Project Name:

Apartments

1. Overview

Apartments is a website dedicated to the real estate market, offering the rent and sale of all types of properties. The target audience is people looking for a new home.

The problem:

Users take a long time to find the right apartment due to how overwhelming the search process can be.

The goal:

Design an Apartments website that allows users to quickly and easily search for a new home.

My role:

UX Designer

Responsibilities:

Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, iterating on designs and responsive design.

2. Understanding the user

User research

I conducted user interviews, which I later converted into empathy maps understanding the target user and their needs. I noted that many users want to find it their new homes as soon as possible. However, many available websites frustrate target users by overwhelming them with the number of properties.

Persona

Jenny is a graphic designer and a married mother who needs to find the best apartment fast because their rent time is running out.

User journey map

I created a user journey map of Jenny’s experience using the site to help identify possible pain points and improvement opportunities.

3. Starting the design

Digital wireframes

Prioritizing useful button locations and visual element placement on the home page was a key part of my strategy.

4. Refining the design

Mockups

To facilitate the user experience, I added a back button on the property’s page.

Mockups: Original screen size

High-fidelity prototype

My hi-fi prototype followed the same user flow as the lo-fi prototype and included the design changes made after the usability study.

View: high-fidelity prototype