HomeBase — Decluttering the Pathway to Homeownership

6 min readDec 8, 2023

Background

Redlining, a discriminatory practice prevalent in the United States during the 20th century, was employed by banks, insurance companies, and other institutions. It entailed the systematic refusal of financial services, including loans, mortgages, and insurance, to individuals residing in specific neighborhoods or communities, often based on their racial or ethnic identity.

While redlining was most explicitly directed at African American communities, its effects were felt by other minority groups, including Asians and Hispanics, who also faced discrimination in housing and financial markets. It’s important to note that the impacts of redlining continue to be felt today, as historical patterns of segregation and disinvestment have had lasting consequences on the wealth and opportunities available to different communities.

According to the National Association of Realtors, while the overall U.S. homeownership rate hit 65.5% in 2021, significant disparities persist. The rate among Black Americans, at 44%, increased by just 0.4% over the last decade and is nearly 29 percentage points lower than that of White Americans (72.7%), marking the largest Black-White gap in a decade.

Asian American households achieved a remarkable gain of nearly 5 percentage points, reaching an all-time high of 62.8%. Hispanic American households also saw growth, rising over 4 percentage points to reach 50.6%. However, these trends underscore the different homeownership experiences among racial and ethnic groups, especially Black Americans, who face a substantial gap compared to Whites.

With today’s economy and the consequences of redlining history. HomeBase, formerly SayLamba aims to help education and support minority communities aby helping them connect with any and all assistance programs and information. They are committed to increasing minority homeownership rates by attacking holes in the renter to buyer pipeline.

Client Goals

When meeting with CEO Kwasi Frye, we discussed many pain points that his users had experienced in the past.

Individuals found the housing market overwhelming.
Users face confusion when initiating their housing search.
Users believed that their financial standings was a main limiting factor when evaluating options for a home.

In terms of enhancing his website for his users, he conveyed interest in new features on his website that included:

AI User Experience Design: Develop a user-friendly process leveraging AI to streamline tasks without compromising user privacy. The goal is to assist users in efficiently navigating through options related to down payments, loans, counselors, and programs, ensuring a seamless and non-intrusive experience. This design will lay the groundwork for the integration of AI functionalities by our tech team.
Mortgage Payment Calculator: Implement a mortgage payment calculator that considers our down payment programs and lender’s loans. The objective is to provide users with precise and personalized financial insights, helping them determine a suitable mortgage payment based on their unique circumstances and affordability.
Industry Data Sharing Page: Create a dedicated page for presenting industry data related to homeownership and mortgages. This page will showcase PowerBI reports, serving as a user-friendly hub for accessing crucial information relevant to research on the housing market.
Donor Page: Establish a Donor Page to kickstart public fundraising efforts. Utilize the Google Ads grant to launch donation campaigns, encouraging contributions to our cause. The page aims to effectively communicate our mission and drive financial support from the community.
Homeownership Advisor Marketplace: Develop a marketplace enabling users to connect with homeownership advisors for 15-minute consultations on specific situations, documentation, and more. These consultations will be sponsored by our partners, providing users with valuable insights and guidance.
Ecommerce Page: Implement an ecommerce platform facilitating the seamless purchase of journals and access to homeownership education materials. This page aims to provide users with a convenient and user-friendly experience for acquiring educational resources related to homeownership.

Research

The team had first sent out online surveys looking for those who were looking for or had achieved homeownership. In our user interviews, key areas that appeared were:

Affordability

Despite being able to allocate substantial amounts for rent, many users felt that the prospect of buying a home remained was constricted due to a perceived lack of sufficient funds. Users felt that financial limitations were the primary factor shaping their homebuying decisions, significantly constraining their options outside of renting.

Hesitation

Prospective homebuyers often feel stuck because they’re bombarded with too much information online but lack a basic understanding of the homebuying process. The overwhelming details make it hard for them to take the first step in their homebuying journey.

Decision Fatigue

Homebuyers wrestled with overwhelming information, drowning in property listings and complex mortgage details, turning the pursuit of homeownership into a challenge.

Professional Assistance

Users who felt a successful homebuying experience accredited their journey to a paid professional such as a real estate agent or a financial advisor.

Inexperience

Uncertain and new, users navigated the homebuying process without confidence, unsure if their chosen plans were the best. For those who bought a house, lack of knowledge left some with regrets, questioning whether their quick decisions were the right choices for their homeownership.

Online Calculators

Homebuyers relied on online tools like mortgage and affordability calculators. Some even found their results to align closely with advice from professional advisors. The convenience and accuracy of these digital resources were important to make to informed decisions in the homebuying process.

We reflected on user pain points, as well as successes. Overall, we discovered that many users abandoned their search because they felt overwhelmed for a variety of reasons. We observed that those who experienced success were able to enlist hired help. How can we replicate that successful experience in a way that is more accessible and user-friendly for first-time homebuyers?

Problem to Solution

First time homebuyers need a user friendly decluttered resource to find applicable counselors and programs to prevent decision fatigue from the overwhelming amounts of information online today, achieving successful homeownership.

When developing the scope of our work, in addition to understanding the timeline given we decided to prioritize features based on our users’ needs. We decided that our design would include:

AI chatbot: provide an easy instant resource to guide users towards answers.
Mortgage payment calculator: calculate user finances and direct them towards plans and lenders.
Counselor Availability: connect users with available counselors for immediate calls.

When finetuning the scope of the project, we needed to decide which features would best impact user needs. These features would help declutter information, and provide users to a direct pathway to helpful and efficient resources.

Design

Mid-Fidelity Usability Testing

Post sketching and low fidelity, we developed our mid-fidelity wireframes for usability testing.

Consultant Matching Mid-Fidelity Frames (Partial)

Through user testing, we found that users needed clearer visuals to access information and resources.

Counselor Matching: We added buttons on the other counselor section to tell users that they would be outsourced to the counselor website.
Mortgage Calculator: We included taxes in the calculator as well as added information buttons for input buttons to provide new homeowners with details on the item requested.