Introduction
My Role: UI/UX Designer
Duration: 45 hours throughout May 2023
Tools Used: Figma
Haven Connect is a property management system that modernizes the affordable housing process. It offers an easy-to-use online platform for housing applicants and helps property managers fill vacancies faster with qualified applicants.
In May 2023, the Founder and CEO of Haven Connect approached me to design a user flow that addressed a few specific challenges property managers were encountering during the application review process. Within one week, I designed a detailed prototype using Material Design and incorporated Haven Connect's established UX design and branding.
Problem
Property managers are faced with:
• High volume of applicants to review across over 178,000 properties.
• Lack of search filtering capabilities to focus on specific criteria.
• Inability to perform bulk actions on multiple items.
• Difficulty in accessing and managing housing applicant lists and associated documents.
Audience
Haven Connect has three audience types:
1. Low-Income Housing Applicants: People who submit their applications for housing and who need to provide evidence of their economic status in the form of pay stubs, etc.
1. Low-Income Housing Applicants: People who submit their applications for housing and who need to provide evidence of their economic status in the form of pay stubs, etc.
2. Property Managers: They receive housing applications and send them to the internal compliance department. Once approved and ready to go, they send applications to HCR.
3. Housing and Community Resources (HCR): Government auditors who ensure that all applications are complete and all regulations have been followed to provide evidence of an applicant's eligibility for housing.
Goals
To approach this problem, I developed a list of ‘How Might We…’ questions to clarify our goals for property managers:
Bulk Actions: How might we deliver a way for them to perform bulk actions on multiple items while maintaining the option for individual changes?
Smart Search: How might we help property managers search through 178,000 units across many properties, with a high volume of approvals to complete?
Document Viewer: How might we give them the ability to review and rotate submitted documents if they’re submitted in the wrong orientation?
Sketches
Haven Connect’s CEO shared rough sketches with me that she developed in Balsamiq. Pictured above is our vision for the ‘Listings’ tab, which gives property managers a way to see varying types of applicant lists.
The sketch for the ‘Applicants’ tab includes a left panel that scrolls through applicant names that can be easily clicked. When a name is clicked, the applicant’s submitted documents show in the middle viewer area. Documents can be scanned and manipulated (rotated) here. On the right is a tool that allows property managers to approve or deny the documents.
Hi-Fidelity Prototype
As I brought these sketches to life in Figma, I focused on applying the user interface elements with the existing brand standards already established at Haven Connect. With consistent and familiar interactions, the tool maximizes usability and the user experience.
Bulk Actions
The 'Select All' checkbox at top left allows property managers to approve or deny large lists of housing applicants in bulk. Conversely, users can also still apply a status change to each applicant individually.
Smart Search
A familiar search filter option helps property managers search through 178,000 units. After filtering, a list is displayed with filter chips that communicate to the user the search result. Chips can be removed to show a broader results list.
Document Viewer
Users can easily see a list of all housing applicants waiting for review, then move them to the next step if ready. They can click through each name and view and/or download their corresponding documents, which can be manipulated right within the tool.
Reflection
This project presented a fun design challenge. I had to figure out how to keep the interface simple, yet still allow for a number of options for the user within one screen. It helped elevate my technical skills, as the components built in Figma were robust and complex. Due to a tight deadline on this project, I had to adapt quickly and make changes on-the-spot based on direct feedback. Overall, we've created a product that helps property managers tackle a high workload and achieve their goal to place people into affordable housing faster.
