Eric Mistrazzoso
Home Configurator
A digital solution for the real estate market that provides a frictionless experience to inform and guide users, turning them into better pre-qualified leads for the sales team.
The product
Creating the main product of HOM, my Startup
I led the design and development of this new B2B/B2C tool, shipping it in 2023 and driving a +44% conversion and a -39% cost per qualified lead for my client.
My Role
Product Designer & Co-Founder
I oversaw UX, product strategy, and business alignment for the project.
My Team
Internal & External Collaboration
I led a three-person internal team that included a software engineer and a QA tester, collaborating with key stakeholders including the client’s real estate marketing strategist, sales team, and a web agency partner.
Tools
Product Delivery - Unreal Engine
Quantitative Research - Google Analytics
Visual Design - Photoshop
Operational Efficiency - CRM & Zapier
Home Configurator
Inside the design process of this case study
Problem
The real estate funnel is broken
In Italy, real estate funnels are outdated and ignore user needs (generic ads, missing critical info, poor lead quality). This process is expensive and misleads the definition of what a real pre-qualified lead is.
Challenge
Design a tool for users & stakeholders
How to streamlines the real estate funnel providing users with a frictionless experience while ensuring an easy implementation for business stakeholders.
Insights & Strategy
Deep-dive market analysis
I began with a deep-dive market analysis to understand the Italian real estate landscape.
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I went undercover as a potential buyer.
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Personally navigating the funnels of every major company.
This hands-on guerrilla research allowed me to experience the current user journey and directly identify critical pain points and business bottlenecks.
User Pain Points
A frustrating, inefficient journey
Lack of transparency
Users are unable to access critical information online, forcing them to rely on sales teams for basic details.
Wasted time
The user journey is highly inefficient, often forcing into time-consuming meetings only to discover the property isn't a good fit.
One-way communication
Users feel ignored and frustrated when their questions on social media are met with canned responses or are outright deleted.
Business Pain Points
A funnel of wasted resources
Ineffective qualification
Operators are dedicating valuable time and resources to meeting with unqualified leads, causing a bottleneck in the sales funnel.
Operational inefficiency
The sales process is heavily reliant on manual, time-consuming interactions, leading to high costs and a slow cycle.
Loss of qualified leads
The inefficient funnel causes long wait times and delays for qualified buyers, in favor of faster or more responsive competitors.
Change the User Flow
Building a better journey
Replace the outdated funnel with a comprehensive digital tool that educates and empowers the user by providing all necessary information up front. This highly informative process naturally filters out unqualified leads, so the sales team only meets with people who are already highly engaged.
Old way
New way
Information
Generic ads, landing page and a blank form.
A tool that provides all the informations about the project down to the last minute detail.
Effort
High friction. Users are forced to wait for a physical meeting just to get basic information.
Frictionless. Users can self-serve and get all the information they need from home.
Outcome
Low-quality leads. The sales team wastes time on people who aren't a good fit.
Highly qualified leads. The sales team only meets with people who are almost ready to buy.
First Iteration
Designing the digital solution
Design a comprehensive digital tool with 5 core functions to replace the outdated funnel. The user journey begins with highly informative ads that lead to this tool, which acts as a single, transparent source of truth for all project information.
Select
Discover
Explore
Customize
Evaluate
Select
A streamlined interface for users to quickly filter and select an apartment based on their needs and preferences, saving them the time and effort of physical visits.
Discover
A comprehensive overview of the project that educates them on the entire home-buying process. It addresses the user's pain point of a lack of information by demystifying the financial and legal aspects of a major purchase.
Explore
Since the properties are under construction, I created an interactive 3D tour. This allows users to explore and visualize the space as if it were already built, building a strong emotional connection to the property long before a physical visit.
Customize
A gamified customization tool that allows users to personalize every detail of their future home—from finishes to layouts. This builds a powerful emotional bond with the property and encourages users to invest their time and energy in the process.
Evaluate
A clear and itemized breakdown of the final budget, including every cost and fee. This offers total financial transparency, empowering the user to make an informed decision without the need to rely on a salesperson for basic financial details.
