Takeaways

Working on internal tools for real estate agents resulted in designing for a deeply complex and diverse user group. My project challenged me to work within engineering and business constraints, prioritize users in light of business goals, and defend design decisions to stakeholders. Some of the many lessons I learned:

Small interactions require a lot of intention and thought

It’s easier for me to think about design at a larger scale. I gravitate towards vision-thinking and my past project experiences have focused on thinking about products on a larger scale. This summer gave me the opportunity to really think about the small interactions of a seemingly small feature. I learned about just how much thought goes into the small details of a product.

User testing should change your designs

The design process is hardly linear. In my past experiences, I have focused heavily on research at the beginning rather than research (specifically, user testing) as a constant consideration. Through conducting usability testing, I learned so much more about how my designs can change and improve through allowing users to interact with it. Rather than being attached to my designs, I learned how to be dynamic and nimble, always ready to adjust for the user.

Good design is simple

In working with such a complicated user group, it was easy for me to also allow my designs to get complicated, becoming saturated with niche flows and edge cases. While complexity is inevitable, I learned that the best design decision is often the most simple one.

With the internal tools team!