Scope
Art Direction, Product Design, Prototyping
snackify
As a hired ADV/web-engineering agency member, I took the role as Design Lead and Art Director to participate in launching MVP with new visual style and UX improvements. I led the design of property search and buying features as the main parts of the first release, introduced an innovative virtual tour experience, and started activity on creating and implementing new design system
Client & Product
Increase lifetime value through multiple interactions with the customer throughout their entire lifecycle
Increase CR in booking and mortgage applications
Reduce customer acquisition costs
Transfer sensitive customer data from third parties to reduce risks
Additional Revenue
Generate earnings by delivering new services and enhancing customer experience
Enhance Search Functionality and make it easier to use
Ensure quantity of users return to the app at least once a month within the first year
Challenges
MR Group had two applications: one for selling apartments and another for residents. That’s why there was no single customer journey, and information was stored separately
In the current market environment, it is important to build a unified customer experience: from searching for an apartment to its management. To achieve this, it was necessary to establish technological and business processes that would allow implementing a comprehensive solution covering the entire customer’s lifecycle and creating new and convenient touchpoints for new services
Inconsistency in mr group's products lineup
Some of big challenges we faced as a Product Team were:
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poor CX and UX, expressed in low conversion rates at different stages of the search and purchase process funnel
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overloaded UI: key information was buried under a cluttered UI, preventing users from making informed decisions quickly
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inefficient search functionality: the search feature lacked robust filtering options and did not cater to specific user needs.
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complicated booking process: the multi-step booking process was tedious and unclear, causing many users to abandon their bookings mid-way
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negative user feedback in stores and in-depth interviews
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outdated and inflexible infrastructure that required complex refactoring (isolated CRM, backend integrations with inconsistent methods, etc.)
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low scalability when it comes to enhancing existing or adding new functionality
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simultaneous work on company’s global rebranding by other design team, so we had do adopt new visual identity for digital environment
Project Audit
Before we started project with MR Group, we’ve conducted a multidisciplinary audit and founded out that company faced several problems within their digital ecosystem
multidisciplinary audit ARTEFACTS
Key insights
technical & backend problems:
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Issues with saving to drafts
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No sync between user accounts on the website and in the app
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Errors displaying statuses for each step of the application process
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The app operated slowly, especially with CRM requests
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Search results often didn’t match user queries, and not all query options were processed
ux complexity
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Confusing filters, screen transitions and app navigation, unclear hierarchy and nesting
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No access to the property purchase process info or the necessary steps to successfully completion
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No engagement mechanics in key scenarios like mortgage application and online booking
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Ignoring possibilities to attract new users
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Poor highlighting of digital deal advantages and “MR Club” services for residents
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A lack of high-quality renders and promo images
Together with analysts and product designers, we analyzed MR Group’s direct and indirect competitors. We examined their listings, filters, information architecture, UX/UI practices, and visual style. Most market leaders had very limited mobile app functionality, so we used our extensive e-commerce experience and best practices to create a top-notch product that could drive the industry forward and set new trends
User research
Along with the PM, Analysts and Product Designers, we reviewed a bunch of users feedback in the AppStore, interviewed 10 clients with varying requirements for the purchased property, income level and age. Through these interviews, we gained valuable insights into their habits, challenges, and needs, including:
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Types of customers: ranging from young and ambitious IT professionals who buy their first ever property and looking for a suitable mortgage options to financially successful and high-status clients who value comfort and convenience for themselves and their families
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Customer journey with insights about:
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Patterns of forming a request: how often and for what purposes they start monitoring the real estate market
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Search flows: how they interact with prop-tech products and how they use the search features in them
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Search criteria: which parameters of future real estate are key and critically influencing the choice
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Tracking exclusive offers: what information users monitor about purchase conditions, sales, and special offers, and how they want to be notified
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User opinions: thoughts and experiences on the current MR Group solution and how they think it can be improved
Having access to enthusiastic and unbiased users in our study was crucial. Their feedback helped us redesign the product to meet both business goals and user needs
Solution architecture
● Development/maintenance by our Product Team
● MR Group Infrastructure and 3rd-party systems
● Unified Backend
A single codebase responsible for all clients applications’ processess (mobile app, web-site, etc.)
● SuperApp
Client interface, mobile application
● Website
Client interface, website
● CRM
Developer master system containing data related to real estate objects, clients and deals
● Loyalty
Loyalty program management system
● External services
Additional external services (i. e. 3D interactive visualization tools)
Think different, act fast
Work on the product began in a startup mode, with very tight deadlines and the goal of convincing the company’s key shareholders in allocating more resources for the digital products development
We had a set of hypotheses and assumptions to be quickly and effectively tested within the first 2-3 months of working together.
There was a parallel stream of working on MR Group’s new visual identity. Therefore, we focused on the functional and logical components, periodically allowing ourselves to experiment with the styles of interface elements.
