Go Back

Homely

Homely

Overview

Managing daily activities in an apartment complex often requires juggling multiple apps or manual processes, leading to inefficiencies and frustration. This project aimed to design a seamless, end-to-end software solution that automates essential residential services—from maintenance requests to financial management—while prioritizing usability, accessibility, and convenience for residents.

Teams

Product Manager, Engineers

Roles

Visual Design, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Prototyping

Problem Statement

Current software solutions for residential communities often lack user-centered design, resulting in complex navigation, inefficient processes, and disjointed experiences. Residents must rely on multiple apps or manual processes for essential tasks such as paying utility bills, requesting maintenance, or managing visitor passes.

Research

Understanding resident needs & pain points

To create a user-centric solution, I conducted extensive research that included:

Competitive Analysis

I analyzed three top facility management apps and found a stronger focus on estate management rather than resident needs. Additionally, my review of indirect competitors, such as utility suppliers (Gas on the Go, BuyPower), highlighted an opportunity for a more resident-centric solution.

Audit of Existing Systems

I evaluated existing facility management solutions and identified key usability issues, including confusing navigation, fragmented workflows, and a lack of real-time status updates.

User Interviews

I interviewed residents to explore their daily challenges and identify the apartment services they use most frequently.

Key insights from interviews:

Residents wanted quick access to essential features (e.g., maintenance requests, emergency alerts).

Financial transparency was a major concern—users needed clear insights into transactions and spending.

Onboarding was often frustrating due to complex, unintuitive setup processes.

Ideation

designing an intuitive & automated resident experience

Using the research findings, I explored design ideas to find the best approach to the solution. I started with some initial sketches to do some quick investigation of what would work.

seamless End-to-end tasks management

Effortless Onboarding:

Designed a step-by-step guided setup to help first-time users quickly understand the app’s full capabilities.

Included progress indicators and contextual tooltips to reduce confusion.

Centralized & Accessible Resident Services:

Home Dashboard

Quick access to key services—maintenance requests, visitor passes, emergency alerts, and payments.

Emergency Button

A prominent, red emergency button at the center for immediate assistance.

Real-time notifications

Important updates, messages, and notices are highlighted in the message center.

Financial Transparency & Seamless Transactions:

Balance Overview

Displays current account balance, recent transactions, and spending insights.

Automated Utility Payments

Residents can pay directly through the app.

Flexible Account Management

Users can fund their accounts and withdraw to a preferred bank.

Shop for convenience with ease:

Residents can search for, add items to their cart, checkout and track their orders progress and status from the Store.

Utiliities can be paid for directly from the app.

Smart household management:

Household Admin Role

First profile created is assigned admin privileges, allowing them to manage household members.

Visitor Log

Displays all visitor passes created for the household, ensuring security.

Solution - resident

the occassional user that prefers their browser.

Solution - Community Manager

Creating and maintaining profiles

Solution - Homely Admin

portal to manage community manager profiles and stores.

Testing + Iteration

VALIDATING USABILITY and ENGAGEMENT

To refine the design, I conducted usability testing with residents across different apartment complexes. Key testing metrics included:

Time-on-Task

Evaluated how long it took to complete essential actions (e.g., submitting a maintenance request).

Error rate

Identified usability barriers that hindered task completion.

User satisfaction scores

Collected feedback on overall experience and ease of use.

Key Testing Insights & Iterations:

Onboarding success rate increased by 40% after simplifying the flow and adding a progress indicator.

Emergency button engagement improved by 60% after making it more visually prominent.

Transaction clarity improved, reducing user errors by 30% after refining the financial summary interface.

Reflection & Impact

improving resident experience with data-driven design

This project significantly improved the usability, efficiency, and adoption of residential facility management software.

App engagement increased by 50% due to a more intuitive dashboard and essential features being easily accessible.

Resident complaints about payment confusion dropped by 45%, thanks to transparent financial tracking.

Average time to complete key tasks (maintenance requests, visitor passes) reduced by 35%, streamlining everyday actions.

Emergency response activation improved by 60%, ensuring faster resident safety and security measures.

Higher adoption rates, with 80% of residents using the app weekly for essential tasks.

This case study highlights my ability to conduct user research, design for efficiency, and validate solutions with data-driven insights, ensuring a seamless digital experience that enhances resident satisfaction and business goals.

SEE MORE

Immersive Labs - Modal

view

Voice It

view