This three-day design sprint project is intended to demonstrate my ability to execute a UX project in a short amount of time.

Product
Zillow Premier Agent

Function
Product Design

Platform
iOS iPhone

Time
3 days

01 / CONTEXT

Zillow is my morning coffee

Each morning I find myself browsing Zillow, envisioning a bright future for me and my family. You could say it’s my morning coffee; it motivates me to work hard. I built this project to showcase my design talents and to show how I can use my expertise to create a more enjoyable user experience.

Why Zillow Premier Agent?

Premier Agent will be Zillow’s largest revenue source

When Zillow Offers shut down, the company’s largest revenue source will be Premier Agent. Under Premier Agent, real estate agents pay monthly fees in order to pop up when a consumer searches for a home on Zillow.

The UX design has more room for improvement.

After trying these three apps, I concluded that Premier Agent offered the most opportunity for me to demonstrate my design abilities.

Zillow announced Nov. 2, 2021.  it was shutting down Zillow Offers. The growing premier agent service will be the largest revenue source.

Source: Zillow Official Website

I interviewed 5 licensed agents who have never used Premier Agent

02 / DISCOVERY & RESEARCH

  • Understand user journeys and pain points using the existing Premier Agent

  • Validate design assumptions and decisions

Journey Map

Based on user interview data, I created a user journey map that helped me visualize the pain points and understand which parts of their journeys are inefficient.

This journey map was informed by interviewing 5 licensed real estates agents

July 30, 2020

03 / PROBLEM STATEMENT

The current authentication process has a few roadblocks which create user frustration. System errors arise when users use the same email for Rental, Buy and Sell, and Premier Agent accounts. Premier Agents need to feel secure about their information including more data protection.

Findings and Opportunities

I identified 7 pain points. I prioritize all the pain points based on the journey map and user interview. I prioritized two main pain points which will improve the user experience the most.

Authentication Issue

  1. All testers tried to use Zillow buy / rental account to log in on Premier Agent, but failed

  2. Premier Agent doesn’t allow to use the same email which has been used for buy / rental to sign up

  3. Fear that the password account protection is insufficient

  4. Users didn’t know Premier Agent needed their agent real estate license to activate their account

  5. No email activation step might cause the email to get taken from not the email owner

Onboarding Issue

  1. Need more guidance to learn how to use the app functions

  2. Don’t know where to get help

04 / DESIGN AND ITERATIONS

In Design

Pain Point 1

5/5 testers tried to use Zillow Buy / Rental account to log in on Premier Agent but they failed. Also, the Premier Agent app doesn’t allow to use of the same email used for Zillow Buy / Rental

Goal

  • Increasing the success rate of sign ups by removing system collision 

Impact

  • Reduce bounce rate because of account setup issues

  • Easy to manage an account; one account for all

Sign Up Flow

How to create a consistent authentication UX across platforms?

The current design doesn’t allow users to use Buy / Rental account to log in or sign up for Premier Agent. The only difference between Buy / Rental and Premier Agent sign up flow is Premier Agent asks for real estate license info. The better solution is to integrate all Zillow user accounts into one, and when users log in on Premier Agent with Buy / Rental account, the system asks users to provide their real estate license.

Design Iterations

I started iterating wireframes through rapid prototypes and tested them with users who I interviewed earlier to get their feedback. I made three iterations to integrate the various Zillow products' authentication designs.

Ideation 1: One page one question.

Result: Users tired of clicking continue buttons 

Ideation 2: Put all questions on one page.

Result: Users missed some questions

Ideation 3: Made the password page become an individual page. Changed organization to drop-down menu. The Zillow helper changed to a checkbox.

Results: All testers completed the signup flow without any mistakes.

New Design

  1. Allow user to use Zillow Buy / Rental account for premier agent
    The first input field requests the user's email address. If a user already has a Zillow Buy / Rental account, the app will request their agent license.  If they enter a new email, the app will direct users to the signup page.

  2. Integrate the signup forms; ask less questions
    The new design integrates all the Buy, Rental and Premier Agent sign-up questions. Since this app is intended for agents and brokers, the professional information only inquires as to the size of the user's company.

  3. Get more revenue from Zillow Helper checkbox
    The Zillow helper checkbox is automatically selected when users choose they lead a brokerage from the drop-down menu. It allows Zillow to reach out to more potential real estate agencies and customers to assist them to learn about this app.

In Design

Pain Point 2

Worry that the password account protection is insufficient and users didn’t know the app needed their agent license to activate the account

Goal

  • Adopt a higher secure authentication method to sign in, and include the agent license number in the sign-up flow

Impact

  • Increase trust from users that Zillow cares about their data safety makes users aware that in order to fully access the app, they must provide the license

Authentication Methods Research Result

Without IT expertise or physical tokens, biometric authentication is secure and simple. It is also popular among banking apps.

New Design

  1. Additional layer of security by adding biometric authentication

    Similar to the majority of banking apps, offering biometric authentication will add an additional layer of security, and let users know that Zillow cares about their account security.

  2. Remind users to provide real estate license
    None of the testers were aware that license information was required. In the new design, a license requested dialog will pop up right after account set up. However, users can dismiss it, if they want to explore the app first. The system will remind users every time they open the app.

05 / FINAL DESIGN

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