Brief
Cardis Immobilier wanted us to develop an app that would allow anyone to submit information about a piece of property for sale from anywhere and at anytime. We wanted to keep the app simple and user-friendly. Our challenge was to create something that would adapt to different screen sizes and not require too much work from users.
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Study and analysis
Money money money
Cardis wanted to entice people to use their app. One way to do that was to offer people a commission on the properties they posted about on the app.
After getting a hold of the wireframes provided by Cardis, we realized that having to create an account might discourage some users from participating.
Our solution
A simple & attractive app
In order to make users feel less constrained, we let them enter all the details about the property first, with a small number of fields to compete. Photos taken on their phone can then be added directly. Users only have to create an account at the end of the operation. The account is presented as a way for them to be contacted if someone is interested in their property. To make the app visually attractive, Cardis came up with a whole set of illustrations, giving the app a friendly, welcoming feel.
Working in sprints and teams
Our client wanted the app to be produced as quickly as possible. In order to be efficient, we decided to channel all our energy and skills into short “sprints” so that we could focus completely on creating the app without getting distracted by the outside world. Isolating ourselves with this project and having our team members work closely with each other proved to be a highly successful technique.
Challenges and opportunities
- Transforming real estate terminology into everyday language. After carrying out some user tests, we realized that the public did not understand all the specialized vocabulary.
- Allowing users to enter details about their property before beginning to create an account.
Technology
iOS
In order to be produced on the Apple and Google stores, the app needed to be “native”. Since the deadline was relatively short, we decided to work with the Ionic framework. This is a tool that we have mastered perfectly, since it is based on technology that we work with on a daily basis.
We got our client and team to test the app using TestFlight, Apple’s Beta-testing program, which is intended for developers of their platform. It simplifies the updating process and tests on individual devices can be run more smoothly, since it uses all the regular channels. For instance, there is no need to plug in the devices or take them with you to the office.
Android
The advantage of using Ionic is that you can create cross-platform apps. After optimizing the app for Android, it was ready to be published on the Google Play Store.
Symfony 3
As for data management, the entire app is based on a backend developed with Symfony. The client can manage all entries coming in from the app and interact with the user through an internal notification system.