SMART HOME &
COMMUNITY APP
A white-label SaaS application providing integrated smart solutions and an ecosystem platform to property managers and users for seamless control over community assets.
2021 - 2022
Key Areas of Focus:
Client Relationship management, project management, agile Design Thinking approach, UX Design, Internal & external communications, budgeting
Workflow
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Communicate with clients and define the challenge
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Empathize with users and investors
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Personas & Journey Mapping
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IA and wire-framing
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Re-iterate designs from feedback (Agile framework)
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Create clickable prototype (MVP)
Introduction
Advanced Velocity is a startup company based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that offers customized automation & integration solutions to commercial and residential property users. We cover multiple industries such as:
IoT, Tech & IT and PropTech. I joined the company in its startup phase. I worked on multiple projects simultaneously. Here I give insight to our main focus which was to provide an intuitive user experience for residential and commercial property users in the form of our customizable app. I used both Agile and Lean UX practices and project managment to guide the team at various stages of the project.
In the discovery phase we understood that our users needed two different apps.
RESIDENTIAL SOLUTION:
The first is a residential app for home users, as shown in the mockup below. This app includes features that allow users to:
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Easily control home devices from anywhere
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Automate experiences or scenes for every room and space in the home
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Monitor and receive real-time insight into how much energy they use
COMMERCIAL SOLUTION & MVP
The second is a community app providing ecosystem services to people working in the same commercial space or hub.
In the design phase I relied more on lean methodologies to focus on creating a functional MVP to show some of the features and customizable services that we could offer. It was really important during this phase to regularly communicate with our clients and constantly reiterated designs based on the feedback we received.
Eventually we were able to propose the following modular eco-system that allows users to integrate the 360° services available to occupiers, visitors, front-of-desk, facilities, building managers and engineers. Some of these services allowed users to:
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connect with their workplace,
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book meeting rooms,
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attend events,
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enjoy loyalty promotions and many more
Below you can see more of the customizable services that could be offered:
Below is a mockup of the Visitor Management System (VMS) we included in our mvp. This is a white-lable solution with minimal design so the client can envision their own logo and branding.
After many iterations I decided that the mvp needed a new look. As most of our clients were from upper income group and living in impressive real estate our product had to appear more luxurious and with my knowledge in design we redesigned the mvp to the darker, cleaner style you see at the beginning of this page.
Challenges & Obstacles
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Limited resources (especially financial) slowed down a lot of the progress
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Communication issues and job roles were not clearly defined which led to problems. I solved this by creating company policies, defined job roles and responsibilities and ensured proper communication channels were in place. I also implemented the use of Kanban boards (Asana) and regular cross-functional meetings to stay updated and ensure all teams' goals were aligned.
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Cultural differences at times were challenging. For instance communication in English and politeness were an issue for some non-native workers. I stepped in by providing assistance in this area from my previous educational experiences. Especially in the form of presentation skills. I edited content and simplified the stories and presentations in pitch plans. I also performed role-playing scenarios with the team so everyone knew their areas of strength.
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Gender roles. As I was the only female in the company and also being Western some projects were challenging when dealing with male clients who preferred to speak with my male colleagues instead. I worked around this
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Language barriers. Some clients, like the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing preferred to do business only in Arabic only. Although I could not be present in these meetings I was still involved in facilitating where I could, especially with communicating with the team what content should be edited and presented. I also held regular meetings to stay updated with the project progress.
Mockup
Branding: Logo re-design
Web Design Mockups
