UX case study for Funda (part one)
Funda is a real estate searching site run by the NVM estate agencies. They provide a platform where potential buyers and renters can search for relevant listings for houses, business spaces and recreational homes. For my case study, I’m focussing on the house buying element of funda.
One of the things I noticed in my research is the inconsistency between the provided platforms.
The desktop version gives more detailed information than the app version while the app version has bigger display photos in the result list. Logged in you can only save 1 search and set email notifications for that search (so 2009). That saved search is not accessible on the other platform.
My research shows most people use Funda on their mobile phone and their desktop. They check Funda regularly, on average 3 times a day. Even though they check regularly, it happens that they miss a listing and thus an opportunity to make an appointment to see that listing. In a competitive housing market this is undesirable and adds to the stress and FOMO that is already there when buying a house.
The trend analysis gives further insight into the opportunities Funda has for providing better services to their users. I concluded among other things that the preferences for potential house buyers are shifting and people prioritize ideal living spaces over proximity to their job. ‘Randstad’ inhabitants are looking at the provinces for more space and a better match with their ideal home vision. Unfortunately, if they keep working in the city, their commute time will increase significantly.
To collect all the gathered data from the internal- and external research, the SWOT- and trend analysis, the interviews, and a survey, an affinity diagram came to be. This gave me better insight into the problems and gave me a great opportunity to find a solution.
From this, I made a 2x2 matrix to decide what is important to the user and to Funda.
Pain points and conclusion
Looking at the affinity diagram the following pain points emerge:
- Even though people use more that one device for Funda there is a lack of uniformity between the platforms.
- The lack of a proper notification system prevents users to receive relevant listings on time.
- There is no accessibility to a saved search from desktop to the app and vice versa.
- First impressions matter! A better UI could improve that.
Clearly, Funda is a great and user-friendly platform, but looking at the pain points there are still some improvements to be made. A competitive housing market causes anxiety among users in an already stressful time in their lives. Easing that gives funda an even bigger advantage on their competitors.
For part two, please go to this post
