Project Overview
Westhawk Property Management (WHPM) is a Calgary-based service provider for management of residential rental and commercial lease properties. The redesign of the WHPM website will create a more customized, engaging and professional website that will better reflect the brand’s core values and better serve its users’ needs. The WHPM website will serve as an intuitive platform for users to obtain information on lease and rental properties, while also giving them a good sense of what it would be like to work with the WHPM team. This project was completed to myself and two other team members whom we created a team name called Craft’D.
Research
CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING
Craft’D created two different journey maps - one with persona JJ whom represents the perspective of a landlord and the other persona TT whom represents the perspective of a tenant. The purpose of the journey mapping is to help tell a visual story of a customers’ interactions and feelings as a landlord and tenant respectively. The mapping of each customer allows us to optimize the onboarding process of the redesign, as well as benchmarking the experiences desired by each customer against what they actually receive. Ultimately, this will allow the team to understand their prospective clients and as a result, better understand their expectations so that the company can tailor their customer experience to their needs.
Joe Jackson (JJ)
Project Coordinator at Pin3
27 years old
Joe is a father of 3 children and spends a lot of his free time managing his 3 investment properties. From dealing with tenant complaints to arranging for viewings and tenant screenings, Joe barely has time for himself. He is also paying to list his properties on a community website but is not receiving much response. Due to the overwhelming amount of time and money he is putting into managing all of his investments, Joe is considering selling two of his investments to lessen the workload but is really struggling with this decision as it gives him extra income to support his family.
Tina Thuyen (TT)
Account Executive at Ampres
38 years old
Mia is a passionate account executive who recently relocated to Calgary, Canada from Brazil for work almost two years ago. The condo building she is currently residing in has been arranged by her company and is professionally managed. While her work takes up many hours of her days, she enjoys cooking her own meals and inviting friends over for game nights. Since moving in, she also took up a hobby in interior design and loves buying new items to add to her home collection.
USER INTERVIEWS
Craft’D members reached out to their own personal network and gathered a total of 6 participants to conduct interviews with. The criteria for participant selection was a mix of landlords who are currently renting out property, and have in the past or currently hired professional property management services; and current tenants, who have had experience renting at least three properties, with one minimum who is familiar with the Calgary rental market. The interviews were conducted with a mix of in-person, Zoom, and phone call. The team envisioned the interviews to be of a free-flowing, conversational nature to glean insights into each user group’s needs and wants with renting a property, or renting out a property, based on their past experiences.
Findings & Anecdotes:
All participants who were landlords expressed that the process of finding the tenant was very time-consuming, with the showing of the property and screening of the applicant described as “a hassle”, or “a nuisance”. As such, landlords unanimously wanted to find long-term tenants, especially when self-managing their properties.
“I managed my first investment property on my own and had a lot of difficulties in balancing my time and finding the right tenants to rent my property while maintaining my full-time job. Super specific about finding the right tenants that would want to stay for longer-term because I didn’t want to go through this process so frequently.”
All participants who were tenants had frustrating experiences with lack of response from landlords and property managers.
“I never contacted them for anything. I usually try to solve whatever it is that needs fixing on my own. Then this time they emailed me, they needed something and I responded right away. Then when I emailed them later, forgot what it was I needed, they never replied.”
Majority of participants stated that a property management website should have the following components:
• Details of listings
• Detailed description of services
• Real testimonials from previous clients
• Emergency 24/7 line for tenants
• Intuitive and simple platform
Information Architecture
Mid-fidelity Wireframes
Final Product
Home Landing Page
When a user first visits the website, it directs them to this landing page that specifically targets the following users: Owner/Investor (either for residential or commercial) or Tenant. This was designed based on the feedback from user interviews to ensure a user-centred experience.
"When I enter the home page the first time, I want to know where to find information right away as a landlord seeking property management services, so I can decide if it matches my expectations."
“When information isn’t organized in an intuitive way, I typically exit the website because I find it too time-consuming to navigate through”
Residential PM Services
This page caters to the residential owners who are seeking property management services. The services are categorized into four hierarchal sections: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Diamond. This provides users with different price points for each package so that they can make an informed decision.
"When choosing the right company to hire, I want to know that the cost I am paying for reflects the time and effort the services provide"
“How much are they doing? What are they doing? If I have an old house that has many ongoing issues, then of course it makes sense. But if it’s a new property and I’ve had one that didn’t even come check-in on the place for 3 years! What am I paying them for? Anyway, I think something like a tiered service with price differences make sense.”
Expert Advice Blogs
For existing and new users browsing through the website, this page is provides expert advice on property and real estate topics. This helps generate more leads and establishes the company as an expert in the field, which ultimately increases trust to the user.
“Providing fresh and relevant content is pretty important in maintaining a website, how else will you keep your clients engaged?”
“I really value having a PM company that is resourceful and diligent, it really shows they care and are willing to provide their own knowledge to benefit their clients”
Testimonials/Reviews
An extremely important takeaway from all of the user research and interviews was providing testimonials in order to increase the credibility and visibility of the company. This in turn provides users with more confidence and trust to put pay for the company’s services.
“Reading reviews on a company influences my decisions immensely. If I don’t know how they perform with previous clients, how can I trust that they will perform well when I hire them?
“I like to compare different companies through reading the google reviews and ratings. It allows me to understand where they may have fell short or exceed well in, and then I can make the decision to move forward with them or not”
About Team
Creating an authentic and personable presence is vital in allowing users to connect with their users. The page features the history and values of the company, accompanied by a photo of the team.
“I want to see that the website actually active and there are real people behind it.”
“It’s nice to know who you are working with and the company’s history because it makes them more credible, which makes me more confident in choosing them”