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Uni-Stays designing a digital resident platform for modern student living

October 2024

The Brief

Uni-Stays is a residential provider offering furnished studio apartments for students in Ingolstadt. The goal was to design a complete brand identity and digital resident platform a mobile app that replaces fragmented communication with one seamless, polished experience for stay management, maintenance, access, and community.

Deliverables

  • Brand Identity
  • Mobile App Design
  • Design System
  • Resident Platform UX
  • Community Features
Mobile App · Brand Identity

Your stay,
in your pocket.

A resident platform that makes living at Uni-Stays feel effortless from move-in to move-out.

Hub screen
Home screen
Stay screen
Resident Platform·Mobile App·Brand Identity·Design System·Community Features·Stay Management·Maintenance Requests·Digital Access·Resident Platform·Mobile App·Brand Identity·Design System·Community Features·Stay Management·Maintenance Requests·Digital Access·

Overview

Students at Uni-Stays were managing their entire tenancy through a patchwork of WhatsApp groups, email threads, and paper forms. The brief: replace all of it with one cohesive digital experience that feels as polished as the apartments themselves.

0 mo
Project duration
0
Core app modules
0
Screens designed
0
Unified platform

Brand Identity

The brand system centres on warmth and clarity. Ember Red signals energy and approachability. Obsidian Black brings structure. The palette works across digital and physical from app UI to building signage.

Ember Red
#F15A24 · Primary
Obsidian Black
#0D1217 · Foundation
Chalk White
#FAF8F5 · Background
Soft Lavender
#E8EAED · Surface

Typography

Plus Jakarta Sans carries the brand's personality across every touchpoint warmth at large display sizes, precision at body copy. Its geometric proportions and optical balance make it feel both modern and approachable.

PRIMARY TYPEFACE

Plus Jakarta
Sans

Light 300

Modern living

Regular 400

Modern living

Bold 700

Modern living

ExtraBold 800

Modern living

Home Screen

The home screen gives residents instant visibility into their tenancy days remaining, upcoming events, and open requests, all above the fold. The editorial headline adapts dynamically to time of day, season, and occupancy context.

Contextual Headline
"You're 47 days into a quiet winter at Haslangstraße." The home screen opens with an editorial sentence that reflects your stay context, season, and how many neighbours are active right now.
Day Counter Arc
A circular arc visualises days remaining in the tenancy 47 of 180. Tactile, glanceable, no navigation required.
Your Week Summary
Aggregated: upcoming events you've joined, open service requests, and guest pass status above the fold, every morning.
Home screen

The Hub

The Hub centralises everything residents share with visitors Wi-Fi credentials with one-tap copy and QR scan, and a 24-hour guest pass that grants temporary building access. No front desk interaction needed.

Hub screen
Wi-Fi for Guests
Password displayed with one-tap copy, plus a live QR code guests can scan directly. No screenshot sharing, no voice relay just show and scan.
24-Hour Guest Pass
Issue a time-limited pass that grants front door + lift + floor access for up to 24 hours. Automatically expires. Resident stays in full control.
Zero Front Desk
Both features work entirely within the app no calling management, no physical key exchange, no paper sign-in.

Stay & Resident Pass

The Stay tab is the resident's identity layer a digital pass that doubles as building access and tenancy proof. One tap reveals a live QR code for scanning at entry points, refreshing every 60 seconds for security.

Digital Resident Pass
Resident Pass card shows name, studio, and stay dates at a glance. Tap to reveal a live QR code valid at front door, lift, and floor access points.
Requests at a Glance
Open service requests surface directly on the Stay tab no separate navigation. "Bathroom door catches when closing ON IT" visible immediately.
Documents Vault
Stay agreement, enrolment certificate, and all tenancy docs stored and accessible offline. Verified and expiry-tracked automatically.
Stay screen
Resident Pass QR

Inbox

"News from the building." The inbox consolidates management announcements, personal request updates, and parcel notifications into a single, prioritised feed. Concierge replies within 30 minutes, surfaced right here.

Inbox screen
Building Announcements
"Hot water back on for floors 3-5. Sorry for the cold morning." management updates arrive instantly, ranked by recency and urgency.
Parcel Notifications
DHL + Hermes parcel arrivals surface automatically "pick up by Friday." No separate email to check, no front desk trip without confirmation.
Direct Line
A dedicated direct messaging channel with building management not a WhatsApp group, not email. Threaded, contextual, within the app.

Events

What's On surfaces every building event wine pours, sunrise runs, movie nights, pasta lunches, gym classes in a scannable, chronological feed. Residents see who's going, how many spots are left, and can RSVP in one tap.

Events list
Event detail
Host Your Own
Pizza, board games, study group any resident can create an event with a single tap. Community bottom-up, not top-down.
Spot Scarcity
"23 going · 17 left" live spot counts make community events feel real and create natural urgency to join.
Organised by Residents
Sunrise run along the Danube · Run club. Movie night · Wes Anderson. Each event is attributed, personal, and co-owned.

Maintenance

The maintenance flow distils the service request process to three taps: what's wrong, where, and how urgent. An intelligent category grid covers every common issue no free-text required unless you want it.

Category Grid
Six issue types Leak, Heat/cold, Electric, Door/lock, Wi-Fi, Other presented as a 3x2 grid with iconography. Tap once to select, no typing required.
Location Selector
Bathroom, Kitchen, Bedroom, Common area pill selectors that narrow the request context. Management knows exactly where to go before they arrive.
Urgency Signal
"When you can", "Today", or "Now flooding / no heat". Urgency flags route requests to the right response queue automatically.
Maintenance form

All Screens

The full platform spans 15 screens across five modules each designed with the same spatial rhythm, colour hierarchy, and interaction model.

Design System

A cohesive component library every badge, card, button, and navigation element follows the same spatial rhythm, colour hierarchy, and interaction model, scaling from a single screen to a full platform.

Status Badges
OPEN ON IT DONE LIVE
Buttons
Type Scale

Display 800

Heading 700

Body Medium 500

Caption 400

LABEL 600

Outcome

One app.
Zero friction.

∞ → 1

Channels Unified

WhatsApp, email, paper forms all replaced by a single resident platform.

5+

Core Modules

Stay management, access, maintenance, events, and building comms one coherent experience.

2 tap

To Any Action

Every core resident task reachable within two taps from the home screen.

"Modern studio living built for community and convenience."

Uni-Stays Brand Promise