UKI Investment Ally
Role: UX/UI Design
Year: 2023
UKI is a Mexican asset management office specialized in second home and land development. They want to find opportunities that will help them strengthen their business model and innovate within the real estate industry in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Background
Problem
They have been in the market for 4 years and already have inventory, yet they are not positioned. They are going through a process standardization stage.
High-level goal
A platform called UKI Investment Ally that enhances the real estate investment experience.
My impact
My part in the process was working collaboratively as part of the Kinéz Services team on:
Primary research: Conducting Interviews and identifying key findings and insights.
Conceptualization: Development of prototypes.
Final concept: Development of the final deliverable.
Primary Research
Research
It is essential to have findings that allow us to address the needs and opinions of customers. Primary research seeks to generate first-hand insights, to generate information. For the project we chose four potential users:
In-depth interviews with Millennial users.
In-depth interviews with International users.
In-depth interviews with Trend follower users.
In-depth interviews with Real Estate Brokers.
Findings
The interviews were conducted remotely, then an answer matrix was generated to have more concisely all the information, find relationships and find insights.
After having elaborated and analyzed what the interviewees told us, we developed an understanding canvas that helps us to be more precise in the findings we found within each topic of the interview.
Understanding Canvas
Traditional users:
Traditional users feel a great empathy and respect for the difficulties that the people of the community experience, since being on the hill and living their own experiences have allowed them to recognize the real difficulties of the people.
International users:
In general, they like the co-ownership model, because they buy a property with several people and it is easier for them to invest in the acquisition of other real estate.
Trend follower users:
They believe that to trust a person or business, you have to know their experience, communication has to be transparent and direct, know the owners and their history, know their track record and how well they know the market where they are looking to invest.
Real Estate Brokers:
Their clients are generally looking to invest in destinations that are booming, where there continues to be a good ROI, where there is a lot of demand and where there is more than one high season.
4 key strategic actions to be able to compete
What should we eliminate?
Frictions around investing and buying.
Bureaucracy in the purchasing processes.
Mistrust due to misinformation.
Informality and lack of professionalism.
What should we reduce?
Uncertainty regarding delivery times.
Poor perception of Tulum.
Response time to questions.
Misperception and misinformation about co-owning.
Good reputation.
Support during the purchase and post-purchase process.
Communication about ecology and environmental awareness.
Communication of the benefits of investing in Tulum.
Presence in social networks and media.
Multiple listing marketing.
Open house days.
Contact with current and former clients.
What should we increase?
What should we create?
Attractive yield projections and schemes.
Experiences adjacent to the value proposition.
Experience the product before it is finished.
Exclusive agreements with other companies in Tulum for clients (beach clubs, restaurants, golf courses, etc.).
Agreements and projects with social impact.
Rules of the game in the co-owning model.
Intermediary figure in the co-owning model.
Conceptualization
Co-creation Workshops
We conducted a collaborative session designed to generate creative ideas and respond to the guidelines previously established during the research phase.
A total of 123 guidelines were answered, reaching 740 responses.
Prioritization of ideas
In the prioritization stage, we mapped the ideas on a Cartesian plane with feasibility and desirability axes, it was crucial to evaluate and rank the proposals generated in the ideation workshop.
The feasibility dimension reflected the technical and operational feasibility of implementing each idea, while the desirability dimension represented the degree of value perceived by users and other stakeholders.
By mapping each idea on this plane, we were able to identify strategic opportunities by focusing on those proposals that were located at the optimal intersection between feasibility and desirability.
Conceptualizing proposals
By selecting and focusing on the ideas best positioned in terms of feasibility and desirability, we used the "Concept Cards" framework to further develop four solution concepts. This framework provides a structured framework for defining key elements of each concept, including the identified problem, value proposition, target audience and potential success metrics.
Concept 1
Digital platform that simplifies real estate investing through comparison tools, flexible subscriptions, and quality content for millennial investors.
Features
Present yields and financing
Compare UKI properties with the competition.
Compare financing options
Present and compare different projects
Personalized and close attending (link with brokers).
Curated content, blogs, newsletters, reports.
Wireframes
Concept 2
Follow-up and step-by-step guide to the acquisition of property
Information in several languages
Customer service and a network of specialized agents who will provide personalized advice
Curated content, blogs, newsletters, reports, etc.
Represent the different co-ownership options and flexible payment schemes.
Property status (maintenance, occupancy and financial performance)
Digital platform that offers international clients a complete and transparent experience in their property investment. Unifying platform of processes.
Features
Wireframes
Concept 3
Network designed to connect brokers and provide them with valuable resources, such as training tools, access to detailed information about projects, properties and clients all in one integrated platform.
Features
Customer service hotline
All the information about projects to be able to communicate it to your clients.
Guides and documents to share with clients.
Trainings, blogs and curated content useful for brokers
Happenings" -To know about events for brokers or for clients.
Apartment that facilitates and records sales and customer tracking
Wireframes
Concept 4
Platform that tracks your real estate investment and facilitates control.
Features
Pre-sale investment opportunities.
Apartment of updates on pre-sale properties (transparency).
Investment performance analysis
Curated content, blogs, newsletters, reports.
Wireframes
After defining the four product concepts using the Concept Card framework, we moved on to the digital prototyping phase (the prototypes were designed with the visual identity that UKI Your Friendly Development Group already has). This step allowed us to transform our ideas into tangible experiences that we could present to potential users. This digital prototyping approach not only facilitated the communication of our ideas, but also allowed us to receive direct feedback from users before moving forward with the final development.
We crafted one presentation per concept using a "rocket pitch" structure, providing essential information efficiently and effectively. Each presentation highlighted the unique value proposition of each concept, the problem it addressed, the proposed solution and the target audience.
Concept proposals
Feedback
Expand and strengthen the newsletter and education section.
Promote the performance presentation section.
Give the user the possibility to make operations within the app.
Dashboards are an important focus.
Transparent display of important information.
Once again, we reunited with the users to present these prototype concepts and listen to their feedback and thoughts. We narrowed down the key insights in another Understanding Canvas:
UKI Investment Ally is a platform dedicated to enhance the real estate investment experience. It’s commitment is not limited to the purchase of a property; but to a journey from initial exploration to ongoing management of an investment.
Final Concept
The platform reduces uncertainty when buying and investing. It streamlines the sale and communication between users and real estate agents plus, portrays recommendation of UKI properties.
We designed two functions within the platform, one function for any type of investors and one function for Real Estate Brokers.
Clear information about earnings and financing.
Full transparency on invested properties.
Property of options comparison.
Personalized advice at every stage.
Informative and relevant content.
Global and multilingual for all profiles.
UKI Investment Ally for clients features:
UKI Investment Ally for Brokers features:
Relevant Real Estate document library.
Valuable resources for Brokers.
Events and happenings
UKI Investment Ally for clients
UKI Investment Ally for Brokers
