W+R Studios – Proof positive this is where magical software is created.
The Business of Design in Real Estate Tech – Listing Bits Episode 3
Damien Huze, CDO at W+R Studios, talks design
You can also download the Listing Bits podcast on iTunes
Damien Huze is the Chief Design Officer at W+R Studios. He was born in Paris and grew up in a creative environment, watching his parents design ads on the floor of their home office. When Huze was ready to apply his own talent, the internet was just taking off. He found his medium in building websites, first for his band and then his father.
Huze has known W+R co-founders Greg Robertson and Dan Woolley since the inception of the company in 2008 when they connected over a shared approach to software design. At the time, he was running a design shop called Wake Interactive where his small team did design work for tech-driven companies including Verizon, Target and even Jennifer Lopez. Huze consulted for W+R Studios, designing their corporate identity and contributing to the UI/UX of their flagship product, Cloud CMA.
Wake Interactive’s bread and butter was designing usable websites, but Huze eventually wanted to shift his focus to product design. When the opportunity came along to join the W+R team in 2015, he was ready to lead their rebranding effort and apply his talent to design from a product standpoint. On this episode of the podcast, Huze addresses the creative process, the benefits of creative thinking in business and how to view processes as a design task.
What’s Discussed:
-What the creative process entails
-Generating ideas can be frustrating and ugly
-The aha moment when you find a solution is addictive
-Why Boulder is a best case environment for software design
-The level of work happening in the field there is tremendously motivational
-The potential for transformation in the real estate industry
-How businesses benefit from creative thinking
-Design goes beyond simply shaping the way things look
-Processes are a design task, i.e.: hiring, support, etc.
-How Huze approached the rebranding effort at W+R
-A brand survey revealed that the name was the most valuable element of Cloud CMA’s identity
-The rebrand was based on the word “cloud” and employs a very simple mark
-Huze’s team developed Cloud Agent Suite with complementary products identified by color
-Why continuity is the key to a polished image
-An internal transformation was required for W+R to be well-managed from a brand guidelines standpoint
-The changing value proposition of real estate agents
-Agents continue to provide crucial representation as they assist buyers in navigating the process of putting in an offer
-Agents provide local knowledge for buyers who will be joining the community
-Why focusing on one aspect of an agent’s job that is underserved is the best approach to software design
-A product that tries to do too much for too many people is a product that is not great at any specific thing
-The best way to reign in a product manager who is adding too many features
-The goal is to build a product that fixes a problem
-The designer’s job is to figure out if the product manager’s assumptions are correct by asking a lot of questions (Why?)
Resources Mentioned:
Welcome to the W+R Studios Team Damien!
W+R Studios hires chief design officer, prepares for launch of Cloud MLX
Connect with Damien Huze:
Can your MLS do that?
Agents are just loving Cloud Streams, here’s why
Happy Halloween!
Ad spot available on Vendor Alley
I’ve got an Ad spot becoming available next month (right below the Cloud MLX spot on the right). If you are interested in advertising your product/event/cause to some of real estate’s best looking, and intelligent readers, please get in touch! This is last minute so I can give you a good deal.
Cloud MLX Webinar
It was great seeing everyone in Las Vegas last week. And to be honest I’m still not fully recovered. : )
Anywho, Katie and I had a lot of questions about Cloud MLX and since there wasn’t really a good wifi connection in the Heart Bar we only did a few demos. As you may know Cloud MLX was named “2016 Most Innovative Technology” by Inman News. But as luck would have it we had a Cloud MLX webinar scheduled for CRMLS members this Wednesday at 9AM PT. So if you are interested in seeing what all the hype is about I wanted to give you the info to take a look.
Just click on the link below and it will get you signed up.
Register for Cloud MLX Webinar – CRMLS
Or if you’d rather get a private demo, just contact Katie and she’ll set up a time.
