Project Overview
During my last semester in my design program, I was given the task to learn the art of service design. I arranged a dedicated team and decided to focus on the real estate company FivePoint Valencia, and aimed to redesign their self-guided tour targeted to homebuyers. Let’s jump right into what we did.
Project Details
Time Frame:
3 Months
Team:
Tools:
Figma
Welcome to Fivepoint Valencia
FivePoint Valencia is a vibrant residential community nestled in the heart of Valencia, California. Boasting an array of recreational facilities, lush parks, and convenient access to retail and dining areas, Fivepoint Valencia embodies a blend of suburban peace and urban convenience. For home buyers, people are able to amke appointments for self-guided tours of model homes being showcased. However, we learned that the self-guided tours are missing key components such as interactive features and vital home information. So we asked ourselves, how can we make these tours better?
My Personal Connection With Fivepoint
Since my freshman year in college, I've been committed to shooting event photography for FivePoint Valencia. Over time, I've cultivated meaningful connections and developed a profound understanding of the vibrant community that FivePoint has nurtured. I feel extremely grateful to have FivePoint as my focal point for this project, leveraging my familiarity and affinity with the community to delve deeper into its marketing strategy and what makes a neighborly community strong.
My Role
I led my team in research and design practice on redesigning Fivepoint's Self-guided tour experience. I overlooked the design choices, research, and features within the experience.
Problem
FivePoint Valencia seeks to embrace community and culture for all. There is tons of history, culture, and popular attractions in the area that can be expressed through FivePoint. However, when people enter the self-guided tour, they are missing these key aspects. Feedback from residents have been taken into account and have said the following:
Without a dedicated tour guide, accessing this information becomes more challenging. Fivepoint Valencia is situated in a culturally vibrant area, offering ample opportunities to engage customers with relevant information.
This led us asking the ultimate question: How might we recognize Santa Clarita's rich history while providing homebuyers with more engaging experience during their FivePoint home tour?
Our Proposal
To solve this, Homebuyers will be delighted with a new AR Companion to enhance the self-guided tours at FivePoint. This experience utilizes AR cards placed around the house to offer details about the property, its amenities, and the environment around it. With this, young families and first time homebuyers will enjoy this experience learning about their new potential home and city.
Creating A Storyboard
We went in and created storyboards to how we wanted to implement new features to the experience. Because the homebuyers already use their cell phones to access the homes, we figured we could implement a digital experience into the tour. We brainstormed with the possibility of using augmented reality. After receiving feedback, we went ahead and proceeded with the idea.
User Journey Blueprint
A user journey blueprint was then created to better identify the process of what the homebuyer would experience with the new feature. As a team, we gathered insights based on what people expect from the original self-guided tour to seek out painpoints, special moments, and areas of opportunity. We then recreate a new blueprint with our digital experience.
Adding content to the journey map
User journey content we gathered
User journey with our new experience
Competitive Analysis
Moving into the space of augmented reality, we decided to take a look at how other real estate oriented AR apps compete. We looked at Houzz, MagicPlan, Zillow 3D Home, and ARLOOP which all utilize AR. Each app has distinct features that assist homebuyers in interacting with their spaces.
Final Mockups and Concept
With Five Point's new tour, we emphasize community engagement by showcasing AR features through virtual staging and mapping key area points. Our approach integrates artifacts and QR codes to provide historical and local information, enriching FivePoint’s self-tour experience.
Onboarding
As visitors enter the property, they're immersed in Five Points' new AR tour. With a scan of a QR code it launches the AR experience. Customers are asked to enter their contact information so that they could later be reached out and receive a coupon to a local restaurant. Once entered, they receive a welcome message regarding the AR Experience.
Main Features
After receiving the welcome message, they are introduced to the AR experience. The screen is made minimal, allowing full view of the scene.
AR Cards
The physical cards are made to complement the AR experience, inspiring users to interact with the space.
Unique Interactions
The physical artifacts and Pop-ups inside and outside the home offer info from house dimensions to community information. Navigating the home, users discover touchpoints and artifacts that reveal information about the home and area. Along with the artifacts, Interactivity includes additional information on school and amenities like restaurants and activities.
Why Is This Necessary?
The reasoning for this direction with our design is that we noticed that there is a quality and quantity of information that drops when people are viewing homes without an available info person present. They are able to present data regarding the community, school districts, and answer questions that might not be readily available. Along with replenishing flyers and pamphlets at the home. With our design, it assures that the quality and quantity of information is static among all homes.
What's Next?
Success is defined by user engagement and sharing. Visitors interact with the AR guide to learn about FivePoint, enhancing their experience and promoting the community. Whether seeing signage walking around or planning ahead of time, users scan, document, and share their tours, extending the AR experience's reach beyond Santa Clarita.
What We Recommend
We recommend that FivePoint invests in this design as it will streamline the customer experience regardless of the home and location they are selling. With this experience, it can elevate promotion efforts with users sharing their experience, offer accessible information to those looking know more about the property and community, and can facilitate interactive experiences in the home buying process.
