In the U.S., the average home loses around 10,000 gallons of water per year due to leaks, and in multi-property family buildings, this adds up to nearly $20 billion in annual losses.
To address this, our client, a smart water monitoring company, aimed to scale their solution by enabling homeowners to share their leak data with building staff. We designed a centralized platform that helps property managers and staff monitor issues in real time across multiple properties and respond quickly to prevent costly damage.
As the UX Designer in a two-person team, I was responsible for:
Leading the initial discovery and definition phases of the design process
Create user personas to represent our target audience accurately
Define and prioritize features based on user needs and project objectives
Create user flows and wireframes aligned with the defined requirements
Supported the creation of final screens once the client had approved a UI concept
Design a solution that enables property managers, concierges, and maintenance staff to:
Monitor leak detectors across multiple units and buildings
Receive and manage alerts in real time
Contact homeowners quickly to take action
To kick off the discovery phase, I used a Design Brief Canvas to frame the project. It was completed using insights from the client's initial documentation, our discovery session, and complementary desk research.
Next, we created user personas. Although the product was primarily aimed at property managers, we also considered other key users such as building concierges and condo owners.
By identifying users’ goals, needs, and pain points, we were able to define user stories and move forward with the next phase of the design process.
Based on the user personas’ goals and pain points, the user stories and product features were refined. These were prioritized using an MVP and a red routes matrix, helping us align with the client on priorities and create a work roadmap. Each story turned into a workflow.
Account Creation
Streamlining the process for users to create accounts, ensuring a seamless onboarding experience.
Inviting Condo Owners
Facilitating efficient communication by enabling property managers to invite condo owners to share their device information.
Alerts Management
Designing intuitive flows for users to receive alerts promptly and access alert history, ensuring timely action in case of emergencies.
Notification Settings
Allowing users to set up notification preferences for the dashboard.
After validating the user flows and wireframes with the client, I handed them off to the UI designer, who developed the visual concepts and design system. Once the UI direction was defined, I supported the creation of UI designs using the established guidelines.
Along with the final UI designs we delivered a clickable prototype covering key workflows. Edge cases and error states were documented to support a smooth handoff and help the client move confidently into development.
Prioritizing the primary user can be enough
We created personas for all users involved, but looking back, focusing only on the main user would have been enough to shape the initial experience of the product. The goals and needs of other users, like concierges, could have been based on assumptions and adjusted later on for further version.
Enabled our client to expand into a new customer segment: property managers and building staff.
Created a scalable design to support future device launches and business growth.
Facilitated leak data sharing between device owners and property owners, while enabling managers to monitor multiple locations from a single platform.