USA Coliving Finder

The problem: finding a furnished room is a guessing game

The problemSomeone looking for a furnished, month-to-month room faces scams, surprise costs, and listings that never say who they'd be living with. Someone with a shared home has nowhere to list it and no way to verify who they're opening the door to. Ten years of inquiries at Denver Coliving showed me both sides.
Who it's forTwo people: the renter moving to a new city who wants a ready room and verified people; and the owner sharing their home who wants to fill a room with someone compatible without becoming a full-time manager.
What I didFounder and product designer: strategy, information architecture, renter and owner flows, UI, brand, and copy — designed and built end to end with AI as the build tool.
The solutionTrust first: identity verification on both sides, one application form, direct messaging, all-inclusive month-to-month pricing — and the platform never steps between the two parties; each owner attaches their own lease.
ResultLive and focused on Colorado first. One product, the same in every state, ready to grow market by market without a rebuild.

usacolivingfinder.com

USA Coliving Finder homepage — the live marketplace

01 — From one home to a nation

One home proved the model. One state builds it.

Ten years of Denver Coliving proved that calm, all-inclusive coliving works — and that people everywhere want it. A marketplace is different: it needs enough homes and renters in one place. So the product is the same in every state, and the launch is focused on one. Colorado first.

Since 2016

Denver Coliving

One seven-room shared home, lived in for nearly a decade. The proof that calm, all-inclusive coliving works.

2026 · Colorado

Launched and focused on Colorado first — the market I know best, where every decision gets tested before growing.

Next · Nationwide

Same product, more markets

The same product and the same trust model in every new market.

The core design problem

How do you build a marketplace that feels simple to every user in any state, without the platform taking on what belongs to each owner? A renter in Denver and an owner in Atlanta should use exactly the same product — and trust it the same way.

One platform

Fifty versions of the product would be impossible to maintain and confusing for everyone. It had to be one experience, everywhere.

Owner's own documents

The platform doesn't hand out leases. Every owner uploads their own documents; the platform provides one application form.

Cold start

A two-sided marketplace needs liquidity. Opening the whole country at once would spread it thin — so growth is built market by market, starting with Colorado.

02 — Who it's for

Two sides, designed for any state

Dani, 31

Renter · relocating for work, anywhere in the U.S.

Moving to a new city cross-country. Wants a furnished, all-inclusive room fast, with verified people — without learning a new city's rental scams first.

Goals

One search that works in any city
Predictable all-inclusive price
Trustworthy housemates & landlord

Fears

Out-of-state scams & sight-unseen risk
Hidden costs & long lock-ins
Not knowing local rental norms

The landlord / manager

Host · runs coliving in their own state

Owns or manages a coliving home somewhere in the U.S. Wants verified tenants and a clear process — without the hassle.

Goals

Fill rooms with screened, compatible tenants
Use their own paperwork with confidence
Low turnover, minimal vacancy gaps

Fears

Bad paperwork
Vacancy between tenants
Poor-fit residents

03 — The signature decision

One product, the same in every state

The defining move of this project: don't build 50 versions, and don't get in the middle of each owner's business. The platform does what a platform should — verify, connect, and keep pricing predictable — and leaves the documents with the people they belong to.

What the platform does Same everywhere

Identity verification on both sides, one application form, direct renter-to-owner messaging, and all-inclusive, month-to-month pricing.

Renter and owner verification
One standard application for everyone
Rent goes directly to the owner

What the owner does Their own documents

Every owner uploads their own lease and house rules. The platform never hands out leases or steps between the two parties.

Uploads their own lease
Sets their own rules and max stay
Talks directly with the renter

The result: one product that works the same in any state — and a platform that is honest about what it is.

04 — Information architecture

One site, two front doors, a state layer underneath

The renter/owner split is the foundation; state is just a search filter, never a different version of the product.

USA Coliving Finder

Find a Room Find Tenants Pricing Move-in / Move-out Rules Host Resources

Owner documents Verification center Messaging Standard application

Renter flow

Search

By city, price, and move-in — anywhere in the U.S.

Listing

All-inclusive price, house rules, owner documents.

Verify

ID + background — the biggest "yes" signal.

Apply / message

Apply on the listing or talk to the host directly.

Move in

Prorated first month; 30-day notice ending month-end.

Host flow

List free

Listing a home is free.

Add rooms

Photos, pricing, house rules, and the owner's own paperwork.

Review & search

Verified applicants in; search renter profiles too.

Place tenant

First qualified, soonest move-in — keep gaps small.

Billing

Pay only once the site places your first tenant.

