Project 2
Streamline UpNest advisor’s daily workflow
Product
Internal CRM
Status
Enhanced Features Shipped
Timeline
2 months
Role
Lead Designer, Internal Operations
Empower agents to seamlessly complete profiles
Product
Agent Dashboard
Role
Lead Designer, Agent Branding Team
Duration
8 months
Completion status
Shipped Product
Project 1
Summary
If you have only 5 min please read this
If you have only 5 min please read this
The enhancement of agent profile setup and the introduction of richer profile data resulted in improved user satisfaction and significant measurable outcomes.
$X in new leads revenue
XX% increase in agent satisfaction related to the ease of profile setup
Completed profiles grew from XX% to XX% within the first month of launch
Higher consumer satisfaction in selecting agents based on improved profile data
These improvements empowered agents and consumers while driving meaningful business results.
Overview
About Realtor.com PRO
Realtor.com PRO is a comprehensive platform designed to support real estate professionals with lead generation, advertising, and training resources.
The Realtor.com Find a REALTOR® feature connects consumers with agents through personalized profiles highlighting expertise, listings, and client reviews.
Project goal
Empower agents with robust profiles and enhance consumer connections while transforming agent profiles into a key revenue driver.
Discovering the need
Problem
Agent profiles reach 30M annual visitors, generating ~1M leads (86% incremental).
Only 15% of our 2M agent profiles are complete.
This limits effectiveness, especially for the 70% of non-REALTOR profiles accessed through organic search.
We haven't been able to monetize profiles due to National Association of Realtors (NAR) restrictions.
Why new agent profiles?
Opportunity
Business: Enhance the platform beyond monetization to improve the consumer experience.
Users: Robust agent profiles are essential for empowering consumer choice and collaboration.
Goal
Monetize existing traffic while complying with NAR regulations.
Enhance the platform beyond monetization to improve the consumer experience.
Robust agent profiles are essential for empowering consumer choice and collaboration.
Research and insights
To inform the profile redesign, I interviewed 9 agents grouped by profile strength (robust, somewhat robust, non-robust) and experience (0-6 years, 6+ years).
Findings revealed key agent priorities.
Branding & profile management:
Diverse needs: Team leads focus on showcasing their team; independent agents highlight their individual brand.
Experience level: Experienced agents are more willing to invest in marketing; newer agents need more branding support.
Profile value: All agents value reviews and see profiles as online resumes.
Ease of use: Agents want an easy way to update and enhance their profiles.
Profile awareness: Some agents were unaware they even had profiles.
Agents prioritize showcasing the following to clients:
Credibility: Bios, reviews, testimonials.
Market knowledge: Areas served, expertise, years of experience.
Experience: Sold listings, seller expertise.
Trust: Personal qualities.
Network: Vendor and partner connections.
User interviews & synthesis
Pre-Redesign
Dashboard Homepage
Pre-Redesign
Dashboard Profile Setup
Pre-Redesign
Consumer Facing Agent Profile
Discovery interviews
Discovering the need
Launching new agent profiles will help Realtor.com to monetize organic traffic via profile leads, enable a better agent connection experience and provide a foundation for a paid branding portfolio.
Monetizing FAR traffic: Redirecting Find a Realtor traffic to new profiles enables lead monetization while complying with NAR, with strong revenue potential.
Enhancing consumer experience: The new profiles will enable rich consumer experiences across the platform, including empowered choice and collaboration.
Unlocking branding revenue: Paid profiles will enhance agents' digital presence and drive branding revenue.
Project goal
Streamline the UpNest Advisors’ process with standardized templates, enhancing workflow efficiency, maintaining data consistency, and improving user experience.
Learning 2
Real estate agents prioritize showcasing these key information to clients:
Market knowledge: Areas served, expertise, and years of experience
Experience: Sold listings and expertise in working with sellers
Credibility: Seller or Buyer-focused bios, reviews, and testimonials
Trust: Unique personal qualities that build trust
Network: Connections with vendors and partners
[NOTES] Before
Ideation and solution development
Problem statement
Agent profile awareness & completion: How can we ensure agents are aware of and motivated to complete their online profiles?
Agent profile personalization: How can we empower independent agents to build a strong personal brand through their online profiles?
Profile creation & management: How can we simplify and streamline the profile creation and update process for independent agents?