I’ve prepared a global vision of catalog, booking and purchasing scenarios, conducted a bunch of user tests and presented the work results to key shareholders. As a result of this sprint we’ve got an option for expanding our team and launching product development process
Design concept
When we got the new visual identity, we started its implementation on app interfaces. There were plenty of variants and iterations, so here’s one of the final ones. It became a starting point for designing whole product scenarios and creating a design system
Each lifecycle stage → Specific needs & functionality
Potential buyer
Choosing a residential complex and a specific apartment
Access to relevant information
Convenient tools to select relevant apartment and make a decision
Finalization on the best offer
Buyer
Transparent purchase process
Different payment methods
Minimum amount of actions to finish the deal
Support at every purchase stage
Overcoming fears and concerns
Resident
Convenient tools to manage own apartment and shared infrastructure
Fast and efficient resolution of all apartment’s issues
Options to receive various additional services
Personal approach and care
potential buyer Key scenarios
Property listings, filters and project page received significant enhancements to improve usability and visual appeal. Searching process became faster and more intuitive. Take a look at some updates
b is for buying
Apartments listing and property page are the most important touchpoint before making a purchase decision
We've implemented a dynamic price that changes depending on the purchase method. To provide customer with all helpful information we added a solar map, finishes options, 3D-walk through the future apartment, calculate trade-in feature, as well as upsell mechanics offering more comfortable property for a small surcharge
what does the online deal stage consist of
Providing various prices and discounts depending on the purchase method
SuperApp adaptive dashboard that displays information depending on the transaction status
Trade in
Submit an online trade-in application form for review
Get application results in a personal account
Mortgage
Quick mortgage calculator
Online application form for a mortgage in a personal account
Integration with external systems for seamless document handling and processing
List of loans' offers
Deal navigator
A list of stages and steps of the mortgage transaction
Detailed description of the necessary actions for each step
Apartment inspection
Booking an inspection
Inspection results report and tracking problems
Recommendations and additional sales depending on the state of the transaction
Deliver living experience
Our current focus is on enhancing property management features, building vibrant social communities, and introducing a loyalty program that rewards long-term residents. We’re confident these improvements will enrich our customers’ lives in our residential complexes, fostering stronger community ties while encouraging brand loyalty and boosting long-term engagement with our app
what we're going to bring to our residents
● — development queue
● — future plans
Resident onboarding
Apartment management
Parking lot management
List of my parking lots
Parking lot occupancy status
Parking lot rental
Storerooms management
List of my storerooms
Storage room rental
Fast communication with security, concierge
Contacts
Sending a request for troubleshooting, with status tracking and evaluation of the result
Make an appointment at your property maintenance company
Remote access to the to the closed territory
For guests and vehicles
For vehicles, with the binding to its parking lot
Automatically, for a taxi cab when ordering a taxi from a partner
Favourite passes for quick registration
Quick pass creation from a parking lot card
● — development queue
● — future plans
Housing and communal services management
Viewing rates
List of meters, the history of readings
Payment for housing and communal services
Family access management
Additional accounts for children or renters with restrictions
Smart home
My devices (and adding new devices)
Scenarios (by schedule, by event)
Keyless access
Elevator and barrier control
Cross-selling smart home devices
Common space rental
Terraces, conference rooms, etc.
Equipment rental
Bicycles, scooters, balls
Local partners & events
Local offers marketplace
Cameras on the territory
Intercom control
Collaboration is the key
Out of respect for my teammates' time, I consistently documented my ideas and progress through Loom. This practice enabled real-time interaction, ongoing supervision, and casual, yet thoughtful, dialogue within our product team
Since we launched MVP in the middle of 2023, we achieved outstanding results in terms of business objectives and user satisfaction
+18%
Monthly Active Users of the app in the first month after MVP Launch
+15%
CR to mortgage applications in 3 months after MVP Launch
+30%
CR to Booking applications in 3 months after MVP Launch
+10%
LTV in 6 months after MVP Launch. Users have stopped deleting the app after booking process and are now actively using the loyalty program offers and monitoring the construction progress
From 4-people presale team to the big 30+ product team of great engineers, managers, analysts and designers, we shaped the vision of the SuperApp from just an idea to successfully working product serving thousands of people every day. We came through fire and water, weekly pitched ideas to stakeholders, held hundreds of demos with engineers and PM's, trying to make product better every day.
The most valuable thing personally for me is that I've learned to trust and delegate even the most mindblowing tasks to my teammates, sharing with them joy of the result and the bitterness of failures. Yeah, there were plenty of them, but I'm not afraid to admit my mistakes and draw the right conclusions from them
Convenient search and purchase of real estate
Partner Services
A single super app instead of several disparate applications
User Status Model
Interactive Navigation
Wellbeing and Networking
Smart Home and Infrastructure Management
team is more, than you can imagine
A special kudos to all those superheroes I had the great honor of working with. You're nothing without right people, this is the most important conclusion I have drawn for myself over the years of working at ADV
here they are
adv & mr group Top management
Aleksey Persianov (CEO, ADV web-engineering/co.)
Andrey Baykov (CDTO, MR Group)
Aleksey Shmelev (CDO, ADV web-engineering/co.)
Ivan Belyakov (PMO, ADV web-engineering/co.
Mikhail Parfenyuk (CTO, ADV web-engineering/co.)
product management team
Ivan Golovin
Aleksandr Krivoshein
Daria Merkulova
Evgeniia Batrak
Daniil Tugaev
Aleksey Filimonov
Anton Zverev
Denis Gorbulin
Ilya Volgin
Aleksandr Kryukov
analysts team
Victor Koldaev
Evgeniia Durapova
Andrey Sorokin
Roman Stateynov
Georgiy Nesterov
Dmitriy Balanin
Frontend development team
Dina Abramova
Ilya Shishmarev
mobile development team
Evgeniy Andreev
Pavel Shestakov
Ivan Nikolaev
Aleksey Smitskiy
Denis Sychev
backend development team
Mikhail Krasilnikov
Dmitriy Abakumov
Pavel Nikitin
Anton Stepanov
Dmitriy Chalyshev
QA team
Sergey Kiselev
Dmitriy Starshev
Vadim Tabunov
Ekaterina Trunova
Ekaterina Yatusevich
Product design superheroes
Daria Kharitonova
Anastasiia Lukyantseva
Aleksandr Yakovina
Maksim Kogut
Sofia Ilina
Ivan Parfenov