
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Building trust across stakeholders (landlords, government, NGOs) through verifiable data, shared responsibilities, and reward-based engagement.
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To create an all-in-one, verified housing solution that reduces pre-arrival stress for international students, boosts access to trustworthy rental listings, and fosters community belonging. We designed HaveInn to not only list homes but also:
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Guide students with legal orientation, house rules, and local insights.
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Offer reward incentives for engagement and feedback.
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Ensure housing credibility with government-verified listings and community reviews.
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Emotion-Led Visual Identity: The calming blue-violet tones convey trust, while playful orange adds approachability. Rounded icons and friendly typography reflect inclusivity and warmth.
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Modular Flow: Inspired by task-based interaction, every section of the app has quick-access icons and visual cues for diverse user types.
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Inclusivity First: From profile-building for newcomers to a reward and guidance system, the design empowers users with varying language skills and tech fluency.
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Six Thinking Hats Framework: We used this for ideation, ensuring a multi-perspective strategy across logic, emotion, caution, optimism, creativity, and data.
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We conducted comparative matrix research and user interviews with over a dozen international students (including newcomers from Turkey, India, and Iran). The recurring pain points:
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Fear of scams, unclear contracts, and lost deposits.
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Isolation due to language or cultural barriers.
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Difficulty securing accommodation without a local reference or visit.
This led us to design:
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Verified listings with reviews.
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NGO and Government-backed profiles.
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Step-by-step onboarding and house orientation resources.
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HaveInn is more than a rental app — it’s a civic tech platform for international students navigating complex transitions. Its greatest innovation lies in how it rebuilds trust and reduces vulnerability in a foreign system.
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Secure login with gov ID & school details
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Personalized rental recommendations
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Stakeholder categories (Students, Homeowners, NGOs, Gov)
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Ratings and reward-based feedback
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Local area and legal orientation
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In-app complaint and issue reporting system
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Visual accessibility and multi-language friendliness
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Disorientation and vulnerability of international students pre-arrival
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High Toronto housing costs with low availability
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Risk of fraud, scams, and unverified listings
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Lack of accessible platforms that build connection and trust
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Fragmented resources (legal rights, local guides) spread across websites
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Developed a fully functioning prototype using Figma and Adobe tools
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Used in presentation demos to academic advisors and student groups
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Sparked interest in potential real-world collaboration with NGOs and campus housing teams
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Built a framework that could be scaled and customized for other cities facing student housing crises
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