Scalable profile solutions: How can we design solutions for independent agents in Phase 1 that are adaptable and scalable to meet the needs of team leads in Phase 2?
Research and insight
Ideation and solution development
Phased approach
To align with leadership's timeline, we prioritized Agent profiles in Phase 1, given their larger user base. We plan to expand the solution to team leads in Phase 2.
Testing and evaluation
Mid-fi designs
User Testing
Profile Completion Emails: Action vs. Value
User Testing
Profile Wizard
User Testing
Dashboard Profile Setup
User Testing
Dashboard Homepage
Testing and evaluation
⭐ Testimonial
"There is a tangible improvement in productivity! Thank you for the work y’all did! My team and I are really feeling the positive effects!"
— Caroline A. (UpNest Advisor)
Stakeholder review
User review
Design lab feedback
Engineering feedback
Feedback and iteration
User feedback
Dashboard homepage
Feedback highlighted the need for visual progress indicators, prompts for profile completion, and stronger emphasis on the benefits of a complete profile.
"It means the agent lacks enough profile information to stand out and attract clients."
Emails: Value vs. Action
Feedback indicated a preference for [Action Email] Version A's conciseness and motivating title, but suggested integrating [Value Email] Version B's visual progress tracking and more actionable subject line.
Wizard vs. Full setup experience
While requiring more agent effort, the "Profile" version was unanimously favored for its thoroughness, relatability, and professional presentation, offering greater long-term value.
"The [profile] version requires more work on the agent's part, but will definitely be worth it in the end."
Research and insignts
Design execution
Post-Redesign
Agent Nudged to Complete Profile
Post-Redesign
Profile Completeness Calculation
Post-Redesign
Paid Profile Setup
Post-Redesign
Paid Profile Edit Page
Post-Redesign
Agent Search Result Page
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Paid Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Free Profile Setup
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Free Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Empty Agent Profile
Discovery interviews
Final designs
Based on user, design lab and stakeholder feedback, I redesigned agent profiles to enhance consumer connections and drive revenue through paid profiles. Improvements included clarifying free/paid features and scoring, prioritizing key agent qualities, and integrating NAR FaR data per NAR agreement.
Note: As part of this project, I contributed to the new Design System components in collaboration with the Accessibility team.
Here are the key learnings:
Emails
Email templates are separate from SMS and internal notes.
Inconsistent use of email templates due to unclear guidelines.
Non-dynamic email templates.
Email preview does not match the final recipient view.
Templates are not aligned with RealChoice Selling rebranding.
UpNest Advisors lack a reliable set of templates, impacting consistency in the consumer experience.
Limited messaging automation and analytics hinder understanding of template effectiveness and message timing.
NOTE PRE-REDESIGN: Manual note and SMS management
Reflection and learning
What worked well?
Phased out approach
By-weekly Stakeholder checkin
Weekly Go-To-Market checkin
Design QA training to engineers
What could be improved in future projects?
Better planning and Less Changes to the roadmap
Better resource prioritization
Many original features got cut off due to that
Outcomes and impact
Enabled lead generation for agents with paid profiles, supported by clear ROI through performance reporting.
Improved search rankings for agents with paid profiles, prioritizing their visibility in search results.
Offered enhanced features and branding options to paid customers, boosting their profile visibility.
Streamlined profile setup with clear guidance and a visual completeness score for easy updates.
Reflection and learning
What worked well?
Strong team collaboration: Regular team syncs were crucial for project success. Consistent review of work in progress allowed cross-functional team to address concerns and make adjustments in real-time, fostering a collaborative environment and keeping the project on track.
Valuable stakeholder feedback: Our weekly stakeholder check-ins proved invaluable. By involving internal employees as an on-demand testing group, we received diverse perspectives and uncovered usability issues early on.
Phased approach: Breaking down the project into manageable phases helped maintain focus, track progress effectively, manage dependencies, and identify potential roadblocks.
Successful offshore collaboration: Effective collaboration with our offshore teams in India and Mexico was enabled by strong planning, comprehensive onboarding, and dedicated training for our new Mexico-based engineering team to foster cross-functional collaboration.
What could be improved in future projects?
Enhance project planning processes to reduce scope changes and ensure stricter adherence to the roadmap.
