Overview
Revolutionizing Buy-To-Let
Contributions
Time Line
12 Feb, 2024
to
31 July, 2024
Background
What is Buy-To-Let?
To understand the problem being solved, it’s essential to grasp Adventum’s services. Adventum is a wealth management firm that supports international investors in purchasing UK property as an investment (buy-to-let). This process includes securing a mortgage, overseeing the property’s development, and managing it post-completion by listing it for rent through their letting services. They also handle rent collection, maintenance, and provide earnings reports. Additionally, there’s a Forex component, allowing investors to benefit from currency gains when the GBP appreciates. Overall, Adventum offers comprehensive, end-to-end support throughout this complex investment journey.
Problem
Spreadsheets Don't Excel at Consulting
Sheets Disrupted the Core Principles of Consultancy
Connection
Disconnected systems compel individuals to manually extract insights and move data in a cumbersome manner. The lack of direct integration between forex, letting, and property data further adds to the inefficiency of the process.
Emotion
Spreadsheets lack the emotional support essential to a consultant’s role. Also, The sheer # of sheets leaves users feeling overwhelmed.
Context
Decision-makers need more context than just raw numbers, but spreadsheets offer little to no contextual information. At Adventum, this context has to be added manually, making the process inefficient.
Research
Understanding User Needs
Designing For a New Mental Model
After speaking with users, we realised that removing the property manager from the flow was a cost-saving measure for clients, but it also required a shift in their mental model. Property managers offer adaptability, personalised communication, and support tailored to each client. To ease this transition and ensure adoption of the new system, it was essential to simulate a similar experience within the Adventum dashboard to avoid friction.
Evolving into a Real Estate Expert
The key takeaway from the research was the need to create a digital buy-to-let real estate consultant who has complete knowledge and can effectively communicate, interpret, and deliver insights. To achieve this, an additional phase of research was required, which involved fully understanding the business from beginning to end. I reviewed all relevant documents and examined communication threads among all parties involved throughout the project lifecycle. This helped identify every dashboard touchpoint and allowed me to design solutions that effectively address user needs.
Solution
Iterating Over a New Canvas
Strategic Design
The goal of creating a digital consultant experience led to intentional design choices that mimic the subtle human touch of a real advisor. The interface engages users in guided conversations, reflecting the natural flow of a consulting dialogue. Important information is emphasized through strategic use of color highlights, similar to how consultants mark up key points in documents. The data presentation is also carefully designed using color psychology to create a sense of clarity and calm, just like how a consultant would ease your concerns during complex decisions.
Design an Interface that Talks
The UI elements weren’t simply displayed, they were woven into a dialogue. From onboarding to everyday tasks like accessing reports or receiving notifications and insights, everything was delivered through conversational interactions, making the interface feel like you were engaging directly with a consultant.
Efficiency Through Prioritization
The information architecture was designed to align with the hierarchy that fits the usage style of an HNI. Strategic design choices for typography and colour were then employed to deliver this structure in a clear and effective way.
Data Designed to Induce Calmness
Shades of lavender and mint are widely recognised for their calming psychological effects, often associated with feelings of relaxation, trust, and emotional balance. In the interface, these hues were intentionally chosen to create a sense of comfort and reassurance. This thoughtful use of colour simulates the experience of speaking with a trusted consultant, reinforcing the sense that users are being guided with care and expertise throughout their journey.
Retrospective
Designing With This Thing Called Empathy
Watch, listen & observe your users
The more you learn about and document user behavior, the better your design can represent their needs. Design is not a one-size-fits-all solution—it feels different to every user. That’s why it’s crucial to design specifically for the audience you’ve identified and truly empathize with them, even if that means traveling ten hours just to observe how they interact and engage.
Don't be afraid to restart
At first, I aimed to stay true to the core brand colours to maintain visual consistency across the experience. However, the UI didn’t quite work, both functionally and emotionally. So, I decided to reset the approach this time using only the primary colour and carefully selected shades of the secondary palette, rather than sticking to the exact brand colours.
It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we create.
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