NU Sublets

Each summer, Northwestern students face challenges finding subletters for their apartments or rooms. Since listings are fragmented across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and GroupMe, they are often difficult for prospective renters to discover. This lack of visibility can leave students with vacant units, preventing them from recouping their rent through subletting.

I collaborated with a team to build a website that helps Northwestern students more easily find and post sublets. We leveraged AI-assisted coding to accelerate development, enabling faster prototyping, testing, and iteration while exploring how AI can enhance both technical execution and product design.

As the lead designer and primary front-end developer, I was responsible for shaping the platform's user experience and building its interface. To guide the design process, I benchmarked platforms such as Airbnb and Zillow, analyzing their layouts, search functionality, and listing presentation to identify best practices that could be adapted for our platform.

I then used Figma to create wireframes and high-fidelity mockups for the website's core pages. Using Codex, I transformed those designs into a functional, interactive user interface and leveraged AI-assisted coding throughout development to rapidly iterate on design concepts. This process involved refining layouts, adjusting styling, and improving usability through continuous testing. We regularly conducted user testing sessions with Northwestern students, incorporating their feedback into each iteration to enhance the platform's functionality and overall experience.

Working within an Agile framework, we repeated this cycle of design, development, testing, and iteration across three additional sprints, continuously refining the product and expanding its capabilities. This iterative workflow enabled me to build faster, evaluate design changes more frequently, and develop a deeper understanding of how AI can accelerate development while supporting thoughtful, user-centered product design.