Instahome
Building Instahome’s online home rental platform from the ground up
Company
Instahome
Industry
Real Estate
Role
Full-time
Year
2020-2022
About the Business
Instahome was an online home rental platform that facilitated the seamless booking and management of rental properties for tenants. Additionally, it offered a user-friendly dashboard for agents and landlords to efficiently manage their properties.
As one of the founding members, I joined the team to spearhead the development and launch of Malaysia's first tech-driven online home rental platform. Despite having a small team comprising one Product Manager, one UX Designer, and approximately six Software Engineers, we successfully launched over 20 major features within a span of just 12 months.
Objective
The objective was to support Instahome in achieving its ambitious goal of becoming the premier platform for Malaysian home renters, while simultaneously optimising processes for agents and landlords.
My role included all aspects of design at Instahome, from establishing the logo and style guide to the end-to-end development of the user experience and interface. This encompassed the most important task for a prop-tech platform, creating a seamless experience for three distinct user groups: tenants, agents, and landlords.
The primary goal was to develop features and products within the platform to increase the availability of rental homes (building up supply) and streamline the transaction process for tenants, thereby enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.
Solution
Some of the notable features I designed for...
For Tenants
Search Experience - Designed and developed a search experience aligned with market standards, allowing users to search for suitable units based on unique criteria. Users could view 360-degree tours of units and access all necessary information online. Recognizing the platform's early stage limitations, we implemented an alternative search experience where users could submit custom requests and receive assistance from our team of agents.
Booking Flow - Established Instahome as the first platform in Malaysia offering fully online long-term property rentals, from deposit collection to rental payments. The payment flow supported the intricate processes in the home rental space, accommodating various types of deposit collections.
Tenant Dashboard - Introduced a revamped Tenant Dashboard in the final quarter of 2021. In addition to online rental payments (FPX, Direct Debit, Credit Card) and viewing payment history, tenants gained access to exclusive promo codes for on-demand services (repairs, maintenance), a curated guide for home maintenance, and the ability to request tenancy extensions or early terminations.
For Agents & Landlords
Agent & Landlord Dashboard - Provided a comprehensive dashboard where agents and landlords could view analytics data on their available listings, review and accept booking requests, and manage units and tenants during tenancy. This included easy access to all documents and the ability to request maintenance services.
For Internal Team
Admin Panel - Developed an admin panel supporting complex operational flows, enabling teams to capture photos, videos, and 360-degree virtual tours on the go. The panel facilitated media uploads while photographers were in the field and supported the sales team in tracking booking, payment, and refund statuses.
Results and Impact
Shipped the entire MVP - Designed and developed the end-to-end web application catering to tenants, agents, and landlords. As a result of the efforts, the platform's revenue witnessed significant growth, scaling from zero to a six-figure USD figure, reflecting the success of our product and its adoption in the market.
User Behaviour Analysis - Spearheaded the use of Google Data Studio to analyse user personas and behaviour, gaining valuable insights into user preferences and pain points.
A/B testing - Implemented an A/B testing process for idea validation and feature optimisation, allowing us to iterate quickly and make data-driven decisions to enhance the platform's performance and user satisfaction.
Learnings
I am grateful for the opportunity to take on the role of founding designer at Instahome right when it was just getting started. My time there gave me exposure to all facets of running a startup, learning to be hands-on in areas such as optimising operations, offering support to the team on the ground, defining the product and feature development process, and much more.
Note 💬
If you’re a business or hiring manager, this project is summarised and may not have dug into the details you might be looking for. I’d love to share more about any specifics of this project that may relevant to your context process, drop me a message and let’s chat!