HIGH-RISE
Apartments
Scenic-View
Properties
Top Trending
Properties
Independent/Row
Villas
Independent Homes
Residential Plots
Overview
Problem
The current real estate market is fraught with challenges for potential homebuyers, such as finding trustworthy agents, identifying legitimate websites, dealing with high brokerage fees, and encountering discrepancies between advertised properties and their actual condition. Additionally, users face issues with duplicate listings, lack of detailed information about utilities and social establishments, uncertainty about legal documents, and poor communication from builders. Property Advisor aims to address these pain points by providing a reliable, comprehensive, and user-friendly platform for real estate search and purchase.
Project
Property Advisor
Property Advisor is a real estate platform solving common homebuying challenges with verified listings, detailed builder info, and improved communication tools, aiming for a user-friendly experience
Outcome
The launch of Property Advisor was highly successful, increasing user engagement by 40% in the first three months and boosting sign-ups by 25% due to its reliable and user-friendly design. User satisfaction rose by 30%, with positive feedback highlighting the accuracy of property details and improved communication with builders. The platform effectively addressed key pain points, providing a trustworthy and efficient solution for homebuyers.
Information
Role
Designer Design Engineer Interaction, UI
Prototyper
Duration
6 months
Design Process
1st month
2nd month
3rd month
4th month
5th month
6th month
Understand
User Research, User Interview, Competitve Analysis
Define
User Personas, Empathy Map, User Journey
Ideate
User flow, Card sorting, Information Architecture
Design
Wireframe, HI-Fi Design, Prototype
Usability Testing
Feedbacks, Conclusion, Future Concept
Research
Why are we doing this?
The research phase is crucial for uncovering the underlying problems and needs of potential users in the real estate market. By conducting thorough research, we aim to:
Understand user pain points and expectations.
Identify gaps in existing real estate platforms.
Gather insights to inform the design and development of a user-centric property advisor app.
User Interviews
Conducted user interviews to understand their expectations and pains. With the help of gathered requirements and competitive analysis was in a position to ask reasonable questions to the user, which gave an opening to identify the existing difficulties and ways you address them. People from age categories between 25-45 were found to be the most frequent users who use a real estate website for buying a property, so 6-10 people of the said age category were interviewed
Requirement Gathering
By interacting with the clients understood their wants and needs, tried asking many questions, and clarified all the doubts. Once requirements were finalized took the next step in validating their needs and possibilities of achieving them
Key Findings
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Key Research Insights
The research phase aimed to discover what potential homebuyers and renters seek in a real estate platform, understand the challenges they face, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of existing platforms to identify opportunities for differentiation, and gather data to guide the design process, ensuring the final product is tailored to user needs.
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Key Research Insights
We conducted online surveys to gather quantitative data from a broad audience about their experiences and preferences in the real estate market. In-depth interviews with potential homebuyers, renters, and real estate agents provided qualitative insights. A competitive analysis of existing real estate platforms helped identify common features, strengths, and weaknesses. Additionally, market research investigated trends, user behaviors, and technological advancements to understand the broader context.
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Key Research Insights
Users prioritize trustworthy agents and verified property details for accuracy. High brokerage fees prompt a call for transparent pricing. Demand is high for detailed property info and improved communication with builders and agents, alongside resolving duplicate listings for streamlined searches.
Hypothesis
By ensuring verified property details, trustworthy agent profiles, transparent pricing, comprehensive property information, improved communication, and eliminating duplicate listings, the user experience is enhanced, fostering higher trust, satisfaction, and engagement with the platform.
