Key Business Problem

Flyhomes faced a critical business challenge: 62% of qualified leads abandoned the platform before completing their first home search or tour. Analytics showed decent top-of-funnel conversion rates, but these gains evaporated during activation.

Furthermore, our home search experience, a key activity of homebuyers, was only engaged with by 11% of traffic.

Key Study Goals:

Determine causes driving low search engagement (our key feature)
Track the onboarding journey and identify drivers of high user abandonment
Collaborate with stakeholders, providing recommendations on how to drive engagement via triangulated data.

Key Insights

The defining “oh $hit” moment came during usability testing when almost every participant didn’t realize they could even search for homes on our website: “Why are they hiding the home search? I just want to browse like on Zillow!”

Less than a quarter of tested users noticed the search icon on the top-right corner, and those that did, thought it was a database search.

Additionally, I also discovered that excessive communication and a long activation process was pushing new users away, further complicating matters.

Increased

Homepage Engagement

+60%

Through the provision of strategic insights and post-study collaboration, we orchestrated a comprehensive rebrand and website redesign that prioritized search functionality as the cornerstone of our user experience. This multifaceted initiative involved close coordination with cross-functional teams, including product development, marketing, brand management, and our creative design department.

I ReduceD Comms

by 30%,

IncreaseD booked calls +30%,

Activation Rates +20%,

SMS open rates +60%,

Lost leads sMS by

+359%.

We spearheaded cross-functional collaboration among lifecycle marketing, product marketing, and sales teams for both English and Mandarin markets. Guided by my custom-designed customer journey map, we leveraged data-driven insights to develop and implement new strategies. This resulted in more resonant content creation and optimized communication cadence, validated through rigorous experimentation.

Embedded Team Structure

I Made UX Research a Team Sport

By looping stakeholders into the process from beginning to end, via 1:1s, group meetings, and participant viewing invites, I was able to build alignment throughout the process.

I also broke silos to ensure research drove a holistic impact across design, lifecycle marketing, our sales teams, and brand.

Customer Quotes (Phase One)

“I think if they lead with letting me browse instead of contacting me over and over, I would have been happier upfront.”

“This search looks like a database search, not a home search bar.”

“Nothing important should ever be more than two clicks away…”

“There was a lot… When I first signed up, I felt like I was getting a ton [of emails].”

Themes (Phase One)

Overlooked Functionality
Outreach Frequency

Our Response (Phase One)

Collaborated on a new content strategy that prioritized search visibility, deep product education, and ensuring every communication delivered clear value to the customer. Additionally, I introduced a customer journey map to clarify who was sending what and when, optimizing sequencing and cadence to reduce communication overload.

Finally, we redesigned the homepage to make search the focal point of the experience, which prompted me to initiate a second round of research to test various design options based on observational and attitudinal feedback.

My Approach

Determine Key Questions ➡ Learn ➡ Iterate ➡ Learn ➡ Launch

Conducted stakeholder interviews to understand the problem space, time constraints, and key assumptions.
Hosted a kickoff meeting to align stakeholders and establish a clear communication plan.
Presented various study options, provided expert recommendations, and collaborated with the team to determine the best approach.

Phase 01

Mapping and improving new user onboarding.

Designed a diary study with pre- and post-interviews to track user sentiment and goals.
Conducted walk-the-store interviews to analyze first impressions and optimize the onboarding journey.
Introduced “break-up letters” to understand why users left and identify improvement opportunities.

Phase 02

Evaluating rebranded website engagement and feedback.

Conducted a walk-the-store study to gather qualitative insights on rebranded website prototypes.
Ran A/B tests to compare engagement across different versions.
Identified the most effective design for driving user interaction.

What did I learn?

Strategic Stakeholder Involvement – While it’s important to engage key stakeholders, involving too many people in every meeting can slow down decision-making. I addressed this by limiting attendance in follow-ups and selectively inviting relevant stakeholders to research sessions and readouts.
Tailoring Insights for Different Teams – Different teams have unique communication styles and preferences. For example, marketing preferred a dedicated report for deeper collaboration, while other teams benefited from targeted readouts. Adapting how insights were shared improved engagement and actionability.

Our Next Steps

During Phase Two, I tested various homepage design & brand content, as well as messaging, as part of a rebrand.

The following highlight reel has been approved to share and outlines part of the approach I took for phase two, as well as my communication style.

My colleague’s face has been hidden as an additional privacy measure, based on her request.