HOMEDAY
Role: as a Senior Product Designer, I steered a team of engineers and the Product Manager toward lean, customer-centered solutions. I facilitated workshops with upper management, conducted user interviews and usability tests, and took charge of designing prototypes and UI.
The Problem
The business is losing around 35% of prospective buyers due to the increase in bank interest rates from 1.3% to 3%.
Customers Problem
Buyers
now need to spend 51% more on their monthly house financing with banks.
Sellers
experience a decline of interest for their properties.
Realtors
are losing 35% of their potential income.
The Goal
Help realtors inform sellers about lower demand and assist in adjusting property prices to sell on Homeday within the next 90 days.
The Process
The team was tasked with developing the first MVP within a 2-week timeframe. I utilized Lean UX canvas to devise a solution under tight deadlines, leveraging insights from diverse business aspects while maintaining a strong customer focus.
Part I.
The problem understanding.
Activity:
stakeholder interviews (realtors, mortgage managers), compiling existing feedbacks from buyers and sellers.
Outcome:
defined customer goals and measurable success metrics through the utilization of the service.
Business outcome:
- Stabilize instruction rate level at 12%;
- Increase 90-day conversion exposé-sold from 28% (Q1 2022) to 45% (Q1 2021);
- Final sales price is reduced from 5.2% (Q1 2022) to <1% (2021).
User (seller) benefits:
- Investors want to sell at a highest market pick or delay the sell;
- Sellers in high-demand metropolitan areas want to find a right buyer faster without decreasing a property price;
- Sellers in low-demand metropolitan areas are looking to increase buyers interest to their properties.
Part I.
Ideation – defining solutions, hypothesis and priorities scope.
Activity:
ideation workshop with the the team – the product manager and engineers generated solutions grounded in business outcomes and user benefits. They formulated hypothesis, identified risks, and defined MVP scope to be deliver within the next 2 weeks.
Outcome:
defined MVP scope, which included:
- Adjust the recommended selling price, demand volume, and time to sell in the pricing strategy according to the increased interest, and the property location;
- Communicate new market situation in relevant touchpoints;
- Present arguments on current demund struggles and potential impact on time to sell;
- Personalise the experience and price communication based on the metropolitan area (high/low).
Part I.
Prototype & Test.
The addressed problem emerged during the final property pricing step when realtors met sellers for real estate evaluation. Therefore, we reviewed the realtors app, the tool they used to collect data points on the property and generate Homeday’s ultimate offer.
The first sketches were ready, we conducted moderated usability test with realtors, after which we made a few copy and data visualisation changes, that should better support realtors of different seniority level to achieve the project goal: help realtors inform sellers about lower demand and assist in adjusting their prices to sell on Homeday within the next 90 days.
The final prototype and UI
in 2 weeks we added new touchpoints to the realtor’s application and modified existing slides to better argument the problem.