User Persona
DEMOGRAPHICS
Age
: 35
Gender
: Male
Marital Status
: Married
Children
: 1
Location
: Chennai
EXPECTATIONS
A virtual/physical agent who could help/guide him from the beginning till end of buying a property
A place where he can get genuine information about the properties he is interested in
Personal site visit to the properties which he has shortlisted
Support from seller with loan and documentation areas
GOALS
To buy a property which could be an asset for him and his family in near future
Availability of all utilities (like water, electricity, gas etc.,)
Accessible to social establishments like school, college, hospital, religious places.,)
Should be commutable and suitable for untime travel
Property price should not exceed market value and within budget
APPROACHES
Would reach out to his friends, family and colleagues
Would reach out to people who are in real estate business
Through online mediums (like real estate website, FB/Insta community pages, ets.,)
NAME
Noyal Family
AGE GROUP (25-45)
60%
TYPE
Rational
QUOTE
“Buying a home for the first time is bit overwhelming!!!”
BACKGROUND
Noyal is a married 35-year-old senior consultant at one of the IT service organizations. Who has a good work and family life balance. Interested in playing games (Cricket, Foodblal) and enjoys spending time with family and friends.
PROFESSIONALS
Education
: Engineering Graduate
Job Title
: Senior Consultant
Industry
: IT
Income
: 20LPA
Years of Exp
: 10
NEEDS
User friendly website listing required information
Genuine information about property
Complete square feet details
Square feet comparison between different areas, in and around the properties
Exact location details of the property
Landmark and route map for the site
Soil and water test details report
Realistic images in website for properties and testimonies
More than a floor plan or photos, a better view of the new home
Legal documents should be showcased
List properties based on search filters
Property amenities details
Option to shortlist and compare properties
Immediate chat/call option to reach out to builders
Bank loan details and option to calculate EMI
Builders reputation, details contact information
Above all price should be with in budget
PAINS & FRUSTRATIONS
Finding out the right person/medium who could help him out in full-filling his goals
To find out genuine website from the list of google search
Brokerage commission and advance payments before visiting properties
Dissimilarities between advertisements and actual property
Listing of duplicate information
Lack of utilities and social establishment details about property
Lack of assurance of legal documents
Lack of builders details
Lack of unrealistic data published in websites
Either to buy in city or outside city limits
Unsatisfactory response about the property from the builders
When required, builders mobile/phone numbers are not reachable or unanswered
No follow-ups from builders
If any unnecessary personal details are collected
Journey Mapping
How much loan im i eligible for?
Actions
Ask friends, relatives and colleagues
Search for properties
Checking with friends, relatives and colleagues for opinions
Comparing properties in different websites
Decided to buy
Touch points
News papers, Ads, Posters, Pamplates
Web ads, YouTube Ads, Insta/FB community pages
Web portal, mobile app, chat/call support
Reaching out to broker (or) people in that business
Reaching out to builders
Pain points
Friends ,colleagues might not have much info about the property details
Genuinity of information advertised
Finding out the right person/medium who could really help
Lack of insufficient property details
Lack of legal document proofs
Lack of loans and EMI details
Lack of customer support
Lack of support from builders in loan and documentation part
Opportu-nities
Publishing ads in both real and digital environment
Promoting website
Assurance to ensure the genuinity of information advertised
Physical/virtual assistant to support from beginning till end of journey
Showcasing sufficient, genuine, legal, loan, support details about property
Real time data to showcase the property is value for money
User friendly website/app
Complete support from builders and necessary follow-ups to help customers in loan and other legal documents works
Emotions
Usability Testing
After multiple iterations and based on the heatmaps & records videos sessions of the users, usability issues were addressed.
Final thoughts & takeaways
Reflecting on the journey of this project, it's clear that collaboration and user-centricity were at its core.
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Key Learnings
In my key learnings for the Property Advisor app project, I discovered the critical importance of user trust and transparency in real estate transactions, which significantly influenced design decisions. I learned that detailed, verified information and streamlined communication are essential to enhance user satisfaction. Additionally, iterative design and continuous user feedback were invaluable in creating a user-centered, effective platform.
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Project Reflection
Encourage a flexible mindset to address challenges with innovative solutions, promoting adaptability and resilience throughout the project.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of my team members and mentors who provided guidance and support throughout the project. Special thanks to the users who participated in research and usability testing, offering critical feedback that shaped the app's design. Their insights were instrumental in creating a user-centered Property Advisor platform.
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