Readytomove is an online property search platform that helps users find their ideal living spaces. It makes property search more customizable and less stressful. Therefore, users are more likely to find properties of both affordability and desirability.
With globalization, more people are studying, working and living abroad. Since covid, many have switched to work from home(WFH) lifestyle. All these trends and incidents have posed new challenges for people who are looking for a place to live. With these new challenges on top of the already competitive housing market, people are struggling to race against the demand in finding a place that is nice and affordable.
Readytomove aims to show users the full picture of the housing market, and the new and unfamiliar areas so that they can make informed choices and find places that are actually ideal for them. Moreover, Readytomove is open and adaptive to new trends and demands so that users can find living environments that meet their needs.
I wanted to find out what are users’ current experience searching for properties online and how it can be improved. To gain a general understanding, I first sent out 12 questionnaires to users who have apartment hunting experience within the last year and received 10 valid responses. Later, I arranged interviews with 4 participants. By looking along their step-by-step interaction with other property search platforms, I was able to emphathize with users, and understand users’ journey, habits and pain points.
I wanted to find out what are users’ current experience searching for properties online and how it can be improved. To gain a general understanding, I first sent out 12 questionnaires to users who have apartment hunting experience within the last year and received 10 valid responses. Later, I arranged interviews with 4 participants. By looking along their step-by-step interaction with other property search platforms, I was able to emphathize with users, and understand users’ journey, habits and pain points.
I highlighted 5 aspects of property search websites that are important to users and conducted a competitive analysis among 3 direct competitors and 2 indirect competitors. I found that new search options such as draw a map, and search bot are appreciated by the users, but they have great potential of improvement. The current filter and sorting functions fail to serve quite many users’ needs. Lastly, when a user is shown “Sorry, your search has no result”, it is most disappointing and a good search suggestion will be rather valuable.
I sketched 5 different versions of paper wireframes for desktop screens before committing to one digitally. By highlighting essential features that I need to keep and reflecting on the pros and cons of different layout styles, I was able to tweak my initial sketches and come up with a more mature design to move on to the next stage.
I conducted unmoderated usability studies with 5 participants, who all had experience looking for properties in the past year. Below are the questions frequently asked.
1. How do I know Readie is really helpful? What is different between using Readie and a filter?
2. Does the “Get started” button take me to property search directly?
3. Is virtual viewing an option for the properties? For all the properties or some of the properties?
4. If I am interested in a property, can I be led to explore the area of the property directly from the listing page? I don't seem to find a way.
After synthesizing user feedback, I gained valuable insight on 4 main areas of improvement and iterated on my design.
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Users can also use the Location and Transportation section to find out the distance between the property and the places they frequently visit.
Having moved 4 times in a year, Readytomove is a project that touches my heart. Knowing that, I tried to keep a distance from the project, instead of projecting my own experience entirely on the emphathize phase, I interviewed people of various backgrounds, ages and occupations to understand various user needs. Another thing that I noticed from the project is how the scope of design can grow exponentially before and after user testing. Some features simply need to be elaborated on to demonstrate to users their purpose. That is something to watch out for in future designs to stay within the time and budget limit!
Continue to design features of second priority
Conduct user testings to gather feedback on questions asked by Readie
Look for potential opportunities of development