Helping London renters see the real savings of Quintain Living with a rent calculator driving 77% adoption
Industry:
Property
Duration:
6 weeks
My role:
User Researcher & UX Designer
Method:
Usability testing
🔎 Overview
Context
Understanding the full picture of your rental financials is complicated, confusing, and (let’s be honest) a little dull. Quintain Living wanted prospective renters to actually get the financial benefits of their properties, but the competitor tools were number-heavy and easy to ignore. Users weren’t understanding their savings, and the chance to build trust and stand out in a crowded market was slipping away.
Business goal
Design a tool that’s simple, delightful, and trustworthy, showing renters the real benefits of renting with Quintain and helping drive conversions.
Results
✅ 77% would adopt the tool
✅ 82% satisfaction score
🤷♀️ The user & problem
User group
Prospective renters in London, aged 25–40
The problem
Without a clear, intuitive tool, users were misjudging savings, losing trust, and possibly abandoning Quintain altogether, costing both them and the business.
⚒️ My approach
We ran unmoderated user testing with London renters to validate the prototype and uncover usability issues.
Key insights:
Using averages for things like phone, internet or gym costs made people suspicious about where those numbers came from
Users wanted detailed comparisons, not just high-level figures, they needed to see the full picture
🧠 Behavioural principle used
Anchoring
The first piece of information a user see affects all subsequent judgments. By controlling what they’re anchored to, we could help renters understand the real value of Quintain’s offerings versus standard London flats.
👉 Why it applies here
Users initially compared to cheaper flats without all-in costs. Anchoring them to the fully-inclusive Quintain price helped them appreciate the real benefits.
🚨 The messy bits i.e. what went wrong & how I fixed it
Problem 1
Senior leadership suddenly asked the calculator to break from brand guidelines. We had to iterate fast to make it feel fresh but still Quintain.
Problem 2
Early prototypes were too numbers-heavy and users tuned out. We pivoted to a more visual, playful design, using animations to show cost savings as lifestyle benefits.
How I iterated the design:
Broke from brand guidelines while keeping a sense of Quintain identity
Shifted focus from raw numbers to lifestyle-focused
✅ The outcome
77% would adopt the tool
82% satisfaction score
The redesigned calculator turned a boring, confusing number exercise into a clear, engaging experience. Users could instantly see their real savings, trust the tool, and feel confident choosing Quintain properties. What was once a barrier to conversion became a persuasive, trust-building tool.
↪️ What I would do differently next time
Involve senior stakeholders earlier to capture goals and vision, late feedback can dramatically shift design direction.
