Mars Homes
Delivering personalized real estate assistance through informative booklets.
OVERVIEW
Mars Reality, formerly known as Rowe Reality, is an independent real estate group that provides personalized advice and assistance to those who are looking to sell or purchase a home, no matter their financial situation. Mars Reality accomplishes this in the form of specialized booklets that bring clients though the various steps of buying or selling a home.
As a designer I was tasked with creating new flows for onboarding, experience walkthroughs, and negotiations in a way that fully leveraged the advantages of a smaller, closer knit, real estate team, while strategically accommodating its constraints. My goal was to allow clients to navigate these relatively complex experiences, all while maintaining trust in the local community.
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Time Frame
Sep. 2022 - Mar. 2023
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Role
Graphic Designer
Marketing Designer
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Tools
Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator
Challenge
With nearly twenty-eight million Americans who planned to enter the housing market, where 78% of Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck, there exists a serious need for affordable and trustworthy realtor advice in the face of a broken financial system. For those unable to afford a broker, one of their only options is to look for answers online, which can be frustrating, time-consuming, and unreliable.
Mars Reality’s solution was to build informative step-by-step materials that give personalized, strategic real estate advice and proactive recommendations in addition to assisting the user with locating local resources such as loan applications, negotiating mortgage payments, or orchestrating open houses. I was tasked with creating:
A consistent visual language with compacted information that maintains a relatable but trustworthy voice and tone
Research & Discovery
Mars Reality's target market is first-time home buyers and middle-class individuals and families within the Vancouver, WA through Portland, OR area who are either in the market to purchase/sell a home, or simply need help achieving better understanding of the real estate market.
We surveyed 45 individuals between the ages of 24-78 on their current personal finance management and prior experiences with financial apps. We found that:
Participants' most common goals were debt reduction and saving for their future abode
Participants who had had negative experiences with realtors in the past complained of generic recommendations and being dismissed quickly
Participants evaluated the trustworthiness and security of independent local brokers by checking online reviews and relying on recommendations from friends and family
We also performed competitor/comparator analysis on a variety of agents and real estate companies in order to gain a better understanding of the competitive landscape.
Ideating on a Workflow
At this stage in the project my efforts were dedicated to developing the booklet’s flow. Rather than building a comprehensive framework exploring all possible branches, the client requested that I ideate on two specific scenarios that a user might encounter while interacting with a real estate agent:
Purchasing a home. The client's research had revealed that their patrons often preferred a customized buying experience over an expansive one. For patrons who were interested in entering the real estate market, the Buyer’s booklet would allow for an entry course in what is involved.
Selling a home. The client's research had revealed that their patrons often preferred a simpler selling experience over an intrusive one. For patrons who were interested in entering the real estate market, the Buyer’s booklet would allow for an entry course in what is involved.
Defining the Visual Langauge
My role also involved building a pattern library and shaping the overall visual language of the app. I drew upon our competitor/comparator analysis in order to develop a visual interface that would feel familiar, trustworthy, and highlight the most effective aspects of the client's existing brand.
Some of the design decisions we made include:
Brand colors. I tested Mars Reality’s brand colors (red and black) and slightly altered the red hue to avoid evoking "anger" or "danger". The resulting combination exhibited the brand principles of being bold, passionate, and elegant.
Size, spacing, and color of pages. I mimicked the size and spacing of Knipe Reality and Keller William’s pamphlet to promote familiarity but utilized brand-colored pages and images in order to ensure that information and action elements would be sufficiently prominent.
The Trifold Design
Together with the head broker, I worked to determine the specific promoted content that showcased the most relevant information to occupy the trifold’s pages; including features and services we present to potential and current clients allowing them to spot the features that are specific to their needs and wishes.
Mars Homes Trifold: Download
On the trifold clients will have a view of the offered features, descriptions about the team vision and mission, as well as what sets Mars Homes apart from the competition.
The Sellers Pamphlet Design
Together with the head broker, I worked to determine various ways to promote properties to create revenue for the client; including the step-by-step process we walk our clients through during the sale of a property. Allowing for potential and current clients to pinpoint features that are specific to them and their property selling desires.
The seller’s pamphlet allows clients to experience a view of the offered services, descriptions about the team vision and mission, as well as what sets Mars Homes apart from the competition.
The Buyers Pamphlet Design
Together with the head broker, I worked to determine various ways to promote properties to create revenue for the client; including the step-by-step process we walk our clients through during the purchase of a property. Allowing for potential and current clients to pinpoint features that are specific to them and their property purchasing desires.
The buyer’s pamphlet allows clients to experience a view of the offered services, descriptions about the team vision and mission, as well as what sets Mars Homes apart from the competition.
Reflection
Working on this project gave me the opportunity to think through some very complex and intriguing problems. Although our deliverables were meant to be entry points rather than a fledged out process, I strived to maintain consistent data within the pages and think through alternate solutions on compressing knowledge. It was important to think about each feature as part of a greater system, and ensure that whatever solutions we arrived at did not negatively impact other interactions or features elsewhere in the products.