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CINC Houses.net Collaborative Home Search Exploration

my role

Led UX strategy and interface design for early Houses.net concepts, collaborating with product and development partners to explore core workflows and platform positioning.

impact

Conceptual UX and UI work helped clarify key platform workflows and informed early discussions around user needs, feature prioritization, and real estate product direction.

challenge

Houses.net was an early real estate tech concept attempting to provide an engaging listing experience while balancing complexity for users (buyers, sellers, and agents). The challenge was to design interfaces and flows that supported rich property exploration and efficient navigation without overwhelming users. At this stage, it was unclear which workflows and interactions would resonate most with users and market needs, requiring concepts that could be tested and iterated quickly.

approach

I started by identifying core user goals (searching, filtering, comparing properties, saving favorites) and mapped how users might engage with a listing platform end-to-end. Drawing on competitive research and real estate UX patterns, I prototyped interface concepts that prioritized clarity, search efficiency, and visual hierarchy. Early screens were iterated in collaboration with stakeholders to align on product direction and validate assumptions before deeper development.

key insights

  • Users need clear and persistent search controls to feel in command of their exploration.
  • Visual balance between list and map views reduces cognitive load and increases context.
  • Saving and comparing properties must be obvious and friction-free to support decision making.
  • Familiar real estate patterns (e.g., breadcrumb filters, progressively disclosed details) build trust.
  • Early conceptual alignment accelerates downstream design and development discussion.

outcome

The delivered concepts provided a structured foundation for Houses.net’s exploration of core listings and property discovery interactions. While the product evolved beyond these early prototypes, this work helped clarify the platform’s direction, strengthened internal alignment on key workflows, and served as a reference for later design decisions.

reflection

This work reinforced the importance of balancing familiar UX patterns with thoughtful exploration in category-specific interfaces. By grounding decisions in known real estate user expectations while carving space for platform differentiation, the designs stayed grounded and adaptable. With additional time, the next step would be usability testing to validate the concepts with actual buyers and agents and refine key interaction points based on direct feedback.

Primary property search layout providing a simplified search and city guides as well as a teaser to sign up and create your own search notebook

Early prototype showing the Notebook summary page, including a list of properties the user is watching, the latest activity, and scheduled appointments, with entry points to further info sections

Screens from the first hi-fi prototype for mobile

The initial user flow of the notebook features based on discovery and research (a bit messy but it made sense to us!)

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