Burrow

Burrow is an app that helps the user find a property to either rent or buy. A user can also list his/her property for long term renting or for sale in the app.

Burrow aims to be the go-to platform of both users and agents, experienced and inexperienced in the realm of real estate, in their property and client search by servicing them with a platform that values the security of the users and is uncomplicated to use.

The design process used in the creation of this app is the BASIC UX. The framework’s primary aim is to put the overall user experience of the product at the forefront. The BASIC UX framework is an acronym that stands for Beauty, Accessibility, Simplicity, Intuitiveness, and Consistency.

Q: Is it aesthetically pleasing?

During the design phase, I opted for two toned colors to be used in the app so that the colors wouldn’t cancel out the photos of the properties on the listings. Using only two toned colors on a heavily photo-embedded interface would be easy on the eyes for the users to look at.

Q: Can ‘everyone’ use it?

One design feature that was thought out carefully is the iconography used in the app. These icons symbolize actions that a user has the option to make in the app. It’s imperative that these icons are intuitive for the users to easily understand and use the application efficiently.

The icons were designed with influence from Google’s Material Design System.

Q: Does it make life easier?

The functionalities within the app were designed to be straightforward to only do what it’s expected to do, devoid of clutter. This is to reduce workload for the user to make the app user-friendly and easy to use.

For example, in the listing page, the only action a client can do is to contact the agent if he/she wants to find more about the listing or wants to see the property in person. A suggestion of adding a ‘Tour Scheduling’ feature in the app in its next iteration can be considered but will still need research before implementing.

Q: Is it easy to learn?

While one of this application’s objectives is for it to be used by the users regardless of their familiarity with technology, the application’s intuitiveness was designed against the backdrop of a user’s experience with his/her use of other technologies such as an application, and/or other technology currently available; hence, the use of Google’s Material Design System which is widely used across different apps nowadays.

Basing the intuitiveness of this application from previous experiences of the users in other technologies would minimize the learning curve of the user in using the app without much effort, thus making the app easy to use.

Q: Does it match the system?

Consistency is maintained in the application’s design beginning with most of its interfaces being identical to other screens/interfaces in the app to develop a sense of belongingness.

The use of colors throughout the application and brand placements are consistent to develop a sense of branding of the application.