Realtor.com
OVERVIEWThe Industry Relations Hub’s mission was to connect the MLS and REALTOR® Associations with Realtor.com business partners, so they could stay updated on the latest industry news and product insights.
During my internship I:
Led the end-to-end redesign of the Industry Relations Hub to be optimized for desktop and mobile touch points.
Proposed UX changes for the IR Hub across mobile and desktop, offering design expertise on which features to add, refine, or scrap.
Set the foundation for Realtor.com’s brand design system, and advocated for the addition of 3+ components for mobile and desktop grounded in best practices.
ROLECreative Intern
CONTRIBUTIONSUX Handoff, Design System
SUCCESS METRICSKeep engineering costs low.
Reduce click-through-rate.
Enhance usability and way-finding.
Ensure handoff is smooth.
DURATIONJun - Aug 2024
TEAMBrand Bureau
CONTEXTWhat is the Industry Relations Hub?
The Industry Relations Hub is a press-room that keeps the MLS and REALTOR® Associations updated on the latest industry news and product insights.
THE BRIEF-
The IR Hub provides industry partners with content to share with MLS subscribers and REALTORS®, while supporting the Industry Relations team in maintaining key relationships with MLSs for accurate and trusted data sharing.
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Current site was off-brand
Calendar layout was not utilized for what it was intended for
Unclear which areas had a CTA
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Enhance design to align with Realtor.com’s brand guidelines.
Consider the long-term maintenance of each content section.
Make note of the requirements in the brief, but don’t be afraid to make a case to kill certain features if necessary.
ANALYZING THE CURRENT EXPERIENCEConsidering visual hierarchy, brand alignment and navigation
01. This is the homepage that welcomes members. The font needs to be updated from Poppins to Galano Grotesque. Our business partners also wanted the sub-navigation panel to be fixed for easy wayfinding and uninterrupted scrolling.
02. This is everything below the fold on the homepage. The featured content links to shareable files that can be downloaded. Imagine if there was a way for members to access this download functionality above the fold, and the monthly content is looped automatically via a carousel.
03. Considering alignment and hierarchy across all content sections.
SITE MAPTHE REDESIGNIntroducing IR Hub 2.0
A refreshed web experience for MLS and REALTOR Associations to stay updated on the latest industry news.
A more intuitive homepage that checks all the boxes
Enables direct media downloads, quick previews of subpages, supported by a cleaner sticky navigation panel for easy access to key sections.
Considering feasibility, ability to scale, and required long-term maintenance
Due to its recurring nature, we decided to abandon the calendar altogether, and opted for something simpler. As a result, I designed a new card component that would take all the functions of a calendar, and condensed it into one modular layout that was easy to maintain in the future. I also applied this to other content cards, enabling our business partners to go in, and easily update the content without needing to submit an external ticket to our team.
“Meet the team” floating pill tab filters to improve wayfinding
Regroups Industry Relations partners by team. Something that’s easy to build and already using what’s in the RDC Haven Design System.
The importance of visual hierarchy
Our business partners wanted a section for social media links and a support box, so I recycled some existing patterns from the design system, and added an image to break the sections to offset the information load.
A new video card design that blends simplicity & scalability
Features an updated thumbnail layout. Below the orientation materials, are clickable cards that direct agents to the profile sign-up page.
MISC PROJECTS - VISUAL DESIGN
LEARNINGSStaying on-brand, managing tradeoffs and more about documentation, collaboration, feedback and hard work.
01. Iterate early, keep things simple, and revisit the brand guidelines
Something I wish I had done earlier was clarify how much freedom I have with the redesign. While V2 received solid feedback, considering that we had to release this in 2 months, I had to find a balance between existing and custom components to reduce dev costs, and account for the time tradeoff while staying on brand.
02. Revisit the requirements doc to QA
Sometimes, when you’re deep in the details, you can lend yourself to missing key requirements. I found that it’s good to take a step back, and revisit the brief to QA your work.
03. Create a supplementary deck for handoff
Since this was released after my internship ended, I wasn’t there to QA the final release, so there were some issues I noticed in the current live version. Those Figma files can get crowded, so it’s easy to miss key details. Something I wish I had done differently was to create a supplementary deck clearly outlining each interaction for a smoother handoff process.
Thank you
A huge thanks to everyone at the Brand Bureau for welcoming me to the team. As the first Creative Intern, I was nervously new to the industry, but this internship sparked my curiosity for retail and brand work. I joined when Realtor.com was in the middle of undergoing a huge brand transformation, and I’m grateful that I got the opportunity to be part of something special. ♥️
IBM x UT AUSTIN
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