NestWise

Role : UI/UX Designer

Skills : User Experience, Visual Design, Heuristic Evaluation, User Research & Testing, Design Systems, Prototyping, Developer Handoff.

Tools Used : Figma, Salesforce, Lucidchart, SurveyMonkey, Google Forms & Sheets.

Problem Statement : How can we improve our Property Inspection App to make it easier for our inspectors to create a comprehensive inspection report as quickly as possible ?

Solution : Re-designed our existing application to make it intuitive, and efficient, allowing inspectors to capture and communicate inspection findings accurately while providing homeowners with easy access to the results.

Because of the Non Disclosure Agreement, I could not show the entirety of the UX process. The design components and the user interface has been modified to ensure client confidentiality.

UX Audit Findings - Old App

38%

of the inspectors struggle to inspect using an iPad and would prefer a mobile phone based app rather

42%

of the users find it difficult to read text on their iPad when they are inspecting the exterior section of the property on a sunny day.

67%

of the users struggle to open an older inspection in areas with limited internet bandwidth.

45%

of the users find the current UI cluttered and confusing.

The Process

The existing application was pieced together over time and managed by various developers, many of whom had left the company long ago.

The app therefore, lacked a discernible design standard, had unresponsive buttons and suffered from certain limitations such as poor usability, outdated design, and lack of customization options that affected the user experience.

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Research - Understanding the problem

I ended up speaking with more than 80 Realtors, Inspectors, Administrators and Business owners who use our application regularly - this helped me understand their current experiences, the environment they work in, the end user challenges they face, their knowledge of our current app as well as the technology on a whole.

Heuristic Evaluation & UX Audit

A comprehensive UX Audit as well as Heuristic evaluation was conducted to pinpoint areas for enhancement and illuminate existing issues within the software.

Scoping- Defining the boundaries, objectives & deliverables

The insights from the research were leveraged to develop a revised workflow, pinpointing priority areas for initial focus by both the engineering and design teams.

Designing- and…. the fun part begins

The color theme was changed to keep up with the new modern look and to ensure high readability.

Cancelled inspections will no longer show on the inspection app to avoid any confusion.
Users could see clearly if the payment has been made and if the legal document(s) have been signed. They can trigger a payment link or the contractual (signature) email directly from the inspection screen.
A universal search bar was added to assist people in finding inspections, addresses, client’s name(s), areas, comments etc..
Users will now be able to clone an inspection report in case they are re-inspecting a property or if they want to use a report as a template.
To increase usability when in low internet bandwidth area, an ability to control the date range was added so that the users can now easily select a “To” and “From” date to fetch the inspection data from the past.
In the older version of the app, the client’s name and address wasn't visible because of which a lot of inspectors would accidentally end up creating the report under a wrong inspection address. This was rectified by taking away the inspection status button and rather showing the address and the name of the client(s).
Features like a text editor, ability to take the picture(s) from the “Comment” section, ability to add links, modify report text and many more similar features were added to simplify the “comment adding” process for our busy inspectors.
A “Notification” tab was added to improve “version update” management. Earlier users could only download the updated version of the app from a specific network-wide email but now they won’t have to go through the pain of locating the email - they will be able to update their app whenever they want to right from the navigation bar.
A brand new inspection app was created for the mobile phone users. This was very tricky as instead of the mobile first approach we were going the other way around. I had to make sure that the app is not drastically different from our existing tablet app to reduce the cognitive load. I tried to stay as close to the Happy path as possible

110 feedback tickets were analyzed based on the primary drivers & were then compiled to create a comprehensive feature list that helped us make the app better.

Challenges

User-Centered Redesign: Striking a Balance

The key challenge was to create an app that empowered inspectors (users) while achieving business goals. Through extensive usability testing, we ensured a design that met inspectors' needs for efficiency and clarity, while still aligning with business objectives.

A drastic redesign could overwhelm inspectors and so I focused on iterative improvements that minimized cognitive load and avoided user confusion.

Technical limitations :

The pre-existing technical architecture of the app posed challenges for integrating certain design elements and so I worked closely with our developers to ensure the feasibility of the design.

Iterating for Success:

Multiple rounds of user testing and design iteration were conducted. Remaining flexible and responsive to the feedback helped me in optimizing the user experience.

Data Visualization and Functionality:

The redesign tackled the challenge of presenting large amounts of data in an easily understandable and navigable format. Additionally, the design had to incorporate features that allowed inspectors to easily capture and organize inspection findings, generate comprehensive reports, and communicate with clients in real-time.

Homeowner Benefits:

The revamped report layout simplifies inspection results for homeowners, empowering them to make informed decisions about their property.

This revised version emphasizes the user-centric approach and the positive outcomes for both inspectors and homeowners. It uses stronger verbs and action-oriented language to showcase the design process and its impact.

Scroll to see my Designs.