UX/UI DESIGN
Making Home Search More Engaging
Starting the home search process and not sure what is most important to you?
Work together with our team to find the right fit!
Give us high level criteria (location, price, beds, baths) and we’ll create a list of homes for you. Like, Dislike or Love a home? We’ll continuously curate your search so you only see homes that are ideal for your needs.
Timeline
This was a timed, in person workshop activity that we initially completed within a workday. I then refined the concepts and put final visual touches on them which took a few additional hours
Background
By reducing the site visitor’s immediate decision making we aim to keep them on the Real Geeks site for longer while building out a completely custom search based on preferences on individual properties.
Once we capture a general idea of what is important, we can suggest pre-built saved searches to keep the lead updated with their wants and needs.
The traditional home search process often feels tedious, overwhelming, and transactional- lacking the enjoyment or engagement users experience in other digital experiences. With endless listings, filters, and tabs to manage, users can quickly become fatigued or frustrated especially when the interface feels more like a spreadsheet than a personalized journey. This concept tackles that UX problem by introducing a gamified approach, transforming the search into an intuitive, swipe-based experience similar to dating apps. By allowing users to swipe left or right on a curated set of homes, the process becomes more interactive and enjoyable, while also helping the platform quickly learn user preferences and refine results in real time—making the search not only more fun but more effective.
As the main designer on this project, I played a central role in shaping and bringing the home search concept to life. Collaborating closely with two product managers—one from the internal tools team and the other from the lead tools team—we began by jointly brainstorming and sketching out initial ideas, aligning on goals and user pain points. From there, I took ownership of the design execution, developing our vision into a high-fidelity prototype in Figma that captured both the user experience and visual direction of the concept. This prototype served as the foundation for communicating our ideas, and was ultimately presented to the entire company as a potential reimagining of the home search experience.
This category details the step-by-step approach taken during the project, including research, planning, design, development, testing, and optimization phases.
Research & Planning
Began with identifying opportunities and doing a group brainstorming session. Analyzed our recent customer feedback surveys to pinpoint potential opportunities and solutions to top user problems.
Design & Prototyping
Fixed our sights on one potential opportunity and collaborated with our team to create low-fi prototypes that outlined our idea. Iteratively refined designs based on feedback to enhance usability and visual appeal.
Development & Implementation
There are plans to incorporate this feature into our customer facing app in the near future.
Testing & Optimization
Gathered stakeholder feedback and plan to conduct user tests in our next round of interviews. We have plans to expand the search filters to align with more specific home search needs.
One of the major challenges of this project was the tight time constraint—we had only a single workday to ideate, test, and execute the entire concept from scratch. This limited timeframe forced us to prioritize speed over depth, requiring quick decision-making and rapid iteration. Balancing collaboration with two product managers while moving efficiently through brainstorming, wireframing, and high-fidelity prototyping was demanding, but also energizing. On a personal level, a key challenge was not being able to see the concept come to life as a functioning app. Without developers on hand to code the experience, the prototype was somewhat static, which made it harder to fully convey the dynamic, swipe-based interactions we envisioned. Despite these constraints, the project successfully showcased the potential of a more engaging, gamified home search experience.
The resulting Home Search app offers a seamless user experience, allowing individuals to enjoy swiping through a personalized list of homes based on their unique needs.
Intelligent Swiping
User swiping algorithms analyze user preferences, to generate a curated home list.
Seamless Multitasking
Ready to take the next step? Easily schedule a home tour while swiping through more homes.
Accurate Results
Avoid the endless scrolling through irrelevant properties on a typical home search. Only view homes that match your filters.
The next steps for this project involve moving from concept to implementation, with plans to integrate the swipe-based home search interface into our consumer-facing app in the near future. Additionally, we’ll work closely with data and product teams to ensure the personalization logic behind the swiping experience aligns with user preferences and delivers meaningful recommendations.