Problem Statment

Commercial real estate brokers are finding it hard to stay profitable in a softening economy. CRE doesn't have a common listing service like residential real estate has with the multiple listing service (MLS). With the lack of a MLS, they spend 70-80% of their day looking for and researching clients and properties This is time better spend meeting with clients and showing properties which ultimately leads to closing deals.

The Objective

Our goal is to understand how commercial real estate brokers research and prospect new clients and nurture existing relationships. Since each deals can be worth $10k's to $10M's, any improvement to streamlining the deal cycle will easily be worth the price of a software subscription.

The Approach

1. Explore the problem

My goal was to understand the issue rather than merely assuming it. It involves speaking to and spending time with people who are affected by the issues.

This discovery methods on this project included:

• Stakeholder interviews
• Customer interviews
• Conversations with support
• Review analytics
• Competitive analysis
• Studying analogous products
• Heuristic evaluations
• Content audit

2. Decide what to work on

The insights gathered from the discovery phase can help to define the challenge in a different way.

The Definition methods used on this project included:

• Product workshops
• Design studio workshops

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3. Test potential solutions

Give different answers to the clearly defined problem, seeking inspiration from elsewhere and co-designing with a range of different people.

The Development methods and deliverables used on this project included:

• Lean MVPs
• Sitemaps
• Tree tests
• Workflow diagrams
• Lo-fi sketches
• Mid-fi prototypes
• Usability tests
• Solution tests

4. Refine final solution

Testing out different solutions at small-scale, rejecting those that will not work and improving the ones that will.

The Delivery methods and deliverables used on this project include:

• Type scale
• Design patterns
• Mock-ups
• Critiques
• Annotated designs
• Analytics
• A/B tests

The Outcome

The product is currently in beta with a general released planned for summer 2023. Based upon our work with customers along the way, the early feedback has been positive.The biggest challenge for the product, in the long run, will be the data the company is able to supply to their customers. Even without the data, the product represents a major improvement in a customers workflow and business.