Part 1 – Fundamental Usability Problems

Fractiown is a property crowdfunding investment concept which is still regarded foreign by most Indonesians. The initial site suffered from numerous fundamental usability problems and before solving them, we need to first assess them using Heuristic Evaluation. Through the assessment, most issues are discovered on section 1 (visibility of system status), section 7 (flexibility and efficiency of use) and section 8 (aesthetic and minimalist design). After categorising the issues based on priorities and pages, homepage appears to have the most issues, therefore, we strategised solutions to solve them.

Property investment is a serious topic, and property crowdfunding is a new concept.

Part 2 – Thee Problem and Goal Validation

The initial goal of the site was to inform and attract visitors to adopt crowdfunding system as a means to purchase properties. Unfortunately, people aren’t comfortable yet to invest through crowdfunding due to its’ low penetration in Indonesia. We formulated a How Might We sentence as such:

How might we create a trustworthy and reliable online property purchase platform?

Unfortunately, zero property purchases were made through the site even after 1 year of its release. With that being the most significant issue, we investigated it further through conducting user interview on 3 different user groups:

Rookie Investor – People who are unfamiliar with investment yet but keen on learning
First-time Investor – People who have only started investing yet still exploring possibilities
Superstar Investor – People who have several investment schemes

Based on the interview, unfortunately none of the participant is willing to purchase property online since the procedure normally takes place offline with request for site visit being the fundamental step for potential buyers to assess the overall property condition. Additionally, property investment requires huge ticket size and it’s a high-risk investment. Most participants are also skeptical to adopt the crowdfunding concept due to unfamiliarity. With novice investors, they are usually unaware of the most suitable investment types to fit their financial situation. Realising that none of the participants are willing to purchase property online, we toned down the ambition and revised the problem statement into:

How might we attract property leads through our website?

Part 3 – Synthesise Solutions to Achieve Goal

Since the product goal shifted from encouraging purchase to encouraging leads, below are the key areas we strategised on:

Most first-time investors are unaware regarding the type of property to purchase based on their monthly income.
Attract leads and questions about the how-tos through the website.
Provide clear and concise information regarding the crowdfunding system that could easily be understood by rookies.

The solution was to welcome user through a profiling system on the landing page to recommend the most suitable property based on their salary, preferred type and risk averse level. After completing the requirements, users will be presented with a series of properties that match their criteria.

Since property transaction procedures normally take place offline, we provide them with the opportunity to register their interest on their selected property. Since crowdfunding is a foreign concept which is not widely adopted in Indonesia, obviously user will need easy access for personal enquiries which is reflected through the omnipresent ‘Ask Us’ button to easily submit enquiries from anywhere within the site.

Part 4 – And The Result Is…

Below are the metrics that we measured after the revamp including its results:

Engagement:

Number of leads per day – 10x leads increase

Adoption:

Number of visitors (increased visitors) from pre to post-revamp
Number of users who interact with the profiling system: 70% of the entire visitor

The metrics’ goals have been achieved after toning down the ambition, however the ultimate goal to convert leads into sales through the site hasn’t been met since it is a radical behavioural change. Fostering the behavioural change will indeed be challenging.

Fractiown Not taking property investment too seriously

Not taking property investment too seriously.