Buying a house is complicated, very complicated. Client Construct was an idea to develop a system to make things simpler for both the builder and the house buyer.
Buying a house is very complicated. It involves auctioneers, mortgages, lawyers, builders and subcontractors and most people are unprepared for the process. That lack of preparation is both stressful for the customer and causes costly delays for the builder. The concept of Client Construct was developed in a builder building housing developments from scratch to help customers through the process of buying and building a new house from install interest, through sale, construct, customization, snags and handing over the keys.
This is the builders status screen. From here they can see map of the estate they are developing. As you can see the houses are colour coded. White house aren't sold or built, they're empty sites. Blue houses are under construction and on schedule that can be ignored by the builder until they are ready. Yellow houses are awaiting something from the customer that is preventing progress for example deposit, documentation or final payment. And red houses are awaiting something from the builders or are behind schedule. This lets our builder see immediately that there is something wrong with the red house that needs to be sorted out.
They can also navigate from here by clicking the house and seeing the details which show details about the buyer, how the schedule is going and how this house has been customised.
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| Early Concept of the Buyer Experience |
The customers side of the system is a series of simplified steps through the house buying process. While it is a simple wizard this is the products of a lot of brainstorming with industry insiders to boil down a very complicated process that can take months to a few simple steps. This also educates the user as they go.
The first step is to allow all prospective customer to sign up, so that builder that determine sales leads and allows the customer to see when a viewing is available. It also allows the builder so see what interest there is on each house.
Once house buyers have decided they want to proceed and by the house they are encouraged to upload their documented. We found that most people are unaware of what documentation is need before buying a house and often lead to delays of up to 8 weeks.
It also allows them to see progress with their house. In consultation we found that builders were having trouble with house buyers wandering onto building sites which is both inconvenient and dangerous. The reason is understandable, a house is a huge investment but there is also a huge gap between when you buy the house and you receive your keys. The solution to this was to give the buying feedback on the process, perhaps even photos.
At the end the customer can leave a review that the builder can use to improve their service.
