Between 2012 and 2017 at CINC, I worked on project concepts aimed at redefining the home search experience. The Product team sought to create a more collaborative and engaging platform, pushing beyond the limitations of existing tools. Houses.net became an experimental playground to prototype and test innovative features, serving as a foundation for a national home search platform. Insights and technologies developed here later informed improvements across CINC’s localized client sites.
Home search platforms at the time offered limited functionality, focusing primarily on listing data without tools for collaboration or centralized data collection. Homebuyers struggled to involve friends and family in the decision-making process or effectively organize their findings. On the development side, there was also a need to overhaul the existing codebase, transitioning from .NET to C# to improve scalability, maintainability, and performance across the platform.
The design process began with user research, involving regular discussions with homebuyers to understand their search habits, collaboration needs, and ideal feature set. We iterated on static and interactive prototypes, refining functionality and usability based on continuous testing. Houses.net served as a sandbox for rapid experimentation, enabling the development team to explore new concepts without impacting existing client sites. This parallel approach allowed for faster innovation and more informed decisions.
Houses.net was launched within eight weeks as a proof-of-concept platform featuring a groundbreaking collaborative Notebook feature, allowing users to share and organize their search data. While the site itself has since transitioned into a testing ground, its success laid the groundwork for key features now integrated across CINC’s product suite. By blending innovative UX design with technical experimentation, the project demonstrated how collaboration and exploration could shape the future of home search experiences.
Simplified search page and general overview of the site differentiators
Early prototype showing the Notebook summary page, including a list of properties the user is watching, the latest activity, and scheduled appointments, with entry points to further info sections
Screens from the first hi-fi prototype for mobile
The initial user flow of the notebook features based on discovery and research (a bit messy but it made sense to us!)