Dream Homes
Project: Responsive Wesbite for a real estate company
Research Wireframes
Prototypes Testing Iterations Accessibility
Role: Lead UX Designer leading the design process from conception to delivery
Project Vision
The Problem
Everyone dreams of owning a home. As the real estate market continues to evolve, people are constantly searching for their next home with the touch of a button. The prospect of finding the right home in the virtual world before entering it in the physical world has proven so convenient and time efficient, yet not many websites provide virtual tours with immediate booking options.
Target Audience
House hunters looking to view listings online and book viewings.
Goal
Timeline
Design a responsive website for finding homes and/or apartments.
October 2021-November 2021
Dreamhomes.com provides the ultimate digital real estate experience, enjoy virtual tours from the comfort of wherever you choose to be, save yourself time and know what you're getting into. Say goodbye to polished and or outdated photos. What you see is what you'll get.
Product
Tool: Adobe XD
Research Insights
Interviews were conducted and empathy maps created in order to understand users hoping to find homes and/or apartments and their needs.
More than 80% of study participants stated that they prefer websites with virtual tours and videos not just static images.
More than 90% of study participants pain points - time wasting, confirmed the initial assumption that users would rather save time with virtual tours.
75% of study participants prefer the option to to book a viewing of an apartment and/or home directlyvia a website without having to make a call.
User
Starting the Design
A sitemap was created to guide the structure and navigational flow of Dream Homes.com
Screen designs were made to focus on the users main needs, browsing homes and/or apartments, viewing virtual tours and booking a viewing.
Digital Wireframes
Screen Size Variation
Usability Study Findings
A low-fidelity prototype was used to test the design in an unmoderated usability study with seven participants
Users complained of not being able to easily filter and find homes via location.
Users expressed a desire to be able to explore locations nearby when already viewing a particular home.
Users did not see a need for the key amenities with static images as the virtual tour already detailed amenities.
Refining the Design
Improvements were made to the design to enhance user experience based on the findings of the usability study
Before
After
X
Key amenities replaced with interactive map to explore places near by
Final Design
Additional changes were made to match user needs from the usability study to iterate on the design
Takeaways
Dream homes.com has been helping users save time by providing them with virtual tours before they do an actual viewing. Users have also been very pleased with the ability to book a viewing without having to make a call.
Challenges
Incorporating accessibility for the visually impaired to ensure all user needs were met, especially because it is essentially a visual centered design.
Next Steps
Consult accessibility team to ensure the design continues to meet accessibility guidelines.
Final Thoughts- What I Learned?
There is a growing demand for virtual reality and videos are indeed still the next big thing in marketing.