Mashrooi is a powerful real estate development and investing app. Utilizing the data provided by the City of Dubai, Mashrooi empowers user to see and explore all of the ongoing construction projects within the city. As the UX design project lead, I was responsible for the product strategy, research, UX and user interface for all parts of the product. I worked closely with stakeholders in Dubai and with my team at Clever°Franke to deliver the final app experience.
My role:
Lead UX Designer
2017-2018
The Dubai Land Department (DLD), the government agency that manages all real estate in the city of Dubai came to us and asked us to leverage their real estate data to track, monitor, and visualize all of the ongoing construction projects in the city.
The goal of the DLD was to connect and increase trust between investors and real estate developers by providing more transparent access to objective data about ongoing real estate construction projects. Additionally, they wanted to show that Dubai had the most advanced digital real estate platform in the world.
When we kicked-off the project, there were over 15,000 ongoing construction projects within the city. We would need to track, monitor, and map each of these buildings and their developers and investors.
Secondarily, since Dubai was a city in flux with a skyline that was drastically changing, we wanted to provide a platform where residents, visitors, and anyone interested in the growth of the city could see what the city would look like in the coming years.
To understand the shape of the data and determine what would be useful to our different user audiences, I interviewed local and remote based investors, and developers along with a key stakeholders within the DLD.
Investors
Investors primarily wanted to know when the project status changed and be notified of any delays or when new payment installments were due. They also wanted to find new investment opportunities with trustworthy developers.
Developers
Developers wanted to see trends and gather insights in the real estate market to identify where and when they should start a new project and connect with new investors.
Site Inspectors
Inspectors visited the construction sites to determine progress and highlight any concerns or issues. They captured images and updated progress charts that were then shared with investors and regulators.
Residents & Tourists
Residents wanted to easily find new and upcoming housing options and be able to quickly see what new construction projects in their neighborhood would be.
We mapped out the structure of the platform and how each touchpoint would connect users and provide relevant real estate data. The platform would gather and centralize financial, planning, construction, and inspection data and through an API would supply the data and content to a variety of application and experiences, starting first with a mobile app.
The DLD chose the name Mashrooi for the platform, which means "My Project" in Arabic, to reflect that the platform would empower users to have more ownership over their investments, constructions projects, and in some ways the future of their city.
With the app being the first step, I sketched out ideas and opportunities for visualizing real estate data and ways in which we could provide more context and awareness about what we being built in the city.
From our research and strategy, we knew that app should provide content in a few keys areas: project based content that gives you an overview of an individual building, trends that show you how the city is changing and what is coming next, and a following list where you can get ongoing updates about the projects you care about.
I refined our sketches and ideas and drafted user flows within the application and mapped the data and content to the user needs of each audience group. From this mapping we could start prototyping and validating our ideas.
Utilizing 3D models of upcoming buildings we designed and prototyped an AR experience to show what the buildings would look like before construction was completed. By scanning a QR code provided in investment material or by selecting the building from the map the user could explore the model and see what would be constructed.
Alongside the data analysis and UX design of the application we explored concepts for how the app should look and the overall experience it would provide. We used architectural and natural elements unique to the landscape and cityscape of Dubai to provide the basis for the visual concept.
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Assistant Director General; Dubai Land Department
"Mashrooi combines state-of-the-art technology with robust data, providing users with a much clearer picture of what stage a project is at, even if the investor is on the other side of the world. This removes a great deal of uncertainty and builds a very strong bond of trust and transparency between investors and developers."
We were honored that the app was recognized with several awards and in the first few months of launch was downloaded over 21,000 times.
