An automated maintenance issue request service that met tenants’ needs and delivered real user value
What the project delivered
Business saving of
£80,000
per year
Tenant NPS
7 to 9
after implementation
Reduced waiting time
2 days less
from 5 to 3 on average
Business usefulness &
Credabilty
measured and improved
My role
Lead Product Designer
Leading the design process and stakeholder management.
End to End Design Process
Research through to evaluation.
Multidisciplinary team
Working alongside; Product Owners, Developers, Analysts and Testers.
2 week project
Responsible for design management and session planning.
The problem
Currently, when a tenant has a problem in their rental property, they let the property manager know via phone or email.
The property manager will then manually put this information into a CRM and the maintenance job will be carried out by the contractor and all parties are kept informed along the way.
The business believes there’s an opportunity to improve and streamline this process for both the tenants and agents and we’d like to explore this space from the tenants’ perspective.
The approach
Given there was a 2-week time frame to build and evaluate our solution the team choose to follow a traditional design process to solve the problem.
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• User Research
• Desk Research
• Competitive Analysis
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• Problem Statement
• User Persona
• Empathy Map
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• Brainstorming
• User Flow
• Information Architecture
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• Paper Wireframes
• High-Fi Wireframes
• Style Guide
• UI Design
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• Usability Test
• Future Concepts
The Research Phase
Research
In the research phase, it’s important to define the objectives to help team alignment. Defining the objectives provides clarity, direction and measurability all crucial when assigning resources and effort.
Secondary research
For me sound secondary research saves a huge amount of time and can be insightful when analysing approaches that have been created to solve the problem before.
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We reviewed reports on property management, real estate and user experience trends to gain a better understanding of the sector.
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The team conducted research on existing property management apps to identify their features, strengths and weaknesses.
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Review of marketing strategies, pricing models and user feedback to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
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The team also briefly looked at solutions that could be offered by he use of artificial intelligence or blockchain technology in property management.
Defining the target audience
Identifying the key stakeholders who would be involved in research and other phases of the duration of the project.
Conducting user interviews
As part of the teams research plan we conducted user interviews. I personally like to create a script when interviewing allowing for better time managment.
Summary of research approach
This summary shows what the team went through to help us define a real user problem. Under each phrase are the methodologies used.
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• User Testing
• Journey Mapping
• Card Sorting
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• Review Reports
• Competitive Analysis
• Competitor Analysis
• Emerging Technologies
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• Persona Creation
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• Empathy Mapping
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• Presentation
• Stakeholder Alignment
• Story Telling
The Defining Phase
Adopting a user-centered approach
In order for the team to have full alignment there needs to be a solid understanding of the users’ needs, goals and pain points.
Empathising with the user
Developing personas involves creating fictional characters that represent your target users.
Personas help you understand the needs, goals, and pain points of your users and can be used to develop empathy and design solutions that are tailored to their specific needs
Journey mapping
I find journey mapping to be one of the best ways of framing a problem with a user centred approach. Here is an example of the process and touchpoints.
Task analysis
By identifying tasks and analysing them I can take complex tasks and break them down into smaller manageable steps helping to identify pain points and confusion in the user’s workflow.
The tenant identifies a problem with the rental property, such as a leaky faucet or malfunctioning appliance.
The tenant contacts the estate agent via phone or email to report the problem.
The estate agent listens to the tenant's description of the problem and records the details in their CRM tool.
The estate agent assigns a maintenance job to a contractor to fix the problem.
The contractor contacts the tenant to schedule a visit to the property and assess the problem.
The contractor visits the property and assesses the problem.
The contractor makes any necessary repairs or replacements to fix the problem.
The contractor updates the CRM tool with information about the repairs and any follow-up work that may be needed.
The estate agent updates the tenant on the status of the maintenance job and confirms that the problem has been resolved.
Problem statement
This problem statement highlights the key user needs and desires, including ease of use, timely communication, minimal stress and effort, and a sense of value and priority.
“As a tenant, I want to be able to easily report problems with my rental property and receive timely updates on the status of the maintenance job.
I want the process to be simple and efficient, without causing undue stress or effort on my part.
I also want to feel valued and prioritised as a tenant, with my reported problems given appropriate attention and resolved quickly and effectively.”
The Ideation Phase
My approach to ideation
I must say that the ideation phase of the design process is one of my favourites.
There is nothing better than arriving at the point of ideation with a sound research phase conducted and an agreed-upon user-centred problem statement.
Crazy 8’s
One of the most tried and tested ideation methodologies. For me not being too precious about the sketch of an idea is vital here.
I am always amazed at how fast 8 minutes can go. Here is my go based on the problem statement.
Gamestorming
I find that gamestorming keeps creativity flowing especially in group scenarios. The more I can engage a team with alternative fun ways to generate ideas or list potential speed bumps is hugely beneficial to the overall outcome of the product.
Brainstorming
I find that sometimes team members are much more comfortable with the format of writing an idea on a Post-it.
Prioritisation of ideas would come after based on their potential impact, feasibility, and resources required.
Quick sketch
I like to sketch my ideas down as a reference when I come to wire-framing and prototyping.
I find it gives me a solid foundation for further ideation as I develop through this phase. At this stage I ask myself have I created a solution to the user problem?
User flow
User flows allow me to see how a user will navigate through a particular scenario.
They can highlight when users may taking too many actions to perform a certain task, they can also show when a user may become blocked or confused.
Information Architecture
User flows allow me to see how a user will navigate through a particular scenario.
They can highlight when users may taking too many actions to perform a certain task, they can also show when a user may become blocked or confused.
The Prototype Phase
High Fidelity Wireframe
When wireframing I like to start thinking about components, the build and the purpose of each.
I strive to keep designs as clean as possible and not make too many assumptions before working on the final concept.
Final Concept Design
The final concept aims to deliver against the problem statement. The solution allows the tenant to directly post a maintenance issue to the CRM and track its progress. The user will be kept informed in real-time through app notifications.
The Evaluation Phase
Did we solve a real user problem?
Evaluating whether a real user problem has been solved is one of the most crucial parts of the design process. Understanding user feedback and data analysis allows for future iterations and overall improved UX.
Why product and UX?
Throughout my career, I have always aimed to show measurable impact and value added by myself and the team.
I have found using the UX Honeycomb – 7-Factor Design Framework for Great User Experience most effective.