05 — The move-in / move-out model

Fair on day one — and built to keep rooms full

The move-in/move-out model was designed to be predictable for renters and vacancy-proof for hosts.

Prorated first month

Move in after the 1st and you pay by the day. No surprise full month — trust built up front.

30-day notice, month-end

Tenancies end at month-end so rooms turn over cleanly for 1st-of-month move-ins.

Fill-as-open or reserve

Rooms fill as they open to cut costly gaps; hosts who want a tenant lined up early can accept advance reservations.

Verification as an advantage

ID and background checks framed as the renter's fastest path to "yes" — not a hurdle.

06 — Design system

One system, scaled — not rebuilt

USA Coliving Finder extends the Denver Coliving visual language into a full design system — tokens and components built once so the product shipped fast and stays consistent as it grows.

Color tokens (shared brand)

navy

#1B3A5C

navy-deep

#142b44

sage

#3c685a

sage-soft

#eef3f1

lime

#C8FF00

Core system

Pill chips, rounded cards (~16px), two-pane layouts (messaging, dashboards, tenant search), verification badges, primary/lime/ghost buttons — Georgia headings, system-sans body, fluid clamp() sizing.

New for national

State filter, owner document upload, the standard application, prorated-pricing explainers, and the pricing page.

07 — Brand

A national brand that still feels calm and local

Wordmark

USA Coliving Finder

The Denver Coliving wordmark, extended to a national identity — same Georgia type and lime accent, so the family reads as one brand (Denver Coliving → USA Coliving Finder).

Voice — calm, plain-spoken, national

"Find the right room. Find the right renter."
"Calm, all-inclusive homes — and housemates you can trust."
"We're making the good homes easy to find — state by state."
"Fair on day one — and built to keep rooms full."

08 — Live screens

The product, annotated

Six screens from the live front-end, each with the design decision behind it. See them in context at usacolivingfinder.com.

USA Coliving Finder homepage: Find the right room in Colorado. Find the right renter. — **Home.** One headline for both sides, five promises under it: one monthly amount, month-to-month, direct with the landlord, verified on both sides, a cleaning schedule on every listing. **Why:** the renter's first question — “is this for me?” — answered before they scroll.

Where to? quick navigation: Find a room, Browse tenants, Pricing (free), List your home, My listings, Get verified — **“Where to?”** One search-style menu that holds every destination for renters and landlords. **Why:** one account can rent and list; the product never makes you pick a side to find your way.

Listing page for Denver Coliving · Cheesman Park: near 8 major hospitals, Ask a question — no account needed, from $975 per month — **Listing.** Photos, the nearby hospitals, a plain description of who lives there, and the price. **Why:** “Ask a question — no account needed” sits before “Message landlord”: the first conversation should cost nothing.

Browse renters. Landlords filter by budget, move-in date, lifestyle and verification, then invite the people who fit. Why: the marketplace works in both directions — renters don't only apply, they get found.

Landlord dashboard, My listings: each room with price, availability date, featured status, and a Copy post for Craigslist/FB button — **Landlord dashboard.** Each room on its own line: price, available date, featured status, hide or edit. **Why:** “Copy post for Craigslist/FB” meets owners where they already advertise instead of asking them to abandon it.

Messages: direct renter-to-landlord conversation with the reminder Never share payment details in chat — **Messaging.** Direct renter ↔ landlord conversation, no agent in between. **Why:** the footer line — “Never share payment details in chat. Rent is always paid directly to your landlord.” — is the trust model in one sentence.

09 — Accessibility & responsive

Inclusive by default, on any screen

10 — Outcome & what's next

A national platform, built Colorado-first

A live, responsive marketplace focused on filling Colorado with verified homes and renters — with a product that works the same in any state.

Live

site & home listings

first market, being built

Free

to list and to create a profile

backend to spec

Next: fill Colorado with verified homes and renters, then grow market by market with the same product, and build the backend against the spec.

Visit the live site ↗

11 — Reflection

What scaling taught me

Constraints are the product

The most valuable constraint was deciding what not to do: no leases, no 50 versions, no stepping between the parties. That clarity turns a national product into one coherent, honest experience.

A design system is a scaling engine

Because the system was built with real tokens and components from the first market, growing is a matter of filling in the map, not rebuilding. Investing in the system early is what makes scaling possible.

Honesty scales trust

Declining to hand out leases where I can't stand behind them — and saying so plainly — protects users and builds credibility. Restraint is a design decision.

The problem: finding a furnished room is a guessing game

One home proved the model. One state builds it.

Denver Coliving