Case study
(04)
© 2026
Interactive prototype
Designing a property website around how families choose a home
For a first-time homebuyer, choosing a property means more than comparing price and floor area. It means checking unfamiliar documents, listening to family, and deciding whether the place feels right.
For this realty company, we designed an interactive website prototype around those decisions, giving buyers and the people advising them more ways to understand a property before taking the next step.
Client
A realty company
Sector
Residential real estate
Market
Visakhapatnam, India
Engagement
Buyer research · Experience strategy · Website design · Interactive prototyping
The brief
Help buyers evaluate the projects, not just browse them
Our client needed a website that could bring its projects together and give each property a detailed presentation. First-time homebuyers were a key target group.
Our task was to make that presentation useful at the point of decision: helping visitors understand the home, find answers to important questions and start a better-informed conversation with our client.
The context
The person browsing is not always the only person deciding
A buyer may like a property’s location and layout while a parent wants to check its orientation. A relative abroad may be contributing to the purchase. A trusted uncle or friend may be the person the family turns to for a second opinion.
These people can influence the decision without attending the same site visit, or seeing the same information.
What we found
For a first-time buyer, there is another difficulty: knowing what to ask. Attractive renders can show a finished home, but they cannot explain which documents to request or resolve concerns about construction quality.
We mapped these questions across the buying journey, from the initial search and family discussions through property visits, due diligence and possession. That gave us a way to decide what the website should help buyers do at each stage.
The journey map used to examine the stages, questions and people involved in a home purchase. Illustrative journey map used for planning; not a statistical study.
Our insight
Help the whole household reach an informed decision
The website could become a shared reference for the purchase: somewhere buyers could return to, send to family and use to prepare their questions. That meant designing for more than discovery and enquiry. We also needed to support cultural preferences, make unfamiliar information easier to understand and help people assess a property from a distance.
The design decisions
01
Make room for the beliefs that influence the purchase
The buyer’s concern
For households that follow Vastu or choose auspicious dates, a property’s orientation and the timing of a milestone can be part of deciding whether, and when, to proceed. These considerations can also surface when parents or other family members review the purchase.
Our response
We included Vastu guidance in the buyer’s guide and a dedicated section for auspicious dates. They address two separate questions: whether a home fits the household’s preferences, and when the family would feel comfortable taking the next step.
Why it belongs on the website
These are questions some buyers already bring to the purchase. Acknowledging them makes the experience more relevant and gives the family something concrete to discuss. The guidance supports their preferences; it does not promise prosperity or certify a property as suitable for every interpretation of Vastu.
Two distinct considerations: the home’s suitability and the family’s preferred timing. Prototype screens.
02
Give first-time buyers a clearer starting point
The buyer’s concern
When the process is unfamiliar, buyers may not know which documents to ask for, what different terms mean or which questions deserve an independent professional’s attention.
Our response
We created a homebuyer’s guide with a key-document checklist and explanations of the purchase process. It gives buyers a structured way to prepare for conversations with the developer and their advisers.
Why it belongs on the website
Trust is easier to build when people can examine information and ask informed questions. The guide makes that possible without requiring a sales call for every basic answer. It is a starting point for due diligence, not a substitute for independent legal or technical advice.
A document checklist gives first-time buyers a starting point for their questions. Prototype screen.
03
Let the people advising the buyer explore the property too
The buyer’s concern
A relative funding the purchase from abroad, or a trusted friend offering advice, may have to form an opinion from forwarded photographs and a brief description. Important details can be difficult to explain second-hand.
Our response
We brought a guided virtual tour together with floor plans and project information. Buyers can share the property page so that others have a common reference when discussing the home.
Why it belongs on the website
The experience is intended to make remote participation more useful: helping people understand the layout, identify questions and contribute to the conversation before a visit. It supports evaluation; a virtual tour cannot establish construction quality or replace a physical inspection.
A shared view of the property for buyers and the people advising them. Prototype screens.
04
Answer quality concerns with evidence that can be examined
The buyer’s concern
Someone advising the buyer may reasonably ask whether the finished construction matches the presentation. More polished marketing does not answer that question.
Our proposed next step
We identified an opportunity to include genuine third-party inspection reports, including reports commissioned by buyers who agree to share them. Each report would need to identify the property inspected, the date, the inspector and the scope of the assessment.
Why it belongs in the experience
Independent evidence would give buyers and their advisers something specific to assess. A report on one home would be presented as evidence about that home, not as proof that every unit or project has the same condition.
Status: proposed addition. Inspection reports are not currently included in the prototype.
Proposed addition. No inspection report is shown here because none is part of the prototype yet.
05
Help buyers picture the community around the home
The buyer’s concern
A home is also a place among other people. Alongside the layout and location, buyers may want a sense of who lives in the community and whether they can imagine belonging there.
Our response
We introduced a short “get to know your neighbours” line in the property experience. The concept uses broad, voluntarily shared resident information to make the community more tangible.
Why it belongs on the website
It adds a human dimension to a page otherwise dominated by the building. A resident’s profession may be a point of familiarity for some buyers, but it should not be presented as a measure of anyone’s worth, a promise of assistance or a guarantee of a desirable community.
Status: the prototype uses sample profiles. Any published resident information would require verification and consent.
Community information concept. Resident profiles shown are illustrative.
What we did
From buyer questions to design decisions
01
Foundation: understand the decision
We mapped the homebuying journey, considered the people involved and studied property websites across India and international markets. The focus was on the questions, uncertainties and moments of reassurance that could shape the experience.
02
Synthesis: choose what the website should help with
We connected those observations to specific needs: understanding the process, involving family, checking suitability and assessing evidence. These needs guided the recommendations rather than adding interactions simply for novelty.
03
Build: make the recommendations tangible
We developed connected interactive prototypes, bringing project discovery, property exploration and buyer guidance into a coherent experience that can be reviewed before production.
What this case demonstrates
The value is in choosing what deserves to be on the website
Each element has a role. Vastu guidance and dates recognise relevant cultural preferences. The buyer’s guide helps people prepare. The virtual tour gives distant decision-makers a shared reference. The proposed inspection reports would support scrutiny. Community information adds a view of life beyond the floor plan.
Together, these decisions show how we translate an understanding of the buyer into a website’s content and interactions. The aim is to help people evaluate the property with greater confidence and take a considered next step.