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Transforming the society detail page

Team

My role / Lead UI/UX designer, researcher

Bhavika Gupta / Lead UX researcher, UI/UX designer

Timeline

3 months, 2024-25

Platforms

Mobile: 99acres m-site, Android app, ios app

Background

Our society detail page has around 40% of our total traffic. It provides users all the details related to a society & allows users to connect with the builders & brokers selling homes within it.

Our goal as a platform is to help users with quicker decision making and to narrow down their dream home. Ideally, this page should serve as the most holistic & credible resource available in the market about any society.

Impact

%+

Direct conversion

%+

Attributed conversion

-

%

Bounce rate

%~

Time spent

Key problems

textually dense page

Problems with scannability due to too much written content on the page.

hierarchy

P0 & P1 decision makers were not highlighted the first few scrolls of the page, making relevancy low for the content

lack of credibility

Missing information sources & timely updates which led to lack of trust towards our platform.

poor content structure

Grouping, interlinking, inclusion of insights & media was inefficient.

Poor content structure

Grouping, interlinking, inclusion of insights & media was inefficient.

Lack of credibility

Missing information sources & timely updates which led to lack of trust towards our platform.

Hierarchy

P0 & P1 decision makers were not highlighted the first few scrolls of the page, making relevancy low for the content.

Textually dense page

Problems with scannability due to too much written content on the page.

In the last two years, I had...

Interviewed

...more than 80 homebuyers, 40 of which were in-depth hour long conversations. Uncovered reasons behind their decisions, understood their quirks and skilful judgement while navigating a largely opaque industry.

Consumed

...countless RE builder websites, youtube videos & adverts understanding how they sell their projects.

Observed

...the leaders vision for our platform, learnt the kind of value our underutilised product initiatives can bring to the user’s lives.

Designing intuitively: First few approaches

Immersive
The focus was on storytelling & to help user visualise the project in an immersive manner. The approach was to start with a wide perspective and gradually zoom in, providing a complete context of the project.
First we establish the credibility of the project by talking about the builder, then go down to what we eventually sell: the unit.
Immersive ll
An approach focusing more on the emotional aspects of homebuying.
Aspiration
In this approach, the visual and tactile elements of homebuying were the focus. Media is the hero in this approach with a lot of breathing space & minimal text upfront.
Compact
Here, the idea was to make the page as compact as possible. I collapsed the sections but shared the key info/insight upfront to quickly scan & decide whether or not to unfold the information. Media is present but not the hero.

Why this exercise was important

With a project as big as this, often there can be a lot of research based inertia to get things started and to do things perfectly. However, since I was experienced in the domain, it made sense to take a crack at the vision. After presentations in various leadership forums, we got our go ahead. To “officially” begin the project, of course, we started our research.

User interviews & research

12 participants • Used 3 methods to gather different inputs

Card sorting exercise

For information hierarchy & architecture

User testing

Gaps in current product

In depth conversions

Understanding current home buying experience, online & offline touchpoints

Key takeaways

Media plays a huge role in driving site visits. Builders are now offering video tours, 360* interactive tour to homebuyers.

They are always on the lookout for red flags and potential risks associated with the the project, builder or locality.

Informational needs vary across their stage of buying. Early stage buyers prefer quick scanning to figure out differentiators whereas late stage buyers seek price details.

Homebuyers look at unique amenities & property interiors not only as features but as a justification for the price and are key differentiators when browsing projects.

They rely heavily on word of mouth when it comes to project discovery, builder reputation & locality understanding.

Decoding existing marketing materials

Analysing visual artefacts in the domain to understand how builders & brokers pitch their projects

Site visits

Brochures

Builder websites

Youtube

Site visits

Brochures

Builder websites

Youtube

Decoding existing marketing materials

Analysing visual artefacts in the domain to understand how builders & brokers pitch their projects

Site visits

Brochures

Builder websites

Youtube

Site visits

Brochures

Builder websites

Youtube

Solutioning

Designing by writing

Locality

Greenery

Greenery abound: Highest in Noida!

