100yards.com

a real-estate portal

What's there for a user?

•Build a common platform to bring together buyers, sellers, builders and brokers.

•Attract visitors when ever they think of buying/renting/selling property.

What's in there for a BUYER?

• Avoid most common issues like over paying, compromising on quality or choice.

• Allow buyer to search through areas in other cities/states

• Enable buyers to acquire property without involving middlemen.

• Compare properties/prices and make an educated decision.

What's in there for a SELLER?

• Enable sellers a broader reach ability

• Enable sellers to sell property without involving middlemen.

• Manage leads, sales etc. online

• A convenient medium for communication with off-shore customers.

Persona - [Buyer] Gharek Sapna

• Age: 26 yrs• Profession: Software Engineer• Staying at: Vizag, AP• Buying property at: Powai, Mumbai• Notes: Originally from Andheri-Mumbai,

relocated to Vizag for job. Now, trying to invest in a 2BHK Powai-Mumbai. Earning annual salary of 8L+. Relying mostly on online portals to search for property. No hurry. Looking leisurely. Other investments are shares and mutual funds.

Persona - [Seller] Kishore Vyapari

• Age: 48 yrs• Profession: Bank Officer• Staying at: Saidapet, Chennai• Selling property at: Powai, Mumbai• Notes: Weary of brokers. Wants to establish

good relationship with buyer. Is interested only in legitimate buyers. Trying to sell ancestral property in Mumbai. All papers in order. Wants cash settlement. Not ready to disclose the entire amount in the title deeds (to save on tax). Likes classical music. Spends a lot of time with 12 yr old son.

Ideas from Contextual Interviews

• Suggestive/progressive search• Keyword search in homepage. • Search should be possible on localities

rather than cities/states.• Filtered search out of search results.• Search history saved in user profile.• Searches can be saved as agents.• Update info and price of properties on

regular short intervals. • Include elaborate details of each

property. Ex: Locality, Age, Price, Building details, Owner/Broker contact info.

Ideas from Contextual Interviews

• Move old contents to Archives.• Verify authenticity of information where

ever possible. Ex: Specifically for details like carpet area, built-up area etc.

• Send out mailers/alerts on content updates.

• Tie-up with builders to get updated content.

Conceptual Model

Ideas from Heuristic Evaluation of 99acres

• A change in approach.– A User is a USER only.– Users can assume the role of buyer,

seller, broker in different contexts across timelines.

– 100yards is not just a place to buy and sell property.

• Not a one-time use-and-forget site.• Buyers/Sellers can manage properties online

as well

• EMI calculator

Ideas from Heuristic Evaluation - 2

• Portfolio Manager for Brokers/Builders• Property Manager for Buyers/Sellers• Saving/Emailing searches• Saving Alert agents• Tele-support for all users• User review/ratings on s/b/o and

properties

Search Feature

• The search on the home would be a quick search.

• More options on search would be fit into as filters of search results.

• Users can save search criteria as ‘named searches’ as well as ‘alert agents’.

• Named Searches can be emailed.• Each result in the search would give a

brief of the property including Price, Location, Property type, No. of Bedrooms etc.

• Each result is link to the details of the property.

User Registration and Profile

• Users need not register to access most areas of the site.

• Users can register with just username and password. No other details are asked.

• Once logged in, User will be encouraged to complete his profile.

• Profile includes basic information and multiple contact info etc.

• Note that even at this point, the user doesn’t label self with either ‘seller’, ‘buyer’, ‘builder’ or ‘broker’.

User Home

• Post a property• Manage Properties

– Information on each property posted– Total views, Total responses, New

messages– Rating stars, No. of comments– Publish/Unpublish property button– View/Edit button

• Saved searches• Favorites• Alert agents• Activity history

Post a property

• This is one of the few screens where the user role really matters.

• When the user posts property, some fields like type, covered area, plot area, no. of bedrooms etc. are mandatory.

• User has to specify whether he/she is a builder/owner/broker.

• User can select one of the multiple contact infos they have stored as part of their profile OR enter new contact info here (which will be added to the profile on posting).

• When new users/users with bad rating post, the posting will be reviewed by portal professionals before publishing.

• Mailers will be sent to subscribed users.

Property details

• All property details will be displayed to all users. Even unregistered users.

• To see contact information of seller/builder/owner or to send a private message to the s/b/o, the user will have to login.

• Users will be encouraged to retain a ‘token no.’ to be exchanged for a gift from 100yards call center.

• All users can rate the property• All users can read comments and

comment about the property/s/b/o.

Goals

• Primary– Generate revenue from premium registrations

and AD clicks– Open up business opportunities in other related

areas.

• Usability– Search and find properties easily– Manage posted properties easily– Localize to language of user preference

• Experience– Portal should be responsive and intuitive.– A typical search should be complete in 3 steps– A property post should happen in one step– Updates by email, sms on choice– Help always available

Goals

• Design– Adopt the KISS approach– Don’t break common user paradigms– Keep UI intuitive for both new visitors

and regular visitors.Different design options…

Thank you…

Amey, Prem, Puja, Uday