Short-Term Rental Portal
Creating a Tax Revenue Stream
As a Product Designer, I was tasked in creating eye-catching components, interactive prototypes, and user-centric workflows for a web app that helps municipalities track revenue and compliance of Short-Term Rentals (STR).
Problem Statement
The client was looking to create a new product offering that allowed municipalities to collate local STRs, assess their compliance or permit statuses, and find tax revenue that was otherwise uncaptured. This revenue could represent millions of dollars of unrealized gains. In the era of ubiquitous Airbnbs, there was a need for software to bridge the gap between property owners and government officials.
Team Composition
1 Experience Design Executive
1 Product Designer
2+ Service Designers
8+ Stakeholders on Client Team
MY IMPACT
Led buy-in efforts, resulting in a digital transformation sale
Created foundation of an extensible design system
Generated reusable sales material for global firm
Unlocked revenue streams for municipalities
Collaborating with Cross-Functional Teams
Mentorship and Coaching
On this project I was able to mentor international Service Designers that were working on the interaction patterns and nuances of the platform; when it came to UI, I provided feedback and options for improvements.
The project began with the need to visualize the way local governments track short-term rental permits and compliance, complaints, and estimated revenue. It was a complex undertaking that required collaboration amongst cross-functional teams of designers, stakeholders, and engineers. The challenge was to create a web application that not only served the needs of government agencies but also garnered buy-in from various stakeholders, before implementation.
I was the primary designer who provided the high-fidelity mockups and prototypes that helped drive the project forward. In this line of work, occasionally there is a push from the design team to create assets that are more fanciful and less rooted in reality; due to pressures from stakeholders and executive teams. In this case, I worked on a high-level dashboard that incorporated common data points that a local government agency might encounter and designed it in a way that was “outside the box“ of their typical thinking. Many dwellings were set up as STRs, but municipalities were not receiving their cuts on earnings; getting a bird’s eye view of estimated revenue allowed them to make informed decisions on where to flex their strength.
Stakeholder Buy-In and Communications
The team recognized the importance of working cohesively to align our vision and goals, so we worked across the spectrum of building a product—from service design to feedback loops, to high-fidelity, and beyond. The success of this project hinged on our ability to bridge the gap between design, functionality, and government regulations, of which there are numerous. We began with conducting extensive research, where we dove into the unique needs of local governments and property rental operators; there were teams dedicated to working with the client and understanding the nuances of developing tools for governments.
Leveraging the insights provided from stakeholders and information garnered from the implementation of the existing portal, I was able to create interaction patterns for various screens and flows that we wanted to present, including those on a properties listing page. I designed popups, tooltips, filters and columns, and a dual-configurable display of the AG Grid table to ensure we covered various needs and aspects of end users.
Research and Innovation
Designing for an STR-based GovTech product meant having a working knowledge of the nuances of municipality permitting and regulations. To garner an understanding meant empathizing with stakeholders to understand their everyday lives in dealing with STRs.
One pivotal aspect of the project was the need for stakeholder buy-in, in the early stages, to ensure we were able to guide the team towards success. To facilitate this buy-in, I made it my early priority to give them an idea of what the final login page would look like. It turned out that we had multiple people working on options and presented more than a dozen ideas that ranged from utilizing photorealism to skeuomorphism. The login flow was a gateway to unlocking the work on the STR platform.
As we embarked on the task of creating multiple login page options–each presenting a distinct vision of the brand–the iterative design process allowed us to incorporate feedback and refine our designs until we achieved approval. We were then able to dive into the inner workings of the STR web application, starting with the dashboard.
The dashboard was an integral aspect of the interactive prototypes I created. It served as the landing point for agents to view high-level details of STRs in their jurisdiction, and view discrepancies between data points such as bookings vs. listings. All-in-all, it was a great way to consolidate information and present it in a visually appealing way.
A Dashboard for Comprehensive Insights
Central to our short-term rental web application was a high-level dashboard that would provide a holistic view of rental and listing activities, revenue generation, community impact, and compliance ratings. This dashboard was the heart of our application, offering insights and actionable data to local government authorities. We also built map interactivity into this page and the Properties flow, allowing for users to quickly view a top-down view of listed, and unlisted, properties.
Lesson Learned
I was chiefly concerned with the way that the interface looked on the dashboard and properties pages on this project; in future projects, I put more of an emphasis on leveraging the goals of the users and business, first. Aesthetics second.
Our design team worked closely with the product owners to create a visually appealing and information-rich dashboard. Through iterative prototyping and continuous feedback loops, we refined the design to ensure it met the specific needs of the user base, which mainly consisted of agents working for municipalities and counties. The dashboard became a hub where users could easily navigate and access critical information, making it an invaluable tool for local governments seeking to manage short-term rentals effectively.
I had the opportunity to work on the components, layout, and stylistic considerations of the dashboard, among a handful of other cornerstone pages. I was happy with how the components and interactions turned out.
Amongst designing tables and grids, list views were another integral view to consider in the application. We allowed the user to toggle between the grid and list view to cut down on the amount of data and visual information. This view included a side-by-side with the map, which had additional capabilities and functionalities, such as toggles for compliance and unregulated properties.
Designing for an Enhanced User Experience
To make our web application user-friendly and efficient, we introduced interactive elements that elevated the user experience and put the properties’ data within arm’s reach for government officials who were looking for trends on compliance and permits. One such element was an extensible table with filtering, searching, and sorting capabilities. The table was based on an implementation of AG Grid, which has powerful functionality that makes dealing with data more seamless. This table allowed users to quickly find and organize rental data, streamlining their decision-making process.
Cross-functional Initiatives
Considerations for implementation and feasibility are drawn from the Engineering team's experience and predisposition towards particular tools, such as AG Grid in this case.
Additionally, we incorporated an interactive map that helped identify listings geographically. This map enhanced the experience and provided municipalities with a visual representation of rental properties. Through collaborative design and development efforts, we ensured that these interactive elements were seamlessly integrated into the web application.
A mockup of my design of AG Grid based on the project and its branding, which included grouping, filtering, and data-specific sorting capabilities, far above a barebones implementation of other JS-based tables. In the demo, we set up the table to have interactivity built-in, to give a sense of what the table could do. We also included high-level statistics above the table for context.
Takeaways from Working on GovTech
My journey in designing a short-term rental web application for local governments was filled with challenges and triumphs. Working with cross-functional teams, securing buy-in through a rebrand, crafting a comprehensive dashboard, and designing interactive elements were all pivotal steps in the success of the project. Shortly after designing these workflows and creating a small mobile app to accompany the asks from the client, I became ingrained in another project and had to hand off the project to the service design team I worked with.
Process Improvement
Throughout this project, it was important to refine how design was viewed in the organization and implement smarter approaches to an iterative feedback loops to smooth it out.
One of the key takeaways from this project was the importance of collaboration and communication when designing a dashboard like this. Government agencies have unique requirements and regulations, and it's crucial to align the design process with these needs. Flexibility, adaptability, and a user-centered approach were our guiding principles throughout. With the right team and approach, even the most complex challenges can be transformed into successful solutions.
Outcomes and Results
I delivered design thinking, sign-in branding, and viable product solutions to create buy-in from the client's leadership on a whole-product buildout; which included service and experience design alongside a technical implementation of the STR portal. This was a concerted effort to link design to sales activities.
Disclaimer: Work shown was created while employed at Nearby Creative, delivered on behalf of an agency partner, and displayed with permission. Header image from Unsplash.
