Real Estate Tube is a service that makes it really easy to create engaging videos to advertise your property for sale or to find new housemates. I was contacted by Steven the Co-Founder after being recommended by some developers I had worked with in the past.

RET had an existing app in the app store but it was in need of some attention. I identified some areas for improvement and started researching common design patterns for similar apps.

Creating and editing a video is a complicated task made even more challenging by the limited screen space available on a mobile device. It was imperative that the process was stripped down to the core features that allowed a user to get an engaging video online quickly.

The next step was to dive into my sketch book and start playing around with some ideas. Sketching is a very low-cost way to try many different solutions to see which one might work.

For me this process is very messy but it allows me to get thoughts out of my head and onto paper and to start piecing together the various elements which make up the functionality.

The brand colour was very strong so I wanted to use it sparingly to call out important features and for the primary calls to action. The rest of the interface needed to get out of the way and allow the content of the listings, especially the videos, to really stand out.

I wanted to create a different look & feel for the video creation screens. Rather than the light aesthetic, I went for a dark design similar to what you might experience if you were in a darkroom developing film. It helped to create a clear distinction between the content creation experience and the content consumption screens.

With the new app designs complete and in development, the focus shifted to a web landing page that would help to explain the benefits of the app and showcase its features.

I wanted the language of the page to reflect the dual benefits of the app. Not only could you create high quality videos to show off your property, but it also gave you an opportunity to express your personality which is important when looking for someone to share your home.