Jeff Lobb joins Revaluate
Jeff Lobb Joins Team Revaluate
““We are thrilled to bring Jeff’s knowledge and background to our team. He’s known for helping brokers, brands and agents strategically grow. Additionally, his charisma, technical aptitude and drive have been evident to me for more than 10 years. We are also fortunate to be retaining the services of SparkTankMedia alongside such a good person and tremendous talent.” Said Revaluate CEO Chris Drayer.
Revaluate is one of the under the radar products that is really interesting. They’ve done a great job with the UI/UX of the product. Jeff is a great addition, he was a early supporter of Cloud CMA, which makes him pretty smart in my book ; )
Congrats!
Glanceability
At the recent Apple WWDC keynote they announced a few tweaks to the new watchOS 3. After a year of feedback the focus of these changes is about “glanceability”. By their definition the user had to get the information (usually coming from some sort of notification) of what they needed in about “2 seconds”. And keep in mind this information was being delivered on a display the size of a watch face.
2 seconds.
This made me think of the process we went through when designing the email listing alerts being delivered in Cloud Streams. Here’s what one looks like on a smart phone.
Look and feel are important but design is also how it works. So deliverability and having a clear call to action on these types of notifications is also very important.
Now here’s a recent one from Matrix.
Is there a word for something that is the exact opposite as “glanceable”? And trust me, this is pretty on par with most MLS systems out there now. If you are running an MLS or brokerage and think your members/agent deserve better, drop Katie a line. She can help. : )
And it looks like the portals are paying attention to this glanceabilty issue as well. Trulia just recently updated the look and feel of their listing alerts.
Looks a bit familiar to my eyes, but I guess imitation is the best form of flattery. : )
But they did make an interesting design decision. If you were given the choice of having a bigger property photo, or a smaller photo of the property and a map, what would you choose?
For me? I like big property photos and I cannot lie.
Cloud CMA Webinar – How To Use CMAs to Generate Seller Leads
Looks like RETechnology is putting a “Techinar” about Cloud CMA. For all you MLS Providers out there the webinar is free and would be good to promote to your members and learn more about Cloud CMA and its lead generation capabilites.
“Join W&R Studios’ National Trainer and real estate speaker Ricardo Bueno and listing rockstar April Kass in a FREE webinar on Thursday, April 14th at 10:00am PST as they dive deep into everything you need to know to start generating and closing more seller leads today!
Join us as we discuss:
– How you can generate seller leads instantly straight from your Social Media, website, or blog
– How to structure the perfect CMA to win the listing (every single time)
– The tools top performers are using to close more listingsSeats are limited so make sure you register early!”
The registration link is here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3823269484388922882?utm_source=newsletter_30444&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cloud-cma-promo-2
Transparency for the win!
Quick story. I got a call the other day from an MLS exec. We currently sell Cloud CMA and Cloud Streams in their market. Not a site license, just selling directly, one agent credit card number at a time. They were calling us to explore the possibility of doing a site license.
“Sounds good, lets talk.” , I say.
Later in the week we jumped on a call. So we asked, why the change in heart? Why a site license now? Two reasons. They have been hearing a lot of great thing about the product and they were noticing that a lot of agents were using our products in their market.
How did they know a lot of agents were using our products? Every MLS provider we work with gets a MLS Dashboard, that shows them the amount of signups, reports created, report types, etc. Boom.
A few things here are significant:
1. Most vendors are terrified of showing adoption stats, let alone in real-time, whenever the MLS execs want to see them.
2. We would likely have not gotten the phone call if we weren’t so transparent with this data.
3. Whether or not we get a site license, we are all good. We have users who see value in our products, and pay us.
I’m asked to give advice to new vendors entering the market on the best way to sell through the “MLS channel”. Some of their ideas involve a freemium model (horrible idea) or maybe offer their product to the MLS for a year at no charge and roll the dice later (another horrible idea).
I give the same advice to all of them.
Create a great product and charge for it.
If someone isn’t gonna pay you, then go back to the drawing board and make a product that they will pay for.
I’m not saying its easy, but if you want to be successful, its what you need to do. Embrace your stats, don’t hide them.
