I worked with Realtor for two weeks in 2015 to define a path for their iPad application, and revised their search results over six months in their Santa Clara office in 2016-2017. I took a broad approach to redefining the search results experience for web, particularly in revising advertising and right rail logic. I worked with product, advertising, SEO, and engineering to ensure a collaborative approach. After redesigning the entire experience my design was A/B tested to 15% of traffic against the original design, and saw an over 300% gain in engagement. Although leads changed less than a percent, it was a huge win for experience and validated the hypothesis used in my work.
Implementation is happening in increments, but there is one large piece on the horizon I am particularly excited about that falls inline with my high-level view on how search results could appear. For now some of the wins include background and navigation hex changes, new visual design for map toggle, H1 below breadcrumb, and typography enhancements that bold the inventory count to show how many homes are listed.
Prior to starting the work I took a broad look at the competitive landscape to see what factors effected other platforms. I looked at companies such as Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin to get a clear view of the industry and product offerings from each. I crafted my vision for the website redesign based on the results of my findings. It provided a new direction for them to consider, and allowed user input to enhance the experience. To me it was a perfect balance between business practicality and good design.
