Revamping a DIY Property Management Portal: Enhancing Processes, Automating Tasks, and Infusing New Branding
Lead Experience Designer
The project entailed the redesign of a property management platform to support new teams and internal processes, accommodate automation, and ultimately replace the current out-of-the-box solutions. Additionally, it involved incorporating a new brand design accompanied by a fresh go-to-market strategy.
Over a span of 6 months, I spearheaded the design of a new platform, placing a strong emphasis on collaboration with stakeholders, product managers, and Skychute teams. Through interactive workshops and insightful discussions, we meticulously crafted a strategic roadmap, release plan, and comprehensive product backlog.
Guiding inceptions and workshops, I meticulously captured user stories in Jira, ensuring the success of our project. From the initial design phase to the final delivery, I took charge of UX/UI, crafting intuitive interfaces while also providing mentorship to the design team.
Additionally, I diligently maintained a components library to uphold design consistency throughout the project. Our collective efforts culminated in the creation of a groundbreaking platform, poised to reshape our industry and ignite innovation.
The platform was intricately designed to provide an exceptional user experience across a diverse range of devices and screen sizes. Insights from buyMyplace analytics highlighted that nearly 30% of customers favored using mobile devices when visiting their website.
Collaborating with the buyMyplace team and analyzing previous research, I distilled four customer archetypes, with the Cautious Retired emerging as our primary group and the main users of the platform.
Design principles served as fundamental guidelines for crafting a user-friendly product. Simplicity ensured clear and understandable interfaces, while progressive disclosure gradually revealed information, facilitating step-by-step guidance for smooth task navigation.
From the user research, we discovered the importance of simplifying the initial access to the platform, allowing customers to easily start a trial and receive campaign recommendations.
To streamline access to the platform, our sign-up process would involve capturing email and phone number information. Users would then be granted multiple visits during the trial period, facilitated by a secure verification code.
At the initial release, customer activation and retention emerged as the most critical business metrics. Therefore, all feature prioritization should align closely with these key metrics.
Onboarding customers and collecting information about their property and motivation to sell would empower the system to generate personalised campaign recommendations.
Due to budget constraints, the campaign calendar, service providers, vendor CMS, analytics, and help features were excluded from the first release. The platform was launched with only one navigation item to prioritize essential functionalities.
While compromises are inevitable in any project, it's still possible to prioritize essential features, iterate, and address the most important tasks that users need to accomplish their goals successfully.
