Project Phoenix

Codename Phoenix was the name given for ZipRealty’s first major iOS redesign.

 
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MVP

In 2015, ZipRealty was acquired by the largest real estate corporation in the game. With an established web presence, ZipRealty needed to refresh and update their native iOS application to prepare for the upcoming wave of users from Better Homes and Gardens, Coldwell Banker, Century 21, and ERA.

THE TEAM

Ashley Belyaev, Sr Product Manager
Matt Rhodes, Lead iOS Engineer
Sam Willsea, iOS Engineer


Richard Velasquez, iOS Engineer
Marie Chelberg, UX Research

OUR GOAL

Design and launch a native iOS application with the following criteria:

  • Provide consumers with a parallel experience to its website counterpart

  • Cater a branded experience for brokers and agents

  • Update the legacy codebase using the latest version of Swift

  • Modernize the user experience

MY ROLE

As the lead designer on Project Phoenix, I was held accountable for the following:

  • Provide a competitive analysis of current market trends

  • Suggest new information architecture

  • Supply lo and hi-fidelity mockups

  • Co-run user test with our in-house UX research team

  • Learn the iOS Human Interface Guidelines

This role pushed me to work very intimately with cross-platform teams and to have a high-touch relationship with our consumer audience through user testing.

DESIGN APPROACH

  • Market research on competitors: Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and Realtor.com

  • Leverage common native iOS patterns to provide a better search experience

  • Optimize user flow through a better access point in the app

  • iPad awareness— design needs to work for both platforms

  • Consider how to achieve a white label app for 5 brands

 
 
 
 
 

Research Preparation

I worked closely with UX research to validate our new app structure, customer journey map, and new UI features. We leveraged the power of usertesting.com for larger pools of unmoderated testing, and ran internal tests for scrappy a/b testing.

Since this was a new product experience, we decided to do more basic usability testing than normally done. We picked test candidates based off our UX team’s previous persona research, and made sure they were in the home buying market.

Research Execution

We ran a total of 3 unmoderated and 2 internal tests. We collected data from around 30 unique users. The following is a summary of what we tested.

  • 2 phone tests

  • 1 tablet test

  • 1 branded experience

  • 1 ZipRealty branded experience

Overall, our usability test turned out to be effective and all the users were able to navigate through the app successfully. By including iOS engineers in our watch parties, we discovered several bugs and user frustrations outside a designer perspective.

Research Outcome

  • Users were familiar with the navigation patterns, e.g. they mentioned similarities to other real estate apps

  • Users were able to accomplish basic “home detail” finding tasks, e.g. “Does this home have a garage?”

  • Users helped us find bugs within the app and find edge cases via failed searches

  • Although users had delightful experiences, not many saw the value of our app over others

  • iOS engineers felt valued for being including in research ceremonies

Brand Experience

One of the requirements for the iOS app was white labeling so that our major brands, Better Homes and Garden, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA and ZipRealty, could have a branded experience.

This is what we needed to consider:

  • Consumer exposed to brand as a first-time user

  • Display a company (brokerage) based off search area (area served by company)

  • Display an agent after complying with specific back-end criteria

  • Display consumer assigned information on return visits

outcomes

Project Phoenix was the first major project that gave me confidence to work with cross-functional teams, and directly influence the user experience of thousands of consumers. My involvement with the UX research team and my knowledge of iOS guidelines pushed the app to its full potential.

Notable achievements

  • Successful launch prompted the redesign of its Android counterpart

  • App internally used as a guide and foundation for other native apps

  • Published on USnews.com as “The Best App for House Hunting” —2018

 
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