Context
Real estate investment is an increasingly popular way for individuals to achieve financial security. It is an exciting and emotional experience, but often complicated. While there are plenty of blogs and agencies providing information, often, buyers new to the market may struggle to get started without professional guidance and waste time viewing properties out of their range. This web app will provide them with the expertise needed to get started efficiently.
Problem Overview
In today's fast-paced real estate market, finding the perfect property can be a daunting task. Whether you're a first-time home buyer, a seasoned investor, or looking to sell your current home, the process often involves countless hours of research, multiple property visits, and the stress of navigating a complex market.
In the ever-evolving real estate industry, most users face several challenges and pain points when searching for properties, connecting with real estate professionals, and making informed decisions. These challenges create an urgent need for a comprehensive and user-centric real estate app.
HouseHub, your ultimate real estate companion, is designed to simplify and streamline every aspect of your real estate journey.
Project Goals
To create an application to search for properties, inputting criteria relevant to what user is looking for
Easily view and return to listings she’s interested in
Receive relevant and comprehensive information about properties
%201.png)
Possible Solutions
Based on all the information I was given for my project, I aimed to create an intuitive, user-friendly design with a clean layout.​
Allow users to search, filter, and sort listings based on various criteria (price, location, type, etc.).
Provide comprehensive information for each property, including descriptions, and images.
Allow users to create profiles and save favorite properties.
Implement a messaging system for communication between users and agents.
Personas
I have been given a persona for my real estate app project so I used that persona as a foundation for my design and development work. I started by thoroughly reviewing the provided persona. Understand his background, goals, needs, and any specific pain points or challenges that have been outlined.
​
​
​
“I want to provide my family with financial security. I’ve been considering buying property for a while, and am looking for a tool that can help me find what I’m looking for, quickly! “
Age: 42
Education: Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Master’s in Advanced Computer Systems
Marital Status: Married with children
Occupation: IT Consultant
​
As an IT consultant for a growing tech company, John is frequently on the go, and often holds meetings by phone in his car while driving. He is good at multitasking and relies heavily on technology to help him with this.
Brief Story
Goals
Makes a good living and wants to invest in property beyond the city for increased financial security for his family.
-
He wants to find the right information for fast decision-making.
-
He wants a tool to help her find the right properties so as not to waste his time.
​
-
Search for properties, inputting criteria relevant to what he’s looking for
-
Easily view and return to listings he’s interested in
-
Receive relevant and comprehensive information about properties
Tasks
User Stories
“As a user, I want to be able to save or mark properties I am interested in, so that I can easily revisit them.”
“As a user, I want to be able to contact the right people if I am interested in viewing a property, so that I schedule a viewing.”
“As a user, I want to create a profile containing all my property criteria, so that I am recommended results most relevant to me.”
User Flows: "A good start is the half the battle"
User flows aren't just pathways; they're the architects of great user experiences. I created user flows to map out the user's journey and make informed decisions to improve the overall usability and effectiveness of the product.​
From Concept To Interface: Navigating Design with Wireframes
After clear understanding of user needs and key user flows, I started sketching initial wireframe concepts on paper. This allowed me to quickly explore layout ideas, content placement, and the arrangement of essential elements like navigation menus, buttons, and data visualizations.
​
Onboarding
Contact an Agent
Designer's Palette: Moodboard
Visual Style Guide
Color Palette
Typography
Body Text
Heading 1
Hahmlet, Black 24px
Cupcake ipsum dolor sit amet macaroon chocolate. Sweet gummi bears jelly-o tart candy canes cake caramels. Shortbread candy canes lemon drops cupcake fruitcake.
Roboto, Regular 18px
Heading 2
Inter,Bold, 20px
Cupcake ipsum dolor sit amet macaroon chocolate. Sweet gummi bears jelly-o tart candy canes cake caramels. Shortbread candy canes lemon drops cupcake fruitcake.
Roboto, Regular, 14px
Heading 3
Inter, Semi Bold 18px
UI Elements
Input Fields
Buttons
Progress Bar
Price Indicator
Navigation Bar
Bringing Ideas to Life: Mockups
Clean, simple, and efficient are the three keywords that gave me a visual direction while I was designing my real estate app. I opted for the mood board with blue and white colors. Blue is often associated with feelings of calmness and serenity. In the context of real estate, where buying or renting a property can be a stressful process, I think using blue and white colors can create a calming effect on users, making their browsing experience more pleasant and enjoyable.
%202.png)
Key Learnings
Finding the right features that solved the user's problem was challenging, but this project helped me get out of my comfort zone & and challenge myself to deliver user centric solutions. However, there are still a lot of inputs & and features that could be added with proper testing and identifying the problem with the help of real-time user data.
In the next phase of HouseHub’s development, I will be working on the user interviews to gather
feedback and insights which will be an important role in shaping my app’s direction. Additionally,
I will be adding new features like advanced property filters, and scheduling tours.
I will work on the animations to ensure that transitions between screens and elements within HouseHub are smooth and fluid.