Project 1
Empower agents to seamlessly complete profiles
Product
Agent Dashboard
Duration
8 months
Completion status
Shipped Product
Role
Lead Designer, Agent Branding Team
Summary
If you have only 5 min please read this
The enhancement of agent profile setup and the introduction of richer profile data resulted in improved user satisfaction and significant measurable outcomes.
$X in new leads revenue
XX% increase in agent satisfaction related to the ease of profile setup
Completed profiles grew from XX% to XX% within the first month of launch
Higher consumer satisfaction in selecting agents based on improved profile data
These improvements empowered agents and consumers while driving meaningful business results.
Overview
Realtor.com PRO is a comprehensive platform designed to support real estate professionals with lead generation, advertising, and training resources.
The Realtor.com Find a REALTOR® feature connects consumers with agents through personalized profiles highlighting expertise, listings, and client reviews.
About Realtor.com PRO
Empower agents with robust profiles and enhance consumer connections while transforming agent profiles into a key revenue driver.
Project goal
Discovering the need
Problem
Agent profiles reach 30M annual visitors, generating ~1M leads (86% incremental).
Only 15% of our 2M agent profiles are complete.
This limits effectiveness, especially for the 70% of non-REALTOR profiles accessed through organic search.
We haven't been able to monetize profiles due to National Association of Realtors (NAR) restrictions.
Why new agent profiles?
Opportunity
Business: Enhance the platform beyond monetization to improve the consumer experience.
Users: Robust agent profiles are essential for empowering consumer choice and collaboration.
Goal
Monetize existing traffic while complying with NAR regulations.
Enhance the platform beyond monetization to improve the consumer experience.
Robust agent profiles are essential for empowering consumer choice and collaboration.
Research and insights
To inform the profile redesign, we interviewed 9 agents grouped by profile strength (robust, somewhat robust, non-robust) and experience (0-6 years, 6+ years).
Findings revealed key agent priorities.
Branding & profile management:
Diverse needs: Team leads focus on showcasing their team; independent agents highlight their individual brand.
Experience level: Experienced agents are more willing to invest in marketing; newer agents need more branding support.
Profile value: All agents value reviews and see profiles as online resumes.
Ease of use: Agents want an easy way to update and enhance their profiles.
Profile awareness: Some agents were unaware they even had profiles.
Agents prioritize showcasing the following to clients:
Market knowledge: Areas served, expertise, years of experience.
Experience: Sold listings, seller expertise.
Credibility: Bios, reviews, testimonials.
Trust: Personal qualities.
Network: Vendor and partner connections.
Discovery interviews
User interviews & synthesis
Pre-Redesign
Dashboard Profile Setup
Pre-Redesign
Dashboard Profile Setup
Pre-Redesign
Consumer Facing Agent Profile
Pre-Redesign
Consumer Facing Agent Profile
Pre-Redesign
Dashboard Homepage
Pre-Redesign
Dashboard Homepage
Problem statement
Agent profile awareness & completion: How can we ensure agents are aware of and motivated to complete their online profiles?
Agent profile personalization: How can we empower independent agents to build a strong personal brand through their online profiles?
Profile creation & management: How can we simplify and streamline the profile creation and update process for independent agents?
Scalable profile solutions: How can we design solutions for independent agents in Phase 1 that are adaptable and scalable to meet the needs of team leads in Phase 2?
Ideation and solution development
Phased approach
To align with leadership's timeline, we prioritized Agent profiles in Phase 1, given their larger user base. We plan to expand the solution to team leads in Phase 2.
Testing and evaluation
Mid-fi designs
User Testing
Dashboard Homepage
User Testing
Dashboard Homepage
User Testing
Profile Completion Emails: Action vs. Value
User Testing
Profile Completion Emails: Action vs. Value
User Testing
Profile Wizard
User Testing
Profile Wizard
User Testing
Dashboard Profile Setup
User Testing
Dashboard Profile Setup
Feedback and iteration
Emails: Value vs. Action
User feedback
Feedback indicated a preference for [Action Email] Version A's conciseness and motivating title, but suggested integrating [Value Email] Version B's visual progress tracking and more actionable subject line.
Dashboard homepage
Feedback highlighted the need for visual progress indicators, prompts for profile completion, and stronger emphasis on the benefits of a complete profile.
"It means the agent lacks enough profile information to stand out and attract clients."
