LifeX is building a property management platform that allows property owners and operators create powerful workflows, and tenants to have an amazing living experience.
I played an instrumental role building the LifeX platform. This included a major revamp of the whole back office web app for property managers, accountants, operations, and marketing teams and the mobile app for tenants and facility managers. I also touched-up the LifeX visual identity and developed a visual identity for the back office web app called Felix. This allowed LifeX to align their design system, clarify the vision of the product with its next steps, and raise a small investment round of €2M to keep the operations going.
During my time, LifeX expanded to 3 new cities across Europe and reached profitability. From the product design standpoint, LifeX now has a solid foundation to scale and easily add new features in the future.
Company
Period
Jun 2021 — Nov 2022
Disciplines
Product design
UX research
Web design
Visual identity
Presentation design
Product management
Executive decision-making
Challenge
The biggest challenge we faced was revamping the entire back office web app and the mobile app to serve diverse stakeholders, including property managers, accountants, operations and marketing teams, tenants, and facility managers. This was a daunting task, considering the need to streamline workflows, improve user experience, and align the design with LifeX’s brand identity. The stakes were high, as our success would directly impact the business’s ability to scale and continue operations.
Team
Our team was extremely small, but consisted of talented individuals, and we were able to achieve what a large-scale development team would be able to do. The development team consisted of the CEO, CTO, backend engineer, frontend engineer, and myself. My role as Head of Design involved leading the product design, UX research, web design, and visual identity efforts. I also played a crucial part in product management and executive decision-making, ensuring our design vision aligned with LifeX’s strategic business goals.
Research
Our research included user interviews, competitor analysis, in-field operations testing, thinking out loud sessions, focus groups, and more. We aimed to understand the needs and pain points of property managers, tenants, and facility managers. We developed personas and mapped out customer journeys to identify critical touchpoints. This research revealed that our users needed a more intuitive interface, seamless integration of workflows, and a cohesive visual identity that resonated with LifeX’s brand.
Pain points
From our research, we identified several pain points. Property managers struggled with inefficient workflows and disjointed tools. Accountants needed better financial tracking and reporting features. Tenants desired a more user-friendly mobile app to manage their living experience. Facility managers required an integrated system to handle maintenance requests and communications. These insights provided a clear direction for our design efforts.
Ideation
To address these pain points, we brainstormed various solutions. For property managers, we envisioned a dashboard that unified all management tools in one place. For accountants, we designed detailed financial reporting modules. For tenants, we planned a mobile app with intuitive navigation and self-service features. For facility managers, we created kanban-style task tracking and a streamlined maintenance request system. We sketched out these ideas and discussed their feasibility with the team.
Validation
We validated our ideas through user testing and feedback sessions. We created low-fidelity prototypes and conducted usability tests with a select group of users. Their feedback was instrumental in refining our designs. Once we had a clear direction, we built high-fidelity prototypes and iterated based on additional user tests. This process ensured that our final designs were both functional and user-friendly.
Solution
The final design of the LifeX platform was a significant upgrade. We introduced a modern visual identity, cohesive information architecture, and improved hierarchy of navigation for the back office web app, named Felix, and revamped the mobile apps for facility managers and tenants. The new design featured a consistent color palette, intuitive navigation, and a user-friendly interface. We also developed a comprehensive style guide and UI kit to maintain design consistency across all touchpoints, and to allow the team to prototype and develop new features in no time.
Conclusion
Our efforts paid off. LifeX expanded to three new cities across Europe and achieved profitability. The revamped platform provided a solid foundation for future scalability and feature additions. Users praised the improved workflows and user experience. Personally, I learned the importance of aligning design efforts with business goals and the value of user feedback in the design process. Our work not only enhanced the user experience but also contributed to LifeX’s growth and success.
