Raise Tenant Screening adoption from ~30% to 50%+
Tenant Screening helps landlords evaluate prospective tenants by collecting applications, running background and credit checks, and centralizing applicant information in one place.
Despite a successful launch, adoption stalled at under 30%. Customer feedback pointed to a complex setup process, limited customization, and gaps in landlord-to-applicant communication. This project was a focused effort to fix those gaps and drive meaningful adoption growth.
My role: Lead product designer. I owned research synthesis and final UI. Collaborated with 1 PM, 2 engineers, QA, marketing, and customer success.
Drop-off was concentrated at the fee configuration step. Feedback consistently surfaced the same friction points: the flow was too complex, customization was too limited, and state-specific compliance requirements around screening fees were poorly handled.
Raise Tenant Screening adoption from ~30% to 50%+
Reduce setup complexity and drop-off at key steps in the flow
Add flexible fee controls and custom applicant instructions
I analyzed product funnel data, support tickets, and interviewed 10 landlords to understand where the experience broke down and what would actually change behavior.
40%
Drop-off was highest at the add-fees step. Forty percent of landlords who started a screening never sent an invite.
Across interviews and surveys, three requests came up repeatedly: more control over what applicants see, flexible fee options, and a simpler setup flow.
The existing UI packed too much onto a single screen — competing CTAs, information-heavy contact cards, and unclear next steps created decision paralysis.
Three focused changes addressed the root causes we found in research — each mapped directly to a landlord pain point.
01
Broke the dense single-page layout into a stepped flow, giving each decision its own moment. Removed secondary information from contact cards and made primary actions unambiguous.
02
Landlords can add property-specific instructions directly in the screening invite — parking rules, pet policies, or application priorities. This came from landlords who were emailing applicants separately to clarify the same information. Result: fewer back-and-forth messages and a more professional applicant experience.
03
Landlords can pay the full screening fee, split it with the applicant, or pass the full cost to the applicant. This resolved compliance issues in states where charging applicants above a certain threshold is restricted — and addressed one of the most-requested features in our feedback queue.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant Screening adoption | ~30% | ~55% |
| Setup completion rate | — | 60%+ |
| Support tickets / applicant questions | High volume | <5% |