Room Condition Rating Scale Research
Role/Service
UX/UI Designer + Researcher
Tools
Figma
Sector
Real Estate
Defining the Goal
We had a problem with credibility
The Problem
Initially, the Homegenius platforms used the 5-star rating scale to display the room condition scores. Due to the use of 5 star scales typically being displayed in tandem with user reviews, the VP thought the 5 star scale did not communicate to users that the room condition scores were generated by AI – a key value proposition of the product.
The Goal
Research and define the room condition score display that best communicates objectivity and AI-derivation, and resonates most with users
Research + Empathizing
I was tasked with initiating our research process by scanning the home buying industry and researching best design practices for rating scales.
Main findings
5 Star rating scales communicate undertones of subjectivity with it's strong association with social proof elements like reviews, for example.
Numeric scales help dissolve that perceived association.
Users use colors as a mental shortcut to understand what things mean.
Numeric scales are more accessible because they transcend language barriers, unlike rating scales that use letters.
The "poor–excellent" rating scale is popular, however also strongly associated with user reviews and can risk being offensive to users.
Competitive Audit
D. and I conducted a competitive audit on 2 direct competitors that also used AI to help generate room condition scores.
Our findings were:
Similar to Homegenius, the AI-generated room condition scores correspond with the Fannie Mae property condition rating rubric
Our competitors abandoned the 5-star rating scale and use a numeric scale and color-coding instead.
Design Guidelines
Guideline #1
Abandon the 5-star rating scale for the numeric scale to increase sense of objectivity and broaden accessibility.
Guideline #2
Accompany ratings with non-offensive language to describe room conditions.
Guideline #3
Use colors as a heuristic.
Develop
We created several design concepts in line with our guidelines.
Concept #3
Fannie Mae rating scale confusion
We had to decide how we wanted to display the rating scale increments. In order to stay consistent with the Fannie Mae rubric, we made our scale 6-1 (6 being bad, 1 being good). Despite this not being the most intuitive scale, we thought consistency with the rubric was key, and made sure to develop a user resource key.
Testing
Let's do a comparison study to find our design solution!
Our next step was to create 2 comparison studies using usertesting.com. The objective of the first study was to find out what design concept 5 lay users preferred. The second study focused on 5 participants who were all real estate agents. We tested 10 people in total.
Sifting through out feedback!
We watched all of our testing sessions and took detailed notes on the participants as they went through the tasks we set up for them.
Findings
Alongside finding that users preferred Option D as their overall favorite concept, We gained valuable insight while reviewing why users selected the options they chose. Which was readability, descriptiveness and visual appeal.
Takeaways & Next Steps
Here are a few takeaways from my time on this project
What I learned
I was reminded of the importance of accessibility. D. and I were fortunate to get a participant in our comparison study that mentioned the struggles he had while trying to read the screen. Amidst being concerned with making the most visually appealing and intuitive design, I honestly left out accessibility. I’m determined to never put it on the back-burner again.
All in all! I had fun tag-teaming with D.!
Thanks for reading 🧑🏾🦲
Back to top