DOMAIN.com.au IPAD APP

During my time working at Fairfax Media in Sydney I had the awesome opportunity to work on Domain.com.au. Fairfax Media is a large media company in Australia which owns many newspapers and transactional marketplace businesses. Domain is a real estate classifieds and advertising product, used by property buyers/renters and property agents. It is most similar to Trulia or Zillow in the US market. 

 

The Domain product started its life as a classifieds section in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, SMH is one of Australia's oldest news publications and busiest websites. Domain.com.au is the online version of a decades old print product and made the transition to digital in the early 2000's. Fairfax Media owns a portfolio of digital businesses, many of which are highly recognized brands in Australia and New Zealand. During this period we had a close relationship with Apple Australia, due to the fact that Fairfax Media had numerous iPhone apps in the app store.

 

To coincide with the 2010 launch of the first iPad, Domain decided to pursue a tablet version of their product. The product already existed as an iPhone app and website which receives millions of hits per day. Given the map and image lead nature of browsing for properties, an iPad app made perfect sense.The project was made especially interesting in that we were designing for a new tablet form factor and class of mobile device. 

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My Role & Team

I was the lead UX architect on the team, partnering with another product designer, 4 engineers, program and product manager. I was responsible for the system architecture, features strategy and UX design across all aspects of the product. I also created detailed technical specifications and wireframes to aid communicating functional requirements, direct the visual design and build of the UX/UI.

 

I initially partnered with the head of product at Domain to create a UX strategy for the app based on research insights, comparative review and first principles. Once we had early concepts I built a HTML prototype and tested this on a device to ensure features and UI approach were optimal, before commencing production.
 

Goals & Problems to Solve

 

• Create a UX strategy and generate research insights to help inform the V1 requirements and design of the app.

• Perform early rounds of prototype testing to ensure initial feature set and UI design were appropriate and provide sufficient amount of value and utility.

• Be the first to market with a real estate tablet app in the Australian App Store. We were in a race with a major industry competitor, so there was a lot at stake in being first to market.

• Create a new channel for property agents to market and sell their inventory,

• Generate new lines of revenue from property agents listing their inventory in the iPad app.

• Ensure an optimized conversion path, by generating leads to buyers from prospective buyers/renters/sellers.

• Optimize the app for a tablet user experience supporting both screen orientations.

• Ensure users can login and their user data is synced for a seamless experience across platforms.

• Create on-brand UX and product design deliverables that visualize the solution and rally stakeholders.

• Provide detailed functional specifications and wireframes to enable efficient development.

• Ensure that the app when launched is simple and usable, QA tested and bug free.

• Ability to set up saved searches and receive emails and notification when new properties are listed.

• Build a highly engaged and satisfied audience to enable future display monetization efforts.

 

Needs - Renters/Buyers

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• Ability to search for properties on a map and filter to the desired characteristics.

• Ability to login with Fairfax Media credentials and sync data across platforms.

• Ability to save searches and shortlist properties, for easy retrieval and receive email/push reminders.

• Ability use the app in an inspection schedule/planner mode, for open house inspection days.

• Ability add notes and take photos when inspecting shortlisted properties.

• Ability to follow and complete a property inspection checklist for advice on what to look for when at an open house. Useful when considering renting or buying properties. Ability to compare the results across shortlisted properties.

• Ability to connect with the agent representing the property.

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Needs - Property Agents

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• Ability to list and promote property inventory and attract renters and buyers who use the app.

• Ability to receive leads from prospective renters/buyers/sellers.

• Ability to position the agency brand alongside the property, connecting prospective renters/buyers/sellers with the real estate agency and agent. 

• Ability to purchase premium and promoted listing products to ensure a more prestigious display format and enhanced discoverability in search and browse.

 

Key Features

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• A map lead UX that delivers on the importance location plays when looking for somewhere to live.

• Ensure the map is an active part of search and browse, allowing the user to be precise or as broad as they need.

• Ability to isolate a location by drawing shapes on the maps to define the geo window, useful for precise location targeting.

• Ability to filter results to tailor properties to a users specific needs.

• Detailed property listings, that deliver the things users need when making an appraisal. Namely property details, large photos and floor plans.

• Ability to save searches, property listings, create shortlists, schedule and planner modes for inspection days.

• An inspection planner mode that is optimized for day of inspection tasks, spotting scheduling conflicts and aid them when physically inspecting a property.

• Using geofencing we were able to let agents know how many of our users went to an inspection, another KPI and value add for the agents relationship with a seller.

 

Process

I initially performed stakeholder workshops to understand business needs and KPI's to establish baseline requirements. I then conducted foundational research to understand the opportunity, problem space, industry conventions and user needs. This then lead to the creation of a UX strategy document which was presented to stakeholders for feedback and alignment.

 

Once we had early concept design prototypes these were user tested to ensure we were heading in the right direction and promote confidence with stakeholders in the proposed solution.

 

Partnered with product, design and engineering to create extremely comprehensive UI functional specifications to enable efficient production and development. Numerous rounds of review and iterations on wireframes, to minimize changes in development.

 

Work closely with engineers using an agile methodology to plan and build the application. Acted as the QA owner of the work produced ensuring the build met the requirements and had a high level of fit and finish.

 

After the initial launch there were numerous releases to address road map items or make improvements to core features. There was also numerous rounds of user testing, agent interviews, field research at open houses to ensure the product was optimized for user needs.​