Wizard vs. Full setup experience
While requiring more agent effort, the "Profile" version was unanimously favored for its thoroughness, relatability, and professional presentation, offering greater long-term value.
"The [profile] version requires more work on the agent's part, but will definitely be worth it in the end."
Design execution
Final designs
Based on user, design lab and stakeholder feedback, I redesigned agent profiles to enhance consumer connections and drive revenue through paid profiles. Improvements included clarifying free/paid features and scoring, prioritizing key agent qualities, and integrating NAR FaR data per NAR agreement.
Note: As part of this project, I contributed to the new Design System components in collaboration with the Accessibility team.
Post-Redesign
Free Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Free Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Agent Nudged to Complete Profile
Post-Redesign
Agent Nudged to Complete Profile
Post-Redesign
Profile Completeness Calculation
Post-Redesign
Profile Completeness Calculation
Post-Redesign
Paid Profile Setup
Post-Redesign
Paid Profile Setup
Post-Redesign
Paid Profile Edit Page
Post-Redesign
Paid Profile Edit Page
Post-Redesign
Agent Search Result Page
Post-Redesign
Agent Search Result Page
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Paid Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Paid Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Free Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Free Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Free Profile Setup
Post-Redesign
Free Profile Setup
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Empty Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Empty Agent Profile
Outcomes and impact
Enabled lead generation for agents with paid profiles, supported by clear ROI through performance reporting.
Improved search rankings for agents with paid profiles, prioritizing their visibility in search results.
Offered enhanced features and branding options to paid customers, boosting their profile visibility.
Streamlined profile setup with clear guidance and a visual completeness score for easy updates.
Reflection and learning
What worked well?
Strong team collaboration: Regular team syncs were crucial for project success. Consistent review of work in progress allowed cross-functional team to address concerns and make adjustments in real-time, fostering a collaborative environment and keeping the project on track.
Valuable stakeholder feedback: Our weekly stakeholder check-ins proved invaluable. By involving internal employees as an on-demand testing group, we received diverse perspectives and uncovered usability issues early on.
Phased approach: Breaking down the project into manageable phases helped maintain focus, track progress effectively, manage dependencies, and identify potential roadblocks.
Successful offshore collaboration: Effective collaboration with our offshore teams in India and Mexico was enabled by strong planning, comprehensive onboarding, and dedicated training for our new Mexico-based engineering team to foster cross-functional collaboration.
What could be improved in future projects?
Enhance project planning processes to reduce scope changes and ensure stricter adherence to the roadmap.
Project 1
Empower agents to seamlessly complete profiles
Product
Agent Dashboard
Duration
8 months
Role
Lead Designer, Agent Branding Team
Completion status
Shipped Product
Summary
If you have only 5 min please read this
The enhancement of agent profile setup and the introduction of richer profile data resulted in improved user satisfaction and significant measurable outcomes.
$X in new leads revenue
XX% increase in agent satisfaction related to the ease of profile setup
Completed profiles grew from XX% to XX% within the first month of launch
Higher consumer satisfaction in selecting agents based on improved profile data
These improvements empowered agents and consumers while driving meaningful business results.
Overview
About Realtor.com PRO
Realtor.com PRO is a comprehensive platform designed to support real estate professionals with lead generation, advertising, and training resources.
The Realtor.com Find a REALTOR® feature connects consumers with agents through personalized profiles highlighting expertise, listings, and client reviews.
Project goal
Empower agents with robust profiles and enhance consumer connections while transforming agent profiles into a key revenue driver.
Discovering the need
Why new agent profiles?
Problem
Agent profiles reach 30M annual visitors, generating ~1M leads (86% incremental).
Only 15% of our 2M agent profiles are complete.
This limits effectiveness, especially for the 70% of non-REALTOR profiles accessed through organic search.
We haven't been able to monetize profiles due to National Association of Realtors (NAR) restrictions.
Opportunity
Business: Enhance the platform beyond monetization to improve the consumer experience.
Users: Robust agent profiles are essential for empowering consumer choice and collaboration.
Goal
Monetize existing traffic while complying with NAR regulations.
Enhance the platform beyond monetization to improve the consumer experience.
Robust agent profiles are essential for empowering consumer choice and collaboration.
Research and insights
Discovery Interviews
To inform the profile redesign, I interviewed 9 agents grouped by profile strength (robust, somewhat robust, non-robust) and experience (0-6 years, 6+ years).
