What’s all this about?
I collaborated, one-on-one, with the CEO of SkySlope to turn his ideas into sharable, tangible, thought experiments and spark discussion in the industry. He’d tell me an idea (think a voice memo with just “ring, but for agents?”)–I’d turn those virtual post it notes into an alternate reality.
For everything you are about to see here my role was:
Lead kickoff with executive leadership to gather all requirements
Owner of concept, design, and copy
Wireframe quick UX concepts to socialize and narrow concepts
Create a compelling story and long-form copy to tell along with wireframes
Socialize with executive leadership for initial feedback
Refine and bring into high fidelity
Create corresponding marketing material for CEO to share
The concept and copy: Alexa, buy me a house
Let’s reimagine the home buying process.
What if you could buy a house the same way you order a garden hose or set up a subscription for your dog’s food? You can buy almost anything on Amazon. What if we could buy houses? What if it was as easy as “Alexa, I want to buy a house." Just like that, results fill your screen, already filtered by your area, and within the budget Amazon knows you can afford.
All of a sudden, your Alexa chimes in, "Ok. I found several results in your area. Try using keywords like 'turn-key,' or 'victorian' to help me narrow your search."
You and Alexa browse for a while, compare specs–finally you find your dream home together.
“Would you like me to schedule a showing?” Easy as that, Alexa shows you some available times. You pick a time and head over to the house. You walk up to that dream house and the Ring doorbell recognizes you. Of course she does, she helped you schedule this showing.
You look into the camera, when suddenly you hear, “Hey Matt, glad you can make it. If you have any questions during the showing, just say ‘Alexa,’ and begin to ask your question. Your virtual agent is always right in your pocket”
The door unlocks, you walk in. It’s gorgeous, just like the pictures.
“Hey, Alexa,” you shout into an empty kitchen, “I would like to make an offer on this property.”
Just as promised, she responds.
"Ok. Would you like to go in at list price? I scanned the existing offers on this house for key details and found you will have a better chance if you come in 10% above list. I also looked at your credit history and available credit, this house, and offer, are within your budget."
The UI
The Art
The concept and copy: Ring Open House
What if your doorbell could help you host the perfect open house?
With every guest, at the wave of a hand in the doorbell camera, you start tracking their visit. You know what time they walked in. You know how long they stayed. You know if they came with another person or by themselves.
You can see that Megan came to see the house with another person, they stayed for only four minutes, but they were not alone in that pattern. You and your seller can see you had a total of 10 other visitors, but the data is showing they all stayed for around 4 minutes. Now you can see the pattern, and fix the pattern.
In this market, data is more important than ever. Now that data can come just walking in through the front door.
That’s Ring Open House. It might sound like a cheesy plot for a 90’s, futuristic, smart-house type flick, but is it? All of the technology exists. How soon until it’s just a doorbell away?
The UI
The Art
The concept and copy: ChatMLS
How many times have we heard this story–you go to look at a house and as soon as you pull up to the driveway, something looks off.
But–you’re hopeful. You chalk it up to the seasons, everything looks a little worse in the winter, right?
Wrong. This house is nothing like the pictures. How did they even get the kitchen to look that clean in pictures? Or worse, maybe there was something the pictures intentionally left out, hoping with your excitement, you just might not notice that right behind the house is a graveyard.
What if there was a way to find these things out before you pull up to the catfish estates. All of the information for your listing is out there. What if with the power of AI, we could compare a listing to against the internet, in an instant. In walks–or, powers on–chatMLS.
At a press of a button, we can compare GPS location, photos, public record permits, public social media, and even the current listing to previous versions of that listing–all without the rose colored glasses we seem to wear when browsing for a house.
It keeps agents honest and keeps buyers informed.
The UI
The Art
The concept and copy: Role the Dice
Buying a house is truly taking a gamble. What if we could eliminate some of that gamble with Vegas odds-style data before you even make an offer. What if you could see your odds, at a glance, when you’re browsing.
Imagine a situation where you are head over heels for a house. Chances are you’re not alone. You can see the stats. You can see it’s a hot property, so what are your odds?
What if you could press a button and know your odds of coming in at list price. Or, even better, know what the suggested offer price should be to be competitive in this market.
What if we took it one step further, we use the data we know and stack it against the data you know. We find out what your safest bet would be. What is your offer? We tell you.
The data exists. What if we put it in the hands of the people who can use it?