When it comes to building a tool like the Real Estate Investment Calculator, diving straight into wireframing feels productive but can lead to missteps. That’s where I found myself today. While Figma is an excellent tool for the design process, I jumped the gun by selecting it before answering a fundamental question: Will this tool be a website, a mobile app, or both?
This realization shifted my focus to a more foundational aspect of the process—understanding the users and their needs.
User Personas: The Heart of Design
Creating a user-centered design starts with stepping into the shoes of your audience. For this calculator, the primary users are real estate investors. Here’s what I’ve observed about their behaviours and preferences:
- Multitasking Professionals: Many investors use laptops with multiple tabs open, juggling spreadsheets, research, and property listings. A web-based calculator could integrate seamlessly into this workflow.
- On-the-Go Access: Real estate isn’t a desk-only business. Investors often analyze deals from their phones during site visits, meetings, or even in transit. A mobile app version would cater to this mobility.
- Dual Needs: Given these insights, it’s clear that both platforms hold value. To avoid leaving out key user groups, I’ll design for both web and mobile and gather feedback to refine the direction.
AI in Action: Building Personas and Mapping Journeys
AI has been invaluable in making this user-centered design process more efficient. Here’s how it’s shaping the project:
- Research and Segmentation: Tools like AI-powered analytics sift through massive amounts of user data, identifying patterns and trends that inform user segmentation.
- Persona Creation: With AI, I can quickly create realistic user personas that encapsulate key traits like age, experience level, and technical proficiency. These personas will serve as a guide for the design decisions.
- Journey Mapping: Platforms like MyMap.ai are invaluable for creating detailed customer journey maps. These tools allow me to visualize how real estate investors interact with technology throughout their workflows, identifying friction points and opportunities to improve their experience.
By leveraging AI and journey mapping tools, I’m not just guessing what users want—I’m basing design decisions on informed, data-driven insights.
Refining My Focus
Today’s work took a different turn than I expected. I planned to dive straight into wireframing but realized I needed to address the foundational question of platform choice first. That said, I still made progress—just in a different area.
A significant portion of my day went into exploring wireframe templates on Figma. I was amazed by the range of options available, and while it felt like only a few minutes, I ended up spending over an hour and a half researching. This exploration has helped me identify templates that align with the calculator’s vision.
What’s Next?
Here’s the roadmap for the coming days:
- Template Selection: Tomorrow, I’ll finalize the wireframe kit or template that will serve as the foundation for the calculator design.
- Wireframing Begins: With a clear understanding of the users and their needs, I’ll create wireframes for both web and mobile platforms.
- Early Feedback: These initial designs will be shared with a small group of users to validate the approach and refine the experience.
Designing for multiple platforms is challenging, but it’s the right move to ensure the calculator seamlessly integrates into the workflows of its users.
Why This Matters
Real estate investors don’t just need another tool—they need a tool that fits effortlessly into their lives. By considering their habits, behaviours, and preferences, I’m working toward a solution that isn’t just functional but genuinely useful.
Stay tuned—tomorrow, we’ll take the next step toward making this vision a reality. The journey continues!
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