Quotes

Problem

Our platform connects homeowners with home service providers, but users struggled to understand interior decoration options, make home improvement decisions, and interpret quote data from providers. My product team and I worked to clarify this information and improve the user experience

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Highlights

This project began as an environment for homeowners and service providers to interact. A standout feature that improved satisfaction and fostered effective relationships was the floor planner tool, designed to facilitate the accurate transmission of information remotely and virtually.

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Background → Context

Understanding the context

Direct collaboration with key contributors allowed for in-depth understanding of user hurdles (Homeowners & Service providers) and potential opportunities for business growth, pushing this venture ahead. Here are my primary observations:

Interactions included instant messaging to share ideas, images, videos and share Pinterest boards
Home owners already had access to a large directory of service providers (SP)
Service Providers wanted to share their portfolio, ideas, recent projects

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Research → Interviews

How important are these factors in your relationship with clients?

From the survey, we learned that an increasing number of users (both Home owners and Service Providers) care about clear communication, a modicum of self service, and flexibility of creation. It's not solely about communication and images. I also partnered with a researcher who conducted 60-minute moderated interviews with 12 deliberately selected participants; Homeowners of different walks of life and service providers of varying skill level and experience. Here’re the key takeaways:

Most participants indicated that they seek design information through the quotes digital tool, although extracting this information from instant messaging is currently usable. However, accurate and pinpoint information leads to frequent back and forth between both parties.
Both participant groups consistently rated creativity and self service as top priorities in their preferred interaction.
Participants were asked if they sought visual information during interaction with Service Providers and Homeowners

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Define → Strategy

Strategy

To enhance support for our user groups, I led an alignment workshop with key stakeholders to develop user-centred strategies aimed at improving outcomes.

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Design → Lo-Fi

Ideation

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Exploration

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Evaluative Research→User Testing

Testing 123...

I wanted to evaluate whether the floor planner effectively helped homeowners translate interior decoration and home improvement ideas into clear, structured inputs that service providers could confidently use to generate quotes. The goal of this research was to assess how well the tool reduced ambiguity around scope, layout, and decision-making across both sides of the experience.

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User testing

The goal of this research was to assess how well the tool reduced ambiguity around scope, layout, and decision-making across both sides of the experience.

Takeaway

Most homeowners immediately understood the floor planner as a way to visually communicate intent, particularly around room layout and spatial context
Several homeowners assumed that design decisions made in the floor planner would directly influence quote accuracy, even when pricing logic was not yet explicit
Service providers found the visual layout helpful but noted gaps in contextual data, such as assumptions around materials, finishes, and exclusions
Both groups expressed a need for clearer signals showing how floor plan inputs translated into quote-level data

"This makes it easier to explain what I want without writing everything out. But I'm still guessing how much of this actually affects the quote."

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