REALTOR.com Android App - Release 1.6
Move, Inc. | 2011 | Role: Design Lead, Product Manager
Realtor.com released the first version of its Android app in November 2010. In April 2011, we launched the 1.5 release. I provided complete interaction and visual design, plus pitched in with some product management and even dug in to modify XML for design changes. Besides an updated home screen, we have added more feature parity with the iPhone app and are taking greater advantage of the native Android UX by adding context menus, better utilizing the options menu, and eliminating much of the lower toolbar. The Android app remains unique from the iOS apps with a Google Street View of listings, voice entry of notes, UI to handle multiple listings at a location, and an Android widget.
REALTOR.com iPad App
Move, Inc. | 2011 | Role: Design Lead, Product Manager
I decided early on to make the map a central part of the search experience, letting the user hide or show the list of results as they please, and to take advantage of the large screen to create a large picture gallery view of results. Using the Area Highlighter tool to draw your search area played out perfectly on the large screen. I collaborated with a product manager at the beginning of the project to determine the featureset, but after he left the company I jointly assumed the PM role with the lead engineer. During the project, I also had the opportunity to dig into the iOS Interface Builder to modify some of the UI myself. The app was released April 26, 2011 and currently has a 4.5 star rating.
REALTOR.com iPhone App
Move, Inc. | 2011 | Role: Design Lead, Product Manager
Realtor.com released its first iPhone app in January 2010 and was ready to make some changes. Based on user testing and feedback, we knew users were having a hard time finding where to select a location to search for homes some place other than the default "nearby." I worked with a user researcher to bring users in for a lab study and presented them with paper prototypes of several new home screen layouts and a simpler search screen with a text entry box for location. I also created a stand-alone My Real Estate to keep track of all saved and recently viewed homes plus saved and recent searches, which were previously gathered in a list on the home screen. Another really valuable feature I designed is an visual cue on listings in the search results to indicate that a listing has been viewed. This is especially helpful in the map view when looking at a sea of pins. Since Realtor.com is in the business of generating leads for real estate agents, it is very important for us to connect users with agents. At the end of the photo set, I inserted a final screen with next steps, including contact the agent. This has contributed to making our mobile apps the highest lead-per-user platform. The app was released April 26, 2011 and currently has a 4.5 star rating.
REALTOR.com Windows Phone 7 App
Move, Inc. | 2010 | Role: Design Lead, Interaction Design, Visual Design
Realtor.com had a great opportunity to be a featured partner with Microsoft for the debut of the Windows Phone 7, so we contracted with a Microsoft vendor to help us build a native app. I led a team of two other designers (one at Move, one at the vendor) to design the app. The project proved to be extremely challenging as there were no live apps to look at for UX guidance and inspiration. Even Microsoft was stumped a few times by questions on how to do certain things! The UI and design patterns for this platform are substantially different from the iPhone, which made the project rather fun to work on. Because of a very tight timeline, we released with a limited feature set but received considerable praise for our integration of the platform design patterns.
Realtor.com released the first version of its Android app in November 2010. In April 2011, we launched the 1.5 release. I provided complete interaction and visual design, plus pitched in with some product management and even dug in to modify XML for design changes. Besides an updated home screen, we have added more feature parity with the iPhone app and are taking greater advantage of the native Android UX by adding context menus, better utilizing the options menu, and eliminating much of the lower toolbar. The Android app remains unique from the iOS apps with a Google Street View of listings, voice entry of notes, UI to handle multiple listings at a location, and an Android widget.
I decided early on to make the map a central part of the search experience, letting the user hide or show the list of results as they please, and to take advantage of the large screen to create a large picture gallery view of results. Using the Area Highlighter tool to draw your search area played out perfectly on the large screen. I collaborated with a product manager at the beginning of the project to determine the featureset, but after he left the company I jointly assumed the PM role with the lead engineer. During the project, I also had the opportunity to dig into the iOS Interface Builder to modify some of the UI myself. The app was released April 26, 2011 and currently has a 4.5 star rating.
Realtor.com released its first iPhone app in January 2010 and was ready to make some changes. Based on user testing and feedback, we knew users were having a hard time finding where to select a location to search for homes some place other than the default "nearby." I worked with a user researcher to bring users in for a lab study and presented them with paper prototypes of several new home screen layouts and a simpler search screen with a text entry box for location. I also created a stand-alone My Real Estate to keep track of all saved and recently viewed homes plus saved and recent searches, which were previously gathered in a list on the home screen. Another really valuable feature I designed is an visual cue on listings in the search results to indicate that a listing has been viewed. This is especially helpful in the map view when looking at a sea of pins. Since Realtor.com is in the business of generating leads for real estate agents, it is very important for us to connect users with agents. At the end of the photo set, I inserted a final screen with next steps, including contact the agent. This has contributed to making our mobile apps the highest lead-per-user platform. The app was released April 26, 2011 and currently has a 4.5 star rating.
Realtor.com had a great opportunity to be a featured partner with Microsoft for the debut of the Windows Phone 7, so we contracted with a Microsoft vendor to help us build a native app. I led a team of two other designers (one at Move, one at the vendor) to design the app. The project proved to be extremely challenging as there were no live apps to look at for UX guidance and inspiration. Even Microsoft was stumped a few times by questions on how to do certain things! The UI and design patterns for this platform are substantially different from the iPhone, which made the project rather fun to work on. Because of a very tight timeline, we released with a limited feature set but received considerable praise for our integration of the platform design patterns.
