HomeX App
Company:
Year:
2019
Role:
Senior Product Designer
HomeX is a home services platform that connects homeowners with professional technicians through a centralized digital platform available on both web and mobile.
about.
Customers use HomeX to diagnose household issues, book services, and connect with qualified technicians, while professionals gain access to verified leads and service requests. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted HomeX’s traditional service model, which relied heavily on in-person technician visits. Lockdowns, safety concerns, and technician availability created significant barriers for homeowners who needed urgent repairs.
This shift exposed a critical gap: many users needed expert guidance to understand the severity of a problem before committing to an in-person service visit. To address this challenge, HomeX began exploring Remote Assist, a solution that would allow homeowners to connect with technicians through live video guidance and remote diagnostics.
The goal was to help users quickly understand their issue, receive expert advice, and determine whether a full service appointment was necessary. This project explored how remote assistance could reduce service friction, improve access to professional support, and create a scalable alternative to in-person visits.
challenge.
Homeowners often struggle to diagnose household issues and determine whether professional help is necessary. During COVID-19 this challenge became more critical as in-person services became limited.
During COVID-19 this challenge became more critical as in-person services became limited.
Users faced three major challenges:
• Difficulty identifying the severity of a problem
• Limited access to trusted professionals
• Uncertainty about service pricing
How might we help homeowners quickly diagnose issues and receive expert guidance without requiring an in-person visit?
research strategy.
The project began with a survey and in-depth interviews designed to uncover user behaviors, expectations, and pain points when seeking home maintenance services.
These methods helped us understand user needs, motivations, and frustrations both before the product was designed and long after it was released.
To gain a holistic understanding of the ecosystem, we developed targeted research questions for two key user groups:
• homeowners seeking services
• professional service technicians
This dual perspective helped us understand both service demand and service delivery constraints.
Here are some questions asked: understanding current behavior, exploring pain points, testing openness to new solutions:
When you move to a new place and don’t have trusted contacts (e.g., plumbers, carpenters), how do you currently find a professional?
Are you aware of web or mobile applications that allow you to book home service professionals?
If yes, which ones have you used, and how was your experience?
If no, what has prevented you from using them?
Can you describe one of your worst experiences with a home service professional, either online or offline?
Have you ever paid for a service that did not meet your expectations? Were you able to resolve the issue or get a refund?
Would you consider using a platform that helps you book and manage professional services from home?
How would you feel about paying for this type of service? Would a subscription model or pay-per-use model feel more comfortable for you?
features.
The following core features of the Remote Assist prioritized afterwards:
Instant RA: Immediate access to remote assistance for urgent home issues.
Screen Drawing: Technicians can annotate and guide clients through troubleshooting steps directly on the screen.
Online Booking System: Flexible scheduling to accommodate the busy lifestyles of our customers.
Search: Let users easily compare, filter and order as they wish and do so while having minimal cognitive load.
Rating: Add ratings and make it available at the page where users compare taskers.
Pandemic Compliance: Stringent adherence to health and safety protocols during all RA sessions.
Flexible Pricing: Subscription model pricing.
decision making.
Primary paths
• remote assist session
• scheduled service visit
• technician communication
• payment and reviews
To support these capabilities, the platform architecture needed to support multiple service paths.
iterative design.
We conducted short, iterative design sprints to prototype and validate key user flows.
Each sprint focused on testing how users would initiate and navigate Remote Assist.
The team used dot voting and collaborative critiques to prioritize concepts that balanced usability, speed, and accessibility.
As a result, two interaction models emerged as the most promising solutions:
• Prototype 1 – Standard mobile interaction
• Prototype 2 – Speech-based interaction
These prototypes allowed us to explore how different interaction paradigms could affect cognitive load, task completion, and emotional engagement.
prototype 1, standard interaction.
This design focuses on familiar mobile interaction patterns to reduce the learning curve for users seeking remote assistance.
This design ensures important info stands out.
The Remote Assist entry point is visually emphasized so users can quickly locate support when facing a home issue.
Tapping “Remote Assistance” opens a simple action menu where users select a service category before connecting with a technician. Related options such as chat, scheduling, and support remain grouped in a single location, reducing navigation complexity.
Key design principles
• Salience and visual hierarchy highlight the primary action during time-sensitive situations.
• Visibility of system status communicates connection progress and technician availability.
• Recognition over recall allows users to select predefined service categories rather than describing issues manually.
By leveraging common interaction patterns, the design enables users to transfer knowledge from other mobile apps, making the experience intuitive and comfortable.
prototype 2, speech based interaction.
This concept explores voice-assisted interaction to reduce friction and improve accessibility when users need help quickly.
Users can initiate Remote Assist through voice commands, allowing the system to automatically route them to the appropriate technician.
For example, if a user says “Electrical,” the system connects them to the first available electrical technician. If no technician is available, the system offers the option to schedule a session.
Cognitive design considerations
• Multimodal interaction allows users to combine voice and touch inputs.
• Auditory cues support working memory, reducing reliance on visual attention.
• Top-down processing helps users understand system responses through clear verbal prompts.
This interaction model demonstrates how voice interfaces can reduce cognitive load and speed up access to assistance during urgent situations.
heurestic analysis.
This design ensures important info stands out. The bright logo opens the actions menu, and tapping 'Remote Assistance' prompts users to select a service. All related details, like booking via chat, stay in one place for quick access. By leveraging common interaction patterns it makes it easier for users to transfer knowledge from other apps and quickly spot key elements. The familiarity of these design patterns is likely to evoke a sense of comfort.
Prototype 1 is a design with intuitive gestures and easy navigation but may lack some emotional connection and clarity compared to Prototype 2.
Prototype 2 performs better overall, especially in terms of emotional impact, convenience, clarity, and authenticity. The voice control feature enhances user connection, making it feel more personal and accessible.
edge cases.
To support peak demand periods, the system includes an auto-attendant that manages incoming requests and queues users when technicians are unavailable.
Waiting experiences are often frustrating, so this became an opportunity to improve emotional UX.
Design considerations
• Clear feedback during wait states
• Transparent reconnection after dropped calls
• Calm and reassuring system messaging
To reinforce empathy and clarity, I introduced lightweight animations aligned with the visual style guide.
For example:
• During “Call on Hold,” subtle animations indicate that the technician is actively reviewing the issue.
• If a call drops, the interface shows a reconnection timer and options to retry or reschedule.
These micro-interactions transform a typically frustrating service moment into a controlled and reassuring experience.
final designs.
take away.
Providing a platform for verified, skilled service providers so users can quickly find help in their region. A refined, intuitive interface helps users take action easily and understand each service clearly.
