All projects

Home Visualization

Client
Lennar
Category
UI/UX Design
DURATION
5 mo
YEAR
2022

The challenge

Just like the apparel, food retail, automobile, and all other consumer product sectors, the real estate market is under pressure to digitally revolutionize the home-buying process. With most potential home buyers starting their searches online before taking any other tangible steps toward buying a home, increased visibility into the available homes for sale and detailed information about the layouts, finishes, and amenities they include has become paramount. Currently, virtual tours and high-resolution images provide a realistic representation of tangible homes, enabling buyers to visualize themselves in the space before physically visiting it. However, in the case of home builders like the client for this project who wish to advertise available homes that are not physically in existence yet, there remains the unmet need to provide a high-fidelity walk-through experience of these homes for potential buyers.

The goal

Design an immersive tool that leverages 3D modeling (through an integrated partnership with Modsy) that streamlines the home-buying experience by offering potential buyers the convenience of exploring properties remotely. As well as gain clarity into and examine the details of the finishes and amenities included in the home and surrounding community, even if they may not exist yet, in order for home-buyers to make informed decisions.

The Solution

A takeover overlay experience that displays a 3D model of an available home and a collapsible sidebar with details about the home’s layout, design package offerings, and finishes. Just like traditional virtual tours, this home visualization tool allows you to “physically” navigate around the house via the sidebar as well as by clicking on hotspots throughout the 3D model. Additional functionality includes accessing detailed information about the materials and finishes of the home and their location within the floorplan, favoriting specific design packages featured in the home, and exploring the community that the home resides.

View the interactive prototype
PROCESS –
PROCESS –
PROCESS –
PROCESS –

the process

This project offered a unique opportunity for blue sky thinking and visual exploration as the product would be completely net new for the client to develop and launch. Over the course of 12 weeks, we went through several phases of design exploration, user testing, and detail design before landing on the final information structure, visual paradigm, and design library. 

We interviewed eight users between the ages of 35 and 61 years old. Four of them had recently purchased a home and the other four were in the initial phase of exploring homes to buy. In all of the interviews, we tested the visualization tool in two different formats: 

  • Desktop experience (1440x900px) with a home plan or model as the entry point
  • Mobile experience (375x812px) with a specific home or lot as the entry point

The main takeaways from user testing were:

  • The ability to see details about materials and finishes within a 3D tour was unexpected, however, 100% of users expressed appreciation for the functionality
  • Users navigated the interface mostly unprompted and had an average task completion rate of 94%
  • 88% of users understood that they were not customizing a home with this tool, but simply browsing the available design packages and included features
  • 38% of users assumed that the rendered spaces were not built yet; In contrast, photographic imagery would have signaled reality for them.
View the full process book

Conclusion

As the industry continues to embrace digital transformation, the home-buying process is becoming more efficient, empowering buyers with the information they need to make confident decisions and find their dream homes. Through our immersive visualization tool that leverages 3D modeling and a partnership with Modsy, we successfully addressed the challenge faced by home builders in advertising yet-to-be-built homes. By providing potential buyers with a high-fidelity walk-through experience and detailed information about finishes and amenities, this tool has the potential to streamline the home-buying process and help buyers to make more informed decisions. The positive feedback from user testing reinforced the importance of our design choices, with users expressing appreciation for the ability to explore materials and finishes within the 3D tour. The high task completion rate and user autonomy in navigating the interface further validated the usability and effectiveness of our solution. Moreover, we successfully managed user expectations, ensuring that they understood that success within the tool lied within it’s browsing functionality, rather than customization. The project's impact on the real estate market has the potential to be significant as it enhances visibility, convenience, and trust for home buyers. Our collaborative efforts and dedication to user-centered design have resulted in a successful product that meets the evolving needs of the industry. We look forward to seeing our tool in action, transforming the home-buying experience and helping buyers find their dream homes.

CREDITS

DRAG