LiU Home : Designing for Trust

Finding secure and reliable student housing remains a challenge for many students atLinköping University. Existing online platforms such as Facebook groups and Blocket areoften unregulated, lack verification systems, and offer limited support for the specific needsof student renters and landlords. This thesis explores how trust is established in an onlinehousing rental platform, with a focus on three factors: social presence, ease of use, and se-curity. To investigate this, a prototype platform "liuHome" was developed and evaluatedthrough two user tests with a total of 51 student participants. The two versions differedin key features with respect to the login method, payment integration, user profiles, andfiltering functionality. Participants completed predefined tasks and responded to Likert-based surveys and questions about trust. The data were later analyzed using mean scoresand Mann-Whitney U tests to evaluate differences. The results indicate that the inclusionof LiU Single Sign-On (SSO) and Swish payment integration significantly improved users’perception of security. Similarly, the introduction of user profiles and review systems im-proved the social presence and trust of other users on the platform. Filtering tools andimproved designs positively influence ease of use. The findings suggest that targeted de-sign innovation that focuses on the chosen factors in trust can meaningfully enhance userconfidence in online housing marketplaces.