Proppex
An All-in-One Property Management Solution
Overview
The client, Proppex, wanted to provide an All-in-One Property Management SaaS solution catering to 3 different user types: property managers, property owners, and tenants. The solution will have a wide range of features for property management agencies, including but not limited to monitoring the status of their rental portfolio, chatting with different stakeholders, requesting and managing maintenance tickets, and much more..
Problem Statement
Property managers are wasting their valuable time trying to do tasks that can be accomplished automatically and with ease.
Solutions found in the market may have solved some issues and increased efficiency, however, doing that cluttered the user experience and interface with not well-thought-out content structure and user journeys, which in turn, paved the way for us to provide a more holistic and thorough solution.
We need to find a way to connect different stakeholders under one platform, where they can perform all functions related to managing a property.
Approach
I am tackling the design process using the Design Thinking methodology. From our research, we found out that there is a strong desire for a more intuitive navigation system and content architecture.
Content and visual prototyping is done with interactivity in mind, allowing different stakeholders such as developers and managers to get an idea of how things work, and for them to visualize the approach and the journey before coding starts. Afterward, I work closely with the dev team to ensure everything is going smoothly and if any doubts need to be solved.
I also keep an eye on the latest trends in design and try to apply new features that Figma and the design community introduce to facilitate work and delivery.
Prioritization and Roadmap Planning
Frequent Meetings were conducted for everyone in the team to contribute and be aligned on what is important for our product to function as desired. We rank them in terms of Complexity vs ROI for our target clients.
To do that, we had 3 main metrics that we needed to focus on regarding what feature to tackle next, Time Efficiency, Money Saving, and Security improvements.
Other meetings were focused on future thinking, where we defined what could we do to further improve our platform, which will get us closer to our goal, of making Proppex a holistic property management solution.
Design Process
Dashboard Design
Highlighting main points and KPIs the user needs on the main home screen. The dashboard will be interactive, with multiple frames reacting to what filters the user chooses. This was one of the most challenging tasks, as I was trying to figure out what kind of content the user truly needed and organize them in one page to minimize scrolling while still allowing the content to breathe and be easily navigatable.
Wireframing and Prototyping
Low-fidelity Wireframes were created for all screens to get a feel of the layout before generating high-fidelity ones and later prototyping them. Different iterations were requested to get an idea of how things look and function in different ways and then we decided on the approach that fits the brand, customer journey, and usability better.
User Testing
User testing was conducted upon completion of a user journey of a certain feature. Testing was performed with target customers and the results were analyzed and taken into consideration for the next iterations.
Interface Design
White Space
Spacing or having the content breathe a little is of high importance to me as a designer. It all comes down to how I can satisfy clients by showing all the content they want to see on a page while making the content not cluttered or noisy. This was one of the challenges and I was able to overcome it by prioritizing the content we truly needed.
There are things that we can't bypass, such as the importance of white space, as it is crucial for the overall feeling and usability of the platform.
Colors
Staying true to the brand's main colors throughout the platform while leveraging the look and feel they have.
Typography
The combination I went with emphasized clarity, readability, modernity, and trust.
Icons and Graphics
I visualized different data sets and sections with graphs, pie charts, and progress bars among others, making way for a more engaging and fun experience to browse through content. I also used a simplistic icon design system from the design community.
Interaction Design
To Improve the user experience, I designed the platform in a way to allow for multiple interactions without interfering with the flow or the journey. Popups appear in different ways to maximize content space and allow the user to recollect where that action was performed and align next steps. Simplified and elevated processes include:
Intuitive Clicking gestures and reactions
Expandable rows/sections to reveal more details.
Tenant Portal
Result and Impact
Positive user feedback and reactions were shown, praising the improved experience and interface design compared to the platforms they were using in the past.
2 Beta Testers Signed up!
Porfolio of 40+ Properties
Conclusion
Taking on this project, which was and still is of a complex nature, considering the different journeys and flows we needed, to make the platform function the way we wanted it to be is something I am truly proud of.
Designing a platform and making it stand out among the competition was not an easy task, yet determination, teamwork, and insights from different stakeholders pushed me and the team and pointed us to the right path in creating a memorable solution.
Since 2022
Madrid, Spain