Reimagining the house-hunting experience with KeyScape
Searching for a home — whether to rent or buy — should be simple and stress-free. But the current real estate platforms often make the process feel overwhelming and frustrating.
That’s where KeyScape comes in.
Built with a user-first approach, KeyScape aims to simplify property discovery, reduce noise, and help people find genuine listings without the usual hassle.
In this case study, I’ll walk you through how we brought KeyScape to life — from research and insights to UX thinking and behavioral design.
What Users Are Saying (Google Play Reviews)
To understand what’s broken in the current real estate experience, I looked into some of the most-used apps in the market: Housing, 99acres, MagicBricks, and Nestaway.
Thousands of reviews reveal a pattern of pain points users repeatedly face. It’s not just minor annoyances—it’s frustration that breaks trust.
Here are the major red flags users pointed out:
Buggy UX & broken flows (MagicBricks): Frequent bugs during contact actions, error messages, and even removed features like Google Maps property view.
Deposit scams (Nestaway): Agents ignored calls, deposits weren’t refunded, and renters faced extra charges for broken appliances.
These insights gave us a reality check — and laid the groundwork for identifying key experience gaps.
User Interview Insights
To validate assumptions and uncover deeper user frustrations, I conducted a short survey and shared it in a relevant Discord community. The goal was to reach real users who recently searched for rental properties or used real estate apps.
The message helped set a transparent context, building trust and encouraging honest responses. Since this was a mock project, reaching even a small number of relevant users gave us just enough insight to identify patterns and shape design decisions.
User Personas
To better empathize with our users, we crafted three personas based on our survey results and interviews. These personas reflect common patterns, needs, and frustrations from real people actively navigating the real estate journey—both renters and buyers.
Problem Statement
As we dug into app reviews, surveys, and real stories from people actually hunting for a place to stay — three pain points kept popping up again and again:
Hidden Costs: Users are tired of surprise charges. Whether it’s being forced into paid upgrades just to access contact info, or being bombarded by agents for premium listings, the journey feels more like a trap than a tool.
Location Issues: Despite real estate being all about “location, location, location” — most apps fail to provide accurate location data or meaningful filters. Users can’t search by nearby areas, can’t rely on map views, and often end up calling about places miles away from where they actually want to live.
Property Sharing Confusion: There’s a huge gap for people who want to rent just a single room or find flatmates. Many listings don’t clearly show if a place is fully available, partially rented, or shared — creating unnecessary friction and awkward conversations.
Competitive Analysis: What’s Out There (And What’s Not)
Before diving deep into the design of KeyScape, it was crucial to understand what existing real estate apps are doing — and more importantly, what they’re not.
I explored the top players in the Indian market — Housing, MagicBricks, 99acres, and NestAway — all of which have massive user bases, flashy interfaces, and aggressive marketing. But when you look closer… things start to crack.
From hidden charges to broken filters, most of these apps fell short on transparency, trust, and usability. Even basic tasks like sharing a property or finding accurate location info often turned into frustrating experiences.
To clearly map where they fall short (and where KeyScape can shine), I put together a simple feature comparison:
Simplified User Flow
One of the biggest issues with existing real estate apps was how scattered and overwhelming the journey felt — especially when trying to shortlist, compare, or even contact a property.
With KeyScape, we wanted to create a streamlined experience focused on:
Clarity at every step
Effortless shortlisting and sharing
Reduced clutter and decision fatigue
The new flow makes it easier for renters (and buyers) to search, evaluate, and take action — without hitting frustrating blockers.
Sketching the Flow
Before jumping into high-fidelity visuals, I started sketching out a few key ideas on paper. This allowed me to quickly explore layout possibilities, user flow, and placement of features without worrying about pixel perfection.
The focus here was to simplify the search experience, surface transparent pricing, and make wishlist sharing feel effortless.
These rough sketches helped validate the structure and content before moving into detailed UI work.
Final UI Highlights
This section highlights the key improvements we focused on — each rooted in real user pain points, carefully designed to offer clarity, trust, and ease of use.
Transparent Pricing Layout: No more price surprises. Users can now clearly view rent, deposit, maintenance, and other costs upfront — all structured in a simple, scannable layout.
Real Map View with Accurate Locations: We introduced a map-based listing view that shows exactly where the property is located — bringing back a feature users missed and helping them evaluate neighborhood context easily.
Effortless Wishlist Sharing: Users can now easily share shortlisted properties with roommates, partners, or family — making collaborative decision-making smooth and stress-free.
Key Learnings & Reflection
This project wasn't just about fixing an app — it was about truly understanding how broken the rental experience feels for many users.
Designing KeyScape helped me flex my UX muscles, but more importantly, it reminded me of why I got into UX in the first place: to solve real human problems with empathy and clarity.
Here’s what stood out the most during the process:
I learned how deep-rooted user frustration can be — especially when apps feel like they're designed for business goals over user needs.
I discovered how crucial transparent pricing and communication are in building user trust.
I realized that sometimes, even small things (like not being able to share a wishlist with a partner) can create huge friction in the user journey.
Running real user interviews — even casually via Discord — taught me more than any analytics dashboard ever could.
If I had to do it again, I'd dive even deeper into behavior-based research early on, and maybe test quick prototypes sooner to validate ideas in real-world scenarios.
That’s a Wrap on KeyScape!
Designing KeyScape was a deep dive into solving real, everyday frustrations faced by renters and buyers in India. From shady costs to vague listings, it became clear that users don’t want more—they want better.
This wasn’t just about building another real estate app. It was about rebuilding trust.
There’s still a lot more I’d love to explore—from behavioral nudges to better agent accountability—but for now, this version of KeyScape focuses on the biggest pain points with the most immediate impact.
Thanks for reading!
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