LendMe is a peer to peer rental platform designed to help individuals rent out personal items they own, from power tools to tech gear and earn passive income. The app connects Lenders and Renters in a secure, review-based environment that promotes trust, flexibility, and sustainability.
I was responsible for the end-to-end product design from user research and flow mapping to High-fidelity mockups and MVP development. My goal was to ensure a seamless experience for both renters and lenders, while designing scalable systems for future web and international use.
This case study walks through the entire design process from empathizing with users and defining key flows to wireframing, UI design, and preparing developer handoff for MVP launch.
Problem Statement
In Many urban areas, individual frequently find themselves needing tools, equipment or everyday items for short-term use from power drills for weekend project to tripods for single event. Despite this growing demand, people often resort to purchasing expensive items they rarely use, leading to waste, clutter and financial ineffiency.
At the same time, countless people own valuable items sitting idle, items that could be monetized, but lack safe, reliable and simple system to lend them out without fear of damage, loss or poor coordination.
User Problem
People often need items for short term use like tools, event gear, or electronics but buying them is so expensive and wasteful. At the same time, others own items that sit unused but have no simple, secure way to lend them out.
Renters worry about finding nearby items, trust and safety. Lenders worry about damage, no-shows, and how to track their rentals or get paid.
Possible Solutions
LendMe solves this by creating a peer-to-peer platform where user can:
Lend or Rent items easily within their local area based on real time availability.
Book by calendar, communicate with users through in-app messaging and track status across every stage of the rental
Pay and receive money securely through an in-app wallet. With payouts released only after items are returned.
View reviews and ratings to ensure transparency and build trust across the platform.
List items with full control over pricing, availability, rental conditions, and minimum days.
Offer structured rentals flows to reduce risk and promote functionality.
Key Design Decisions
Why we built a dual-flow onboarding
1. Early research with 7 participants revealed that Lenders and Renters had fundamentally different goals and anxieties entering the app. Lenders worried about damage and trust. Renters worried about availability and payment safety. A single onboarding flow created confusion about who the app was “for.” We split the flows at onboarding so each user type immediately felt the app was built for them, this reduced early drop-off in testing.
Why we chose an in-app wallet over bank transfers
1. During research, both lenders and renters expressed distrust of releasing money directly to strangers. An in-app wallet with escrow-style release, payment held until item is returned, directly addressed the trust problem surfaced in interviews. This became the core trust mechanism of the entire platform.
Why the listing flow was structured in steps
1. Initial wireframes showed a single long listing form. In usability testing, lenders abandoned it halfway. We broke it into 4 progressive steps: item details, pricing, availability, and conditions. Completion rate improved significantly in the second round of testing.
User Stories
Research Phase (Empathize)
Qualitative Research
To better understand users’ attitudes and behaviors around item rentals, conducted user interviews with people who have either rented or loaned items before, formally or informally.
The goal was to explore:
1. Their trust concerns
2. How they currently borrow /lend items
3. What would make them comfortable using a digital platform for this purpose.
Interview Questions
Shared with 7 participants 3 lenders and 4 potential Renters.
Have you ever rented or borrowed something from someone online or offline?
What made that experience easy or difficult?
What made you feel comfortable lending your personal item to a stranger?
What kind of things would you consider renting instead of buying?
How important are reviews or ratings when borrowing or lending?
Would you trust an app to manage money between you and a renter/lender?
Key Insights Derived
Trust is everything- users won’t lend to strangers unless they check reviews or ratings.
Flexible control- lenders want control over availiability, price and the abllity to accept or reject requests..
Communication is vital- users prefer being able to message the other party before agreeing.
Secure, app managed payments are preffered- no one wants to pay or get paid outside the platform.
Proximity matters- most users only want to rent within a reasonable distance from their location.
Quantitative Research
I also conducted a short online survey with 15 participants, asking YES/NO and multiple-choice questions to validate the idea at scale.
User Understanding
Persona
Empathy Map
Strategy & Structure
User Flow
Design Process
From Wireframes to visuals
Outcome
MVP Scope
We focused on only the essential, high impact flows to validate core uses and enable rapid MVP development. These include:
1. Sign-Up/Login( Google & Apple authentication)
2. Listings Management- Add, edit, and delete items for rent.
3. Search & Filters- By distance, price and category.
4. Rental Booking- Request, approve/cancel, calendar-based scheduling.
5. In-App Messaging- Communication, between lender and renter.
6. Ratings & Reviews- After rental is completed.
7. In-App wallet- Secure payments, withdrawals, and payout tracking.
8. Admin dashboard- For payouts, disputes, user management and listings.
This scope was intentionally lean to focus on validating product-market fit, creating a seamless user experience, and empowering the dev team to start immediately.
Result And Reflection
This MVP design directly enabled the development team to begin building and integrating both the mobile app and admin dashboard.
What went well:
Clean, intuitive flows were easy to handoff and build
Early user feedback praised the clarity, simplicity and trust centered approach.
Design is mobile-first but scalable for web and international rollout.
Built-in review, wallet, and rental scheduling created a smooth peer-peer experience.
The project was structured for easy handoff using figma with organized pages, styles and frames. No guesswork needed.
Outcome
“Working with Miriam was a game-changer. She didn’t just design screens — she understood the entire flow of our platform and made the user journey feel seamless. The dashboard she delivered was even better than what I envisioned. Clean, intuitive, and built with users in mind.”
— Charles E., CEO, LendMe
The MVP design was delivered on schedule with full Figma handoff documentation, annotated specs, and a 60+ component library that allowed the engineering team to build with consistency from day one.
Built For Scale (Admin Dashboard)
In addition to the mobile MVP, I also designed a fully functioning Admin Dashboard to support real-time management of:
1. Payouts & Commissions
2. Disputes.
3. Listings & user activity.
4. Transactions.
5. System-level settings.
This ensures the product is not just user-facing but backend by an operational backend interface that supports scalability from day one.
Access Note
This is an active, in development MVP; The full design file and developer-ready assets are available on request.
To see more or request access, feel free to contact me directly.
What's Next: Admin Dashboard Case Study Coming Soon.
What's Next: Admin Dashboard Case Study Coming Soon
Alongside the mobile MVP, I also designed a complete, fully functional Admin dashboard for LendMe. This dashboard was built to manage every aspect of the app’s operations, including user management, payouts, disputes, listings, transactions and more with real-time visibility and control.
This Backend system is:
1. Already designed and developer-ready.
2. Currently in active development alongside the mobile app.
3. Structured to support scalability, operational effiency and real-time decision-making.
A full case study breakdown of the Admin dashboard, including design decisions, flows edge cases and structure are coming.