Social-first platform rethinking how people find flatmates and shared living spaces

A mobile-first, people-centred platform built to transform the shared accommodation experience for Drey.

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About Drey

Drey is a mobile-first platform designed to improve how people find flatmates and shared accommodation. Rather than focusing purely on listings, the product puts people, compatibility and community at the centre of the experience.

Challenge

Finding a place to live isn’t just a property problem, it’s a people problem. Most existing platforms prioritise rooms over relationships, resulting in poor matches, uncomfortable living situations and high churn. Users are forced to make deeply personal decisions with limited insight into who they’ll be living with, relying on minimal profiles and transactional messaging.

Key problems identified included:

Little emphasis on flatmate compatibility within existing platforms
Weak signals around lifestyle, values and intent
Awkward or unsafe early communication between prospective flatmates
A process that feels impersonal for what is a deeply personal decision
Existing platforms leading with listings rather than people

Solution

FiftyFive Technologies worked with Drey end-to-end, covering product vision, discovery, UX design, technical delivery and go-to-market planning. Our team blended strategic product ownership with hands-on UX leadership and development oversight throughout the full build.

The platform was designed to feel human and intentional, placing people at the centre rather than leading with listings. Key features and decisions include:

Personalised onboarding flow that establishes compatibility signals and sets clear user expectations from the outset
Clear lifestyle, values, and intent signals to help users make more informed decisions about who they live with
Thoughtful communication flows designed to reduce friction and build trust early in the process
Flexible data models supporting discovery and matching, built for long-term growth
Modular architecture maintaining a clear separation between MVP functionality and future roadmap items, allowing the product to launch lean while remaining extensible
Platform prepared for post-launch analytics, iteration, and optimisation from day one

A deliberate decision was made to avoid over-engineering social and matching features in the initial release, focusing instead on strong onboarding, clear intent signals and simple meaningful interactions. This produced a clean, testable MVP that reduces risk and supports faster learning from real-world usage.

Results

Drey has been fully built and delivered and is now entering its rollout phase. The platform launched with a structured roadmap in place, supported by a clear launch sequencing strategy, onboarding approach and early user acquisition plan.

By placing compatibility and community at the heart of the experience rather than defaulting to a listings-first model, Drey is well positioned to stand apart in a crowded market and build lasting engagement with its early user base.

FiftyFive Technologies continues to support Drey through its launch and growth phase, with a feedback-led iteration process in place to evolve the product based on real usage data.