Proplink

Overview

Proplink is a real-estate platform that helps people discover, evaluate and confidently inquire about residential and investment properties. Rather than another listing site, the redesign focused on making property decisions easier: less confusion, more transparency, and trust built throughout the search.

Finding a property is not a browsing task. It is a high-stakes financial decision, and uncertainty about pricing, location or details quickly turns into hesitation and drop-off.

Who it’s for

Proplink was designed for first-time buyers, renters, investors and diaspora buyers who rely on digital platforms, browse mostly on mobile, and value clarity and speed. Agents are the secondary users: the platform has to turn browsing into meaningful inquiries, not just traffic.

The problem

Early conversations showed a pattern: users were overwhelmed by cluttered listings and long blocks of unstructured information. Hidden fees created distrust; complicated filters made discovery harder than necessary. The problem wasn’t a lack of information. Users had too much of it, without structure to make sense of it.

The business problem was connected. Attracting visitors wasn’t the hard part; getting them to engage with listings and contact an agent was. Low inquiry rates and early drop-offs suggested users weren’t finding enough clarity or reassurance to move forward. I treated conversion as a communication and decision-making problem, not a traffic problem.

Research

Through conversations and observation I explored how people search, what they look for first and what makes them hesitate. Users consistently scanned for price and location before anything else. Hidden fees weakened credibility; long descriptions caused fatigue. Quick summaries and visible maps increased confidence; complex filters discouraged engagement; comparing properties was hard.

That shifted the focus from displaying more property information to structuring the right information in the right order.

A yes-or-no survey validated the patterns across a wider group. Most respondents felt overwhelmed by property websites; unclear pricing was a major reason for abandoning listings; advanced filters were confusing; clearer summaries and transparent fees would raise their confidence to contact an agent. The principle: users didn’t need more information. They needed information that was easier to understand and trust.

I compared Proplink with Zillow, Rightmove and Realtor.com. They offer strong filtering and huge inventories, but rely on dense information blocks and limited upfront transparency. Proplink could compete on the quality and structure of information rather than quantity: make property decisions clearer, not more feature-rich.

Strategy

Four design priorities came out of the research: important information was buried, so surface critical details earlier; pricing created distrust, so make fees and costs transparent; listings were hard to scan, so build a stronger hierarchy; advanced filters felt complicated, so simplify and group them. The redesign wasn’t about adding functionality. It removed effort from decisions users were already trying to make.

Design decisions

Reorganise the property page around how people scan

The property page follows the order users process information: name, location, key highlights, price, fees, then details. Users understand the essentials before committing to longer descriptions. Features, specifications, maps, video and structured descriptions follow for those who want to go deeper. The hierarchy supports both quick scanning and informed comparison.

Transparent pricing as an early trust signal

Unclear pricing was the strongest research finding. Instead of letting users discover costs later, pricing and fee information moved to the start of the property experience. Show users what they need to know before asking them to act. Pricing went from a source of uncertainty to part of the trust-building experience.

Filters grouped around intent

Advanced search created friction. Related filters were grouped and terminology simplified. The goal wasn’t to remove control but to make it easier to understand, so users narrow properties without learning how the platform is organised.

A structured visual system

The visual direction followed the same principle as the UX: clarity over decoration. Typography, spacing, grid, colour, icons and imagery establish relationships between information rather than merely making the interface look minimal.

Testing

Moderated usability sessions used realistic tasks: find a property within a budget, compare listings, identify total costs, contact an agent. Users completed search and inquiry tasks noticeably faster, an estimated 30–35% improvement across the sessions, and described the experience as clearer and easier to navigate.

Constraints and trade-offs

Property decisions are financially significant, yet people use these platforms quickly, often on a phone. The product had to communicate enough for a high-stakes decision without making users read everything before acting. I prioritised critical information, cut unnecessary reading, and built trust before prompting an inquiry: structured minimalism over decorative complexity.

Outcome and reflection

The redesign brought research, hierarchy, simplified search, transparent pricing and clearer presentation into one experience intended to reduce early drop-offs, increase listing engagement, improve inquiry clicks and raise confidence during evaluation. The usability sessions gave early evidence that key tasks got faster and information easier to understand.

This project changed how I think about trust. In real estate, visual polish can’t make people confident. Trust is built through the information users receive, the order they receive it in, and how easily they understand what they’re being asked to decide. Clarity is not a visual quality; it is a product strategy.