Overview

Camillo Properties, one of the largest home developers in Texas, wanted to create an innovative new product– a mobile app that allowed new homebuyers to not only see and tour a new property but to also buy it. Tight there in the app. I was brought in as the lead designer to help execute this concept and sell houses. They named it Simply Home and it launched in 2023.

Client

Camillo Properties

Date

2023

My Role

Design Lead

Team

Elora Manzo, UI Designer
Paolla Taborda, UX/UI Designer
Kevin Hutchinson, UI Designer
Matthew Rudnicki, Strategist and Product Manager
Nate Cooper, Account Manager
Sara Petry, Account Director
Megan Hales, Project Manager
Matt Aurich, Developer

Project Website

https://www.simplyhome.com/

How can we get first-time home buyers to find and buy a house all in an app?

The first step was mapping out how this might work.

I categorized the steps of the journey into 7 phases.
Then I identified the areas which we already had designs vs needed new concepts.

While the product was still being formed,
I identified two areas of focus:
building trust and a fun process.

One idea to make it more fun was to integrate “mini games” for the shopper to play. This solution also helps us gather more data about shoppers.

Then, I designed the key screens that would dictate the app design and allow the junior designers to take over.

I created a reference library for the client and teams with examples to learn from.

It came in handy when we were struggling to find a way to make search and filtering results easier.

The client wanted it to be like Tinder.
I said it should be more like Grubhub.
After a long debate about how to build trust, my suggestion won.

I managed a team of 4– Two UI designers, a jr UX designer, and an animator. Together, we built the v1 of this product in just about 4 months.