UX/ UI Case Study
Project Title:
HomeNow: Streamlined Property Management Web App for Landlords, Property Managers, and Tenants
Synanopis:
4-week sprint, team of 4, client Conceptual
4 Weeks
Timeline:
Web App
Platform:
UX Researcher and UI Designer specializing in WCAG audits. Crafted interview questions for user insights, developed personas and journey maps, utilized MoSCoW for feature prioritization, conducted card sorting, and produced comprehensive research documents.
Role:
Figma, Jiro, Google Docs, Excel, Adobe Color
Tools:
Problem Statement:
Traditional property management processes are cumbersome and inefficient, leading to communication gaps, delayed maintenance, and tenant dissatisfaction.
Problem Overview:
HomeNow aims to revolutionize property management by providing landlords and property managers with a user-friendly web app.
The app facilitates communication between property managers, tenants, and vendors, streamlining maintenance requests and vendor assignments.
Goals:
Simplify property management tasks for landlords and property managers.
Improve communication between property managers, tenants, and vendors.
Streamline maintenance request handling and vendor assignments.
Design Process:
Research
User Research
User Competition Analysis
Discovery
User Personas
Journey Map
Analyzing F & G
MOSCOW
Initial Ideas
Task Flow
Card Sorting
Information Architecture
Ideate
Challenges
What I Learned
What can be Improved
Whats Next
Design
Recollect
Color Scheme
Low Fi Wireframes
Design Tokens
High Fi Wireframes
Final Screed
My Role:
Crafted interview questions for user insights.
Developed personas and journey maps for user understanding.
Utilized MoSCoW method for feature prioritization.
Conducted card sorting for intuitive information organization.
Produced comprehensive research document for client review.
Business Challenges:
Low User Retention: Despite positive feedback, app deletion rates remain high.
Monetization Challenge: Generating revenue without compromising user retention.
Feedback Discrepancy: Positive user feedback contrasts with high deletion rates.
Market Insight: Understanding trends and preferences to inform strategy.
Research: Feature Analysis Chart:
Reviewed seven different competitors in the market, including HappyCow and Yelp. From this analysis, I identified over 50 features and organized them into a detailed feature analysis chart.
Opportunities:
Payment Processing Optimization: Streamline payment processing, and reduce manual tasks.Curate Vegan Travel Itineraries
Automated Marketing: Use automation for property listings, and enhance marketing strategies.
CRM Implementation: Integrate CRM for efficient interactions, and improve customer service.
Unified User Interface: Develop an intuitive interface, and enhance user experience.
Automated Contract Generation: Implement customizable, automated contract generation.
Smart Home Automation Integration: Enhance property value with smart technologies.
Cost Tracking for Owners: Track property expenses accurately.
ROI Analysis: Prioritize initiatives for business growth.
AI Implementation: Explore AI for task automation.
Affinity Map Analysis
We interviewed 20 people: 5 renters, 5 vendors, and 10 Property Managers.
Seek improved maintenance organization
Effortless communication with tenants and vendors
Effortless communication with tenants and vendors
Cumbersome manual job tracking and contact retrieval
Property Managers:
Require streamlined communication with property managers
Tedious work documentation
Lack of organized, consolidated documentation
Service providers:
Require efficient maintenance communication
Timely issue resolution notifications
Desired quick problem resolution
Avoidance of communication blackout
Tenants:
Research: Personas
Property Manager:
Name: Alfredo Rodriguez
Occupation: Landlord
Location: Bushwick, Brooklyn
Age: 35-45
Alfredo Rodriguez inherited two buildings in Bushwick, Brooklyn, purchased by his father in the 90s at a low cost. Eager to modernize property management, Alfredo seeks tech solutions to navigate the evolving landscape of property laws, vendor relationships, and tenant interactions.
Background:
streamline processes, enhance communication, and stay compliant
Open to user-friendly technology solutions
Focus on evolving property laws, vendor relations, tenant interactions
Needs: efficient management, enhanced communication, compliance tools
Risk mitigation and adaptability are priorities
Vendor management tools for improved efficiency
Goals:
Vendor:
Name: Mario Giordano
Occupation: Plumber
Business: Plumbing Maestro at Maintenance Maestro
Age: 35-45
Mario Giordano, Plumbing Maestro at Maintenance Maestro, delivers high-quality plumbing services. He prioritizes clear communication, efficient project approvals, and embracing technology for seamless maintenance. Timely payments and transparent pricing are crucial for his professional relationships.
Background:
Streamlined communication with property managers
Simplified project approval processes
Clear and transparent communication channels
Access to user-friendly plumbing technology solutions
Timely payments and transparent pricing
Opportunities for continuous learning and training
Support for navigating complex approval processes
Goals:
Renter:
Name: Sophia Johnson
Occupation: Marketing Assistant
Location: Bushwick, Brooklyn
Age: 25-35
Sophia is a female tenant residing in one of Alfredo Rodriguez's buildings in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She values efficient communication, transparency, and modern technology to enhance her rental experience.
