Designing the PLANIX Mobile App
Enhancing the User Experience for 3D Virtual Tours and Seamless Real Estate Capture Experiences
Product
PLANIX Mobile App
Platforms
iOS & Android
My Role
UX Research, Interaction & Visual Design
Timeline
4 months
Overview
As Senior Product Designer at Planitar Inc., I led the end-to-end design of PLANIX, a consumer-facing mobile app launched in 2024 to revolutionize real estate capture and visualization. My goal was to create an intuitive, accessible, and scalable app for thousands of photographers across Android, iOS, and web platforms, to seamlessly capture a property for exploration by real estate professionals and homebuyers.
Background & Problem Statement
In today's real estate market, homebuyers have come to expect an immersive virtual property experience before visiting in-person. Virtual tours have become an essential tool for real estate agents and photographers to showcase property features, offering clients a more engaging and time-saving alternative.
However, Real estate photographers faced fragmented experiences when capturing a property for 3D virtual tours and floor plans. Existing solutions suffered from complex navigation, inconsistent web-mobile integration, and poor accessibility, leading to user frustration and low engagement. The challenge was to design a unified, user-centered app that scaled across platforms while meeting diverse user needs.
Project Process
User Research
Conducted interviews with 100+ real estate agents and homebuyers to identify pain points, such as slow load times and unintuitive navigation. Synthesized findings into personas and journey maps.
Wireframing
Created low-fidelity wireframes in Figma, iterating based on feedback from 50 users in A/B testing sessions to optimize flow simplicity.
Prototyping
Developed high-fidelity prototypes in Figma, focusing on microinteractions (e.g., swipe gestures for 3D tours) and responsive layouts for mobile and web.
Accessibility Testing
Ensured WCAG 2.1 compliance through color contrast analysis, screen reader compatibility, and keyboard navigation tests with 20 diverse users.
Key Challenges Identified
Complicated Capture Process
Users had to manually connect to the camera using an IP address via a web service, making the process unintuitive. Many users abandoned the process before completing their first virtual tour, leading to a 25% drop-off rate.
Fragmented Workflow
The capture process required multiple disconnected steps: capture via web, download to computer, process with proprietary software, then upload separately. This discontinuity increased user frustration.
Poor Onboarding Experience
Most users struggled with the initial camera setup and often had to contact customer support before completing their first tour. The lack of guided onboarding left new users confused.
Design Solutions & Improvements
Simplified Camera Connection
Before:
Users had to find and enter an IP address manually to connect. Many abandoned the process due to connection failures.
Solution:
Implemented automatic camera detection & connection within the app. Removed manual IP entry, enabling one-tap pairing similar to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connections.
Solution 1
Integrated Processing Workflow
Before:
Users had to process images separately using external software (Stitch).
Solution:
Processing was integrated directly into the mobile app. Created a progress tracker for real-time updates on processing status.
Solution 2
One-Tap Publishing
Before:
After processing, users had to manually upload their tours.
Solution:
Implemented direct publishing from the mobile app. Added a preview feature to review tours before publishing.
Solution 3
Final Outcome & Impact
The redesigned PLANIX Mobile App significantly improved the user experience by making the capture-to-publish workflow seamless, intuitive, and efficient.
Camera connection success rate (from 65%)
Increase in user retention after first use
Reduction in support tickets
Faster virtual tour completion
Conclusion
The redesigned PLANIX Mobile App successfully transformed a disjointed and complex process into a user-friendly and efficient solution. By focusing on user needs and eliminating friction points, the new PLANIX Mobile App sets a new standard for creating 3D virtual tours with ease.