Findings revealed key agent priorities.
Branding & profile management:
Diverse needs: Team leads focus on showcasing their team; independent agents highlight their individual brand.
Experience level: Experienced agents are more willing to invest in marketing; newer agents need more branding support.
Profile value: All agents value reviews and see profiles as online resumes.
Ease of use: Agents want an easy way to update and enhance their profiles.
Profile awareness: Some agents were unaware they even had profiles.
Agents prioritize showcasing the following to clients:
Market knowledge: Areas served, expertise, years of experience.
Experience: Sold listings, seller expertise.
Credibility: Bios, reviews, testimonials.
Trust: Personal qualities.
Network: Vendor and partner connections.
User interviews & synthesis
Pre-Redesign
Dashboard Homepage
Pre-Redesign
Dashboard Profile Setup
Pre-Redesign
Consumer Facing Agent Profile
Problem statement
Agent profile awareness & completion: How can we ensure agents are aware of and motivated to complete their online profiles?
Agent profile personalization: How can we empower independent agents to build a strong personal brand through their online profiles?
Profile creation & management: How can we simplify and streamline the profile creation and update process for independent agents, icluding?
Scalable profile solutions: How can we design solutions for independent agents in Phase 1 that are adaptable and scalable to meet the needs of team leads in Phase 2?
Ideation and solution development
Phased approach
To align with leadership's timeline, we prioritized Agent profiles in Phase 1, given their larger user base. We plan to expand the solution to team leads in Phase 2.
Testing and evaluation
User Testing
Profile Completion Emails: Action vs. Value
User Testing
Profile Wizard
User Testing
Dashboard Profile Setup
User Testing
Dashboard Homepage
Feedback and iteration
User feedback
Emails: Value vs. Action
Feedback indicated a preference for [Action Email] Version A's conciseness and motivating title, but suggested integrating [Value Email] Version B's visual progress tracking and more actionable subject line.
Dashboard homepage
Feedback highlighted the need for visual progress indicators, prompts for profile completion, and stronger emphasis on the benefits of a complete profile.
"It means the agent lacks enough profile information to stand out and attract clients."
Wizard vs. Full setup experience
While requiring more agent effort, the "Profile" version was unanimously favored for its thoroughness, relatability, and professional presentation, offering greater long-term value.
"The [profile] version requires more work on the agent's part, but will definitely be worth it in the end."
Design execution
Final designs
Based on user, design lab and stakeholder feedback, I redesigned agent profiles to enhance consumer connections and drive revenue through paid profiles. Improvements included clarifying free/paid features and scoring, prioritizing key agent qualities, and integrating NAR FaR data per NAR agreement.
Note: As part of this project, I contributed to the new Design System components in collaboration with the Accessibility team.
Post-Redesign
Agent Nudged to Complete Profile
Post-Redesign
Profile Completeness Calculation
Post-Redesign
Paid Profile Setup
Post-Redesign
Paid Profile Edit Page
Post-Redesign
Agent Search Result Page
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Paid Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Free Profile Setup
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Free Agent Profile
Post-Redesign
Consumer Facing Empty Agent Profile
Outcomes and impact
Enabled lead generation for agents with paid profiles, supported by clear ROI through performance reporting.
Improved search rankings for agents with paid profiles, prioritizing their visibility in search results.
Offered enhanced features and branding options to paid customers, boosting their profile visibility.
Streamlined profile setup with clear guidance and a visual completeness score for easy updates.
Reflection and learning
What worked well?
Strong team collaboration: Regular team syncs were crucial for project success. Consistent review of work in progress allowed cross-functional team to address concerns and make adjustments in real-time, fostering a collaborative environment and keeping the project on track.
Valuable stakeholder feedback: Our weekly stakeholder check-ins proved invaluable. By involving internal employees as an on-demand testing group, we received diverse perspectives and uncovered usability issues early on.
Phased approach: Breaking down the project into manageable phases helped maintain focus, track progress effectively, manage dependencies, and identify potential roadblocks.
Successful offshore collaboration: Effective collaboration with our offshore teams in India and Mexico was enabled by strong planning, comprehensive onboarding, and dedicated training for our new Mexico-based engineering team to foster cross-functional collaboration.
What could be improved in future projects?
Enhance project planning processes to reduce scope changes and ensure stricter adherence to the roadmap.