INSIGHT

3-4 parks here, 1 for children and having outdoor gym

1km green belt here

3-4 parks here, 1 for children and having outdoor gym

1km green belt here

3-4 parks here, 1 for children and having outdoor gym

1km green belt here

INSIGHT

Basic necessities

Issues with water, electricity, gas or connectivity

INSIGHT

Society/locality having sustainable practices

INSIGHT

Transactions

Increasing demand here

INSIGHT

Development

Upcoming development with new source given

TRANSPARENCY

INSIGHT

Will this have a positive or negative impact on pricing

INSIGHT

Will this have a positive or negative impact on lifestyle. For eg. metro construction might cause traffic congestion for next 2-3 yrs, invest in UC or NL here instead of r2m

INSIGHT

Rentals in this area

Cost of rentals

INSIGHT

Popular among professionals as near IT hub

INSIGHT

Demand to grow with upcoming development of IT park

INSIGHT

POIs

Checked Y/N: Market, Pharmacy, Dairy, Salon, Petrol pump

IDEA

INSIGHT

Reviews

Greenery abound: Highest in Noida!

INSIGHT

Would you recommend your friends this locality/society

INSIGHT

Stitched videos and photos of the locality, with user comments linked

IDEA

Societies here

Design Principles

Build confidence through transparency

Provide accurate, up-to-date, and socially validated details with sources

Don’t just present data, help users interpret it

Guide users beyond the numbers. Help them with quick takeaways & stand out information about the project.

Scannability & conciseness

Use information chunking, highlighting, & media for quick comprehension & improved discovery of information

Balanced not biased

Don’t turn off users by over advertising the project, present the pros & cons fairly to give them a realistic picture.

Build confidence through transparency

Provide accurate, up-to-date, and socially validated details with sources

Don’t just present data, help users interpret it

Guide users beyond the numbers. Help them with quick takeaways & stand-out information about the project.

Scannability & conciseness

Use information chunking, highlighting, & media for quick comprehension & improved discovery of information

Balanced not biased

Don’t turn off users by over advertising the project, present the pros & cons fairly to give them a realistic picture.

Mid process user testing feedback

Quick interviews with total 10 participants from Delhi, Mumbai & Bangalore

Sabse accha mujhe cons wala laga, aur cons bata sakte ho? Pros toh harr koi hi bata deta hai, cons se sacchai pata chalti hai

makes

life easy

Bohot asaani se mill gayi saari properties. wo aur location should help me move forward with the site visit.

Price

info
helped

(Cons) dekhkar thoda bharosa aa raha hai

90% of information you've covered, makes my life very easy. Kahin aur jaane ki zaroorat nahi hai, seedha site visit iske baad

Properties and filters will make my life simple, I try to find it everywhere.

cons are helpful

Amenity ki pictures and price wali information mujhe aur kahin nahi milti

English

Sabse accha mujhe cons wala laga, aur cons bata sakte ho? Pros toh harr koi hi bata deta hai, cons se sacchai pata chalti hai

Price

info
helped

Properties and filters will make my life simple, I try to find it everywhere.

makes

life easy

(Cons) dekhkar thoda bharosa aa raha hai

90% of information you've covered, makes my life very easy. Kahin aur jaane ki zaroorat nahi hai, seedha site visit iske baad

Bohot asaani se mill gayi saari properties. wo aur location should help me move forward with the site visit.

cons are helpful

Amenity ki pictures and price wali information mujhe aur kahin nahi milti

I liked the cons the best, can you tell me more negatives? Everyone tells the pros of living here, but the cons tell the reality

Price

info
helped

Properties and filters will make my life simple, I try to find it everywhere.

makes

life easy

Seeing cons made me gain trust on your platform

90% of information you've covered, makes my life very easy. I don't need to go anywhere else now, straight to site visit

It was really easy to find the properties. The location information should help me move forward with the site visit.

cons are helpful

I don't find images of amenities & price information like this anywhere else

Explorations

Explorations

Final designs

Scalable stories

Media rich

Contextual insights

Social validation

Improving transparency

Prototype

15+ sections & 10+ layers designed

Mid-high fidelity prototype, without certain interactions

Impact

%+

Direct conversion

%+

Attributed conversion

-

%

Bounce rate

%~

Time spent

Impact

%+

Direct conversion

%+

Attributed conversion

-

%

Bounce rate

%~

Time spent

Reflection

Improvements

Length of page & discoverability of content: Although in the starting one of the goals was to keep the page as short as possible, we were not able to achieve that due to a serious case of scope creep.
Scope for microanimations

My experience

This was the biggest project I have undertaken in terms of complexity & no. of moving parts. This came with a huge responsibility as my manager also loosened the reigns completely. This was the 2nd most important project in the Homebuyer POD all year, and given only 2 years of experience, it provided me with an accelerated learning opportunity as it was a complete revamp.
While this project was going on, the new design system of 99acres was also being worked upon, which gave me a chance to add to that as well. It was an intense experience, made whole by the positive user feedback in user testing.