Usability Testing
Learning from users
I conducted both quantitative and qualitative usability testing on the first iteration of the product to find opportunities for improvement. The tests revealed some fundamental issues with my initial design.
Excessive Freedom
The extensive customization options caused users to get lost in the process and fail to complete the funnel.:
Operational inefficiency
The design relied only on gestures common in the game industry. I found that I designed for a user like myself, not for the target audience.
Loss of qualified leads
Some core screens had fundamental accessibility issues that prevented certain users from completing key tasks.
Second Iteration
A simpler, smarter solution
I made the key decision to simplify the experience with a single feature that would address all three problems. I designed and implemented Chloe, an interactive onboarding structure that gives the user the feeling of a personal assistant. A set of timed and pre-recorded voice and text prompts guides the user through the tool and makes a complex process feel simple and intuitive.
Excessive Freedom
Solved
By transforming the information architecture from hierarchical to sequential, Chloe ensured users no longer got lost in overwhelming options, guiding them through the funnel from start to finish.
Operational inefficiency
Solved
By gently guiding users back to the primary flow, Chloe proactively addressed technology bias. This ensured that every users can explore and appreciate the tool's full capabilities without frustration.
Accessibility Issues
Solved
By providing clear, audible voice-overs for every subsection, Chloe's design effectively mitigated accessibility issues, empowering users who struggle with on-screen text.
The final
Uncutted
Experience
Watch the video
Outcomes
New standards and business impact
My product fundamentally redefined the real estate funnel, proving that quality and engagement are far more valuable than a high volume of generic leads.
1
A new definition of a pre-qualified lead
The most significant change was in the quality of the leads. I solved it by creating a new standard for what a pre-qualified lead is.
How it was before
A pre-qualified lead was simply a person who filled out a form with their name, phone number, and email.
The salesperson had no information to go on, and the lead could be completely unqualified, wasting everyone's time.
How became after
My solution empowered users to share valuable information about their needs, including:
Budget, age, zone, type of home, if they were investors, The specific layout, floor, and apartment they want, a preferred date to meet the salesperson and if they would be bringing someone to help them decide.
This is the kind of detail that creates a significant advantage for the sales team.
2
A massive increase in meeting conversion
By qualifying the leads more effectively, the design drove an increase in the conversion rate from a lead to a booked meeting.
How it was before
The average meeting conversion rate for a real estate campaign in the old process was a 14%.
The sales team was dedicating valuable time to leads who were not serious buyers.
How became after
After implementing my solution, the conversion rate skyrocketed to 68%.
The sales team was now spending its time on highly engaged, fully informed users who were ready to make a decision.
3
A 39% reduction in cost
My product didn't just improve efficiency; it had a direct impact on the company's bottom line. By creating a more intentional user journey.
How it was before
The cost per qualified lead was €262.
How became after
After implementing my solution, the cost per qualified lead dropped to just €160, a 39% reduction in cost.
4
A highly loved product
My product went beyond its primary business goals to create a new, positive experience that users enjoyed and found genuinely useful.
How it was before
The brand's social media engagement was characterized by templated responses or a lack of follow-up, which generated considerable user frustration.
Following form submission, the user journey terminated prematurely, resulting in a perceived transactional and impersonal interaction.
How became after
The product delivered such a positive and engaging user experience that it garnered exceptional user loyalty.
Users emailed my team, requesting continued access even after meeting with a salesperson, powerfully demonstrating high product stickiness and user delight.
What I learned
The need for a Next-Generation of configurators
The need of a next gen. of configurators This project confirmed that great onboarding can be a product's main feature, and that online configurators must evolve into guided, intelligent experiences.
My next steps would be to apply this philosophy to a new project focused on the following key areas:
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Unlocking the Mobile Market
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Increasing the Total Blended Conversion Rate
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Enabling a Multi-Device Journey
I am actively applying these insights to my personal project, the Ferrari DreamBuilder, where I am exploring advanced, intelligent configurator design.