Simplifying Home Personalization

Overview

After Hurricane Ian struck Fort Myers, Florida, Homebound launched the second iteration of an online home configurator to aid affected homeowners in easily selecting options remotely. As a member of the Homeowner Customer Experience team, I spearheaded the creation of this streamlined tool to simplify the purchasing process.

Problem

The initial configurator, piloted in the Colorado market, surfaced critical UX and scalability issues. Users struggled with disjointed navigation, hidden content from poor scroll behavior, and limited contextual guidance. As Homebound transitioned to a preset package model, the design no longer aligned with the backend construction software Blueprint—resulting in a cluttered interface and structural limitations. The options page, in particular, proved unsustainable for future growth and was consistently perceived as overwhelming due to its inflexible layout and lack of clarity.

User Flow

As Homebound evolved from fully custom homes to a hybrid model, we needed a more flexible configurator to support two key paths: Build on Your Lot (BOYL), with more personalization and steps, and Build on Our Lot (BOOL), where options decrease as construction progresses. The design had to adapt dynamically to construction stage cutoffs and support both timelines within a unified, scalable experience.

Early Concepts

To accelerate time to market and deliver early value, we initially attempted to iterate on the existing configurator by introducing modest UX improvements like adding a persistent stepper in the header, clearer headline guidance, and breaking option types into separate screens. However, the underlying scroll behavior and structural limitations of the original layout continued to cause confusion and hinder usability, signaling the need for a more foundational redesign.

Redesign Ideation

After abandoning the original UX of the existing configurator, many variations were explored and reviewed with stakeholders. Inspiration was taken from various car configurator experiences as well as understanding how some competitors were achieving similar flows.

Usability Testing

After testing an initial prototype for usability, overall the response was very positive, with users having almost no trouble navigating the new experience. The largest miss being users missing the bottom left drawer and suggested stepping the progress out across the header.

Final Designs

The final designs incorporated key insights from user testing, elevating the visibility of the stepper by anchoring it prominently in the header to improve wayfinding. To support decision-making, we introduced a persistent footer with real-time cost and payment estimates. We also enhanced the visibility of the bottom drawer, enabling users to easily access a summary of their selected options and pricing throughout the flow.

Project Outcomes

Achieved $10.1 million in contract value in the first 45 days since launching in Southwest Florida, with a 56% increase in upgrade take rates over the base home.

Launch Reactions

“We’ve really been able to streamline this process from the consultants to the contracting to the site specific conditions. This gets me really choked up because I’ve been here since Day 1 at Homebound and we’ve talked about this when I was trying to sell homes in Santa Rosa 6 years ago and when I saw this technology when we were launching in Florida, it brought tears to my eyes. I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
– Customer Experience Team Member

“Since we’ve launched our new homeowner experience, it’s just been absolutely amazing. Our clients absolutely love it and rave about it. I’m constantly hearing from them how easy it is to use and how it simplifies the process, and differentiates us from many of the other builders.“
–Southwest Florida Construction Project Manager

This version has a much more intuitive initial page. It's easier to have a snapshot of all offers and explore floor plans. Spec level inclusions help justify costs and is a great resource to make presentations less clunky. Floor plan options may be the biggest improvement. Highlighting plans as items are selected flows way better and helps clients visualize in an smooth accurate way. The visual summary of selections is great.
– Glenn Miller, Colorado Sales Team

Selling the product

The configurator experience received strong positive feedback from both clients and the sales team, prompting us to explore its potential for selling it to external luxury custom home builders. Since we created such a flexible and scalable design, to support this initiative, I was easily able to design multiple prototypes to effectively communicate and pitch the concept to key stakeholders.