Designing to build trust with real estate investors
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Project Brief
Aptitude Development is a real-estate development company specializing in student housing. The principals have a wide range of experience and have a combined experience totaling more than $1 Billion in development and transactions.
My role was the UX Designer and Webflow Developer. I collaborated with a project manager, graphic designer, and Senior VP of Operations and Strategy at Poetic.
Aptitude's existing website failed to capture the essence of their successful projects and qualifications, hindering their ability to attract new investor sign-ups. The goal was to provide Aptitude with a new brand direction and design a user-centric website that showcases their impressive track record and entices high-net-worth individuals to explore investment opportunities with Aptitude.
Our deliverables were: a brand guide and an interactive website. The new website showcases Aptitude's brand values and instills confidence and trust in potential investors.
Competitive Analysis
Our team used Miro to complete our competitive analysis. We identified Ris48 Equity and HLC Equity as Aptitude's main competitors. We created an affinity map to analyze Aptitude's offerings and how they stand out from these competitors. A main finding was that Aptitude offers direct access to deals, which differentiates them from a typical fund.
User Persona
Based on our research findings, we created a user persona that exemplifies Aptitude's primary audience, high-net-worth individuals. This person earns at least $500k per year and wants to diversify their investment portfolio with a tailored solution.
Site Map
We created a site map to hone in on the users journey through the site and consider the information hierarchy of each page. We defined the sections required on each page, and identified the main goals of each page. The copy was written through a collaboration with the VP of Operations and Strategy and the design team.
Branding
We defined Aptitude's brand voice as a compelling blend of professionalism, innovation, and scrappy entrepreneurial spirit. Aptitude stands out in the real estate industry with their personable approach, with a tone that reflects competence and modernity. Overall, they convey confidence in their real estate development abilities while maintaining an authentic and approachable demeanor.
Wireframes
I used our in-depth strategy deck to wireframe the user journey of the site. I designed components that could be re-purposed thoughtfully throughout the site to ensure that the website feels cohesive and consistent. Because this is a real-estate development firm, I utilized hero sections with full width images to showcase Aptitude's proven results. All feedback on the site structure and copy was addressed during the wireframe stage.
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Mockups
I used the brand guide to inform my visual design direction as I moved into high-fidelity mockups. I aimed for a clean, minimal UI design that will come to life with interactions in the Webflow stage.
Webflow Development
I follow Finsweet client-first guidelines when developing in Webflow with the goal of a lightweight build that loads quickly. Once the basic site is built, I bring the website to life with interactions that will keep users engaged. View the live site here.
Key Takeaways
Having time allocated for in-depth competitive analysis and UX strategy made the UX design process flow smoothly with minor stakeholder feedback.
As much of the team was collaborating from different time zones, we tended to communicate asynchronously via Slack.
Utilizing tools such as Miro to brainstorm, and Figma's comment feature, helped our team quickly iterate without wasting time on endless emails.
While there was minimal instruction on the Webflow direction, I find that investing time into thoughtful motion design on each project results in greater client satisfaction.