Communication Preferences: Sophia favors quick updates on service requests, values an emergency contact number, and finds logging into a dashboard inconvenient.
Background:
Efficient maintenance communication
Timely issue resolution notifications
Quick problem resolution
Avoidance of communication blackout
Venmo or PayPal payment preference
Streamlined communication apps
Community board for events
Swift responses to repair requests
Access to emergency contact numbers
Transparent updates on maintenance requests
Goals:
Research: Journey Map
Scenario: Maya, a vegan, is driving to a tech conference that is 3-hours from NYC. She is half way into her drive when she decides that it’s time to get something to eat.
A-Ha Moments:
Tenant Sophia experiences a leaky toilet and manually texts Alfredo, the landlord, for issue reporting.
Alfredo manually calls multiple plumbers to find availability, leading to delays and potential miscommunication. Additionally, Mario, the preferred vendor, prefers cash or Zelle, creating potential payment challenges.
The plumber quotes an initial $100 fee for the job assessment, adding complexity to the process and potential confusion for the tenant.
The plumber manually bills Alfredo with a paper invoice, leading to manual handling, potential loss, and extra steps in the payment process.
Alfredo manually saves and hands over a physical check to his accountant for tax preparation, creating additional manual tasks.
Opportunities:
Implement a centralized system with clear instructions for tenants to report issues. Use automated acknowledgment, prioritize responses, and maintain regular communication for efficient issue resolution.
Streamline plumber coordination to eliminate delays in maintenance and ensure alignment of payment preferences between tenants and plumbers for smoother transactions.
Make cost estimation straightforward for tenants to understand easily. Ensure clarity to prevent confusion and ambiguity, fostering better understanding of expenses associated with the service or maintenance.
Minimize manual tasks, mitigate loss risks, and resolve payment challenges efficiently. This ensures smoother operations, reduced vulnerabilities, and improved financial transactions for enhanced overall effectiveness and security.
Minimize manual tasks by implementing efficient digital record-keeping systems. This enhances data management, accessibility, and overall operational efficiency, reducing the need for labor-intensive processes.
Discovery: MosCoW
Discovery: User Flows
Used Data collected to build User flows for a/b testing
Moscow prioritization: Must, Should, Could, Won't.
Card sorting: Organize content for user comprehension.
Customer interviews: Understand user needs, behaviors, and preferences.
About:
Research: Qualitative Data
Concise layout and vibrant colors enhance engagement.
Quick access navigation for ease of use.
All-in-one main page eliminates the need for separate apps.
Takeaways:
Design Phase: Sketches to Mid Fidelity
I facilitated inclusive collaboration, guiding the team with "Yes, and..." and "How might we..." prompts. Mid-fi mockups enable user feedback, efficient iteration, cost-effective exploration, focusing on core functionality, early problem identification, collaboration, and risk reduction.
Results:
Positive feedback from user testing on both quantitative and qualitative metrics.
Identified key areas of improvement, including layout balance and intuitive navigation.
Recommendations for separate dashboards for tenants and vendors.
This is an almost final version of the design.
Added a color to help users see issues.
Conducted a thorough WCAG AA analysis failed.
Further development occurred after testing.
Test Mule:
Optimizations:
New wireframe design optimized for MVP product post-MOSCOW analysis
Goal: Find an MVP (Minimal Lovable Product) for A week sprint.
Optimize UI
Emphasized WCAG-accessible colors.
Agreed to keep current typography/logos, limited to 4 sizes.
Demonstrated commitment to inclusivity.
Aligned with accessibility guidelines.
Design Phase: Style Guide
Logos
Color Pallets
Inspiration
Components
Typography
Design Phase: High-Fidelity Mockup
Final Thoughts:
I see great potential for our web app at homenow.io. Our research-driven approach led us to create an intuitive CRM that addresses the needs of landlords, tenants, and vendors, facilitating communication and record-keeping while fostering professional relationships. Despite the success of our MVP product, I acknowledge areas for improvement, particularly in meeting WCAG standards and enhancing the project management capabilities.
Conclusion:
I've come to recognize the critical importance of early and frequent WCAG testing alongside our UX research efforts. While our team of four focused on driving design decisions through user research, we could have benefited greatly from prioritizing accessibility standards and implementing stronger project management tools from the outset. Despite these areas for improvement, I take pride in our achievements within the two-week timeline. Our product's user-friendliness and successful testing validate the effectiveness of our approach, but I now see the necessity of integrating accessibility considerations sooner in our development process.
Reflecting:
My vision includes bringing the web app up to WCAG standards, enhancing the project management functionalities, and implementing an AI assistant to further streamline operations. I believe these enhancements will elevate our product and make it an invaluable tool for property managers.
Looking ahead:
I thoroughly enjoyed the research process and identifying market needs. Our team's collaboration resulted in a strong MVP product, and with further testing and improvements, I'm confident it will become a standout solution in the property management sector
Final Thoughts:
Check out my other projects:
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