Pinpoint
Overview
A real estate website that can assist users in getting to their reserved flat conveniently and safely.
Our goal is to make it as simple as possible for people to buy or rent houses. We need to understand how our primary users look for and book properties as well as the level of difficulty they encounter at various points during the booking process. We also want to know how difficult it is for them to locate and modify their criteria throughout the booking phases. Pinpoint wants to address these problems there.
Role
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UX / UI Design
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User Researcher
Duration
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2 Months
Tools
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Figma
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Adobe Photoshop
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Google Docs
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Paper & Pencil
Team
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Individual
Problem
A new city or country may be unfamiliar to certain people, and there aren't many real estate websites that can reassure the unfamiliar while upholding ethical business practices.
Some tourists do identify places that speak their language, but navigating via the app to the correct language settings can be time-consuming and challenging.
Direct, easy, efficient
THAT IS WHAT PINPOINT INTENDS TO PROVIDE.
People are used to finding their new houses online most of the time in today's culture, especially through services like Airbnb or Rightmove (UK). On the other hand, newcomers to a country or region are not provided with the same internet experience as the rest of society. Which can make things difficult
Solution
DESIGNING FOR THE LESS CONFIDENT PEOPLE ONLINE
Pinpoint attempts to narrow the confidence gap for those who are less self-assured online. By establishing visual and direct access to functionality, we can make it quick and easy for even our most adventurous visitors to use the interface.
Research
Are ordinary users' actions and attitudes toward real estate websites effective? Are they satisfied with the results of their online property selection? In order to obtain all of these responses from the frequent clientele, research is used in this situation.
Method
OBJECTIVE-DRIVEN DESIGN
We used an objective-driven design strategy in this project, and it worked well. With surveys, interviews, journey maps, and the creation of persona hypotheses, we discovered that the pain points were the most helpful for our research.
Pain-Points
WHAT ENCOUNTERS DO THE USERS DISLIKE THE MOST
Time Constraints - Making an appointment to ask the agent if the property is available or not when searching through rental or purchase properties might be challenging if you don't have much time.
UI Challenges - The positioning of options and functionality on websites can occasionally mislead users.
Experience - Finding the ideal home for yourself may be a tedious and unfun process on the majority of real estate websites.
Persona
PRIMARY PERSONA
SECONDARY PERSONA
ADDITIONAL PERSONA
Journey Map
PRIMARY PERSONA
"As an air hostess, I have the privilege of traveling from one nation to another while working. As I am stationed in numerous locations, I rarely stay in one country and live in the same place. I'd like to have easy access to apartments when I land for a couple of weeks."
SECONDARY PERSONA
"I work as an archaeologist, and our job is to investigate artifacts to learn more about them." Normally, I go around the country with my crew to various archaeological sites. When we arrive in these countries, we normally search their local real estate websites for an apartment to rent. The most common problem is the payment method, which can take a long time to process."
ADDITIONAL PERSONA
"I am a pilot working an 8-hour shift and newly married. My aim is to start a family, thus I'll need a home to go to. I want to discover houses as quickly as feasible, without problems, and with as much detail as possible. Many real estate websites, in my experience, don't provide sufficient data on the property.
Design
Repairing problematic interfaces and developing user-friendly interface solutions
Sitemap
HIERARCHICAL METHOD
I chose the hierarchical method since it makes describing the broader groups easier. It narrows down to the child based on the information provided by the parent.
Paper Wireframes
WHAT ENCOUNTERS DO THE USERS DISLIKE THE MOST
I tried and attempted to come up with the greatest designs for my users. With the information, I gathered from my user stories to the pain points. It led me in designing the wireframes in such a way that they are easy and enjoyable to engage with.
Digital Wireframes
Transferring the paper wireframes to digital provided me a better understanding of the structure. It demonstrates what changes may be done throughout the usability research.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Approaching a low-fidelity prototype. Forming the components from one to another brought everything together. The aim, as always, was to design a responsive website for the customer to utilize during the checkout process. I showed my concepts to my colleagues in order to get some critical input that would help me improve the design. I took note of any concerns that the members faced and began to address each one step by step in order to provide a pleasant user experience.
Click to view the Low-fidelity prototype: https://xd.adobe.com/view/8200ac4a-82dd-4ed8-a49 9-b2460cbeb96c-d753/
Usability Study Parameters
Study Type: Unmoderated Study
Location: United Kingdom
Participants : 3 participants
Length: 20-30 minutes
1. Having the design to be easily manageable without any confusion
2. The images and text should not be too cluttered
3. The CTA button should be attractable when shown to the customer
Mockups #1
The design prototypes I created initially for the first half were intended to cover all sections where information was required. I provided everything the consumer required, however, there is always something that has to be changed when it comes to addressing pain points. My usability study revealed that many consumers did not find the layout consistent and desired it to be more fluid with the information as it seemed to be cluttered, therefore rather than maintaining most pages the same size, I expanded the sizes of certain pages to include enough information.
Before usability study
After usability study
Mockups #2
My next usability testing phase was to show off my redesign and discover what pain points consumers had since I wanted to improve on the design before submitting the high-fidelity version. Many of the reviewers came up with the same answer, which began to develop a pattern. I was told that white spacing is an issue, that the typeface is incorrectly configured, and that there is a lack of information. I considered their suggestions and came up with solutions to the redesign issues. As I solved the concerns, I decided to go on to the hi-fidelity. I redesigned the hi-fidelity many times to perfect it, as I was given regular criticism of the design's lack of issues such as whitespace, and not following the principles of UX as my design began to lack the attention to lead the user. Finally, I completed the revamp eventually.
High-Fidelity Prototype
Approaching a low-fidelity prototype. Forming the components from one to another brought everything together. The aim, as always, was to design a responsive website for the customer to utilise during the checkout process. I showed my concepts to my colleagues in order to get some critical input that would help me improve the design. I took note of any concerns that the members faced and began to address each one step by step in order to provide a pleasant user experience.
Click to view the High-fidelity prototype: https://xd.adobe.com/view/c95be94c-a177-4e55-9c2b -5e3c3b258d51-9c08/
Accessibility Features
1. Text Speech - Having a text-to-speak feature where people, for those, are less vulnerable.
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2. Voice Command - A voice command feature for people to make things even easier.
3. Experience - A help guide feature that can be triggered through a button that is displayed at all times, or a time added. If the person takes too long to decide the help guide can pop up to help the user.
Conclusion.
Pinpoint makes searching for a home to rent/buy easier and more straightforward. It might be difficult to enter uncharted areas; this is where Pinpoint will always be available to assist you at every step of the process.
What are the key takeaways that I have learned?
I have learned not to assume what people's actions are when entering a website as many usability studies can reveal different pain points when entering a website. Creating variable solutions is not always an easy task, as extensive study is always required before reaching a final design.
My next steps for this project
1. Usability study - Conduct another type of usability research by questioning people of a certain age, those who are not confident using the internet, and so on. This will assist me in identifying more pain points during testing.
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2. Create a dark mode feature - This will help the website add a low light and will make things easier for users to read.