HouseRX

I was brought on by HouseRX founder, Ron Fesko, to realign a product trajectory that had decoupled from its original vision. While the existing development agency was technically proficient, the product had pivoted toward an ad-hoc scheduling tool that placed undue burden on homeowners. The vision for HouseRX was to create an ecosystem for homeowners and property managers to monitor and maintain home wellness effortlessly with the assistance of intuitive software and a network of trusted, local technicians. I stepped in to architect a true three-sided ecosystem, balancing the needs of owners, property managers, and technicians, and transform a fragmented interface into an intuitive platform for proactive home wellness.

The initial product direction was homeowner-centric, resulting in a vague dashboard and a recurring audit feature that lacked clear daily utility. My goal was to pivot the experience toward the user who would drive the most value during the MVP stage.

Through user flow mapping and a high-level database schema analysis, I identified a critical disconnect. While homeowners want peace of mind, property managers need functional control. We were effectively replacing a legacy "pen and paper" system for managers, making them the high-intent user required for a successful launch.

By prioritizing the 'Property Manager' persona, we built a high-utility tool that provided the granular control existing products lacked. We would eventually curate a separate experience for technicians, but in the meantime, they could use a modified version of the property manager experience. This allowed us to streamline the technician experience in the interim and gave the homeowner exactly what they wanted: the confidence that their property was being managed by a professional with the right tools.

Designing the HRX Dashboard served as a catalyst for identifying the other missing links in the user experience – such as: Where can users see the status of the items in their home? Where can property managers track maintenance logged by technicians? Where can technicians go to make their inspection and maintenance process faster and more effective? I began with a high-level iteration process to transform a "blank canvas" into a centralized, beautiful, and functional command center.

The second iteration moved us closer to the final MVP. Based on stakeholder feedback, we prioritized a 'Home at a Glance' approach, making everything in their home easily indexable by room and type of equipment (HVAC, kitchen, plumbing, etc). By reducing the hero section's footprint, we shifted the focus from decorative elements to actionable data. However, this phase revealed a critical pivot: we needed to move beyond showing 'current status' and instead prioritize a reliable, predictable maintenance timeline for every asset in the home.

This project was a definitive exercise in product evolution - taking a fragmented concept and architecting it into a cohesive system. It challenged me to balance complex data requirements with a clean user interface. Working alongside the founders and development team reinforced a core tenet of my practice: great design isn't just about aesthetics; it starts with asking the right questions about the people using the tool.