End to end execution of building inspection report startup
My role at Superseed was to rapidly develop and actualise disruptive business models in the Trade and Construction space. The industry as a whole is sorely lacking in innovation. Countless trades still operate based on “the way it’s always been done” - a phrase that irks me to my very core. One of our first targets was the pre-purchase building inspection field. We set out to create a commercially viable alternative to the traditional business model - one that provided a significantly better experience for home-buyers.
Creative Direction, Branding, UX and UI - Remy Clarke
Product Strategy, User Research - Jeremy Crow, Patrick Dudek, Remy Clarke, Seana Glover
Development - Remy Clarke
Figma // Webflow // Miro // FigJam
Every startup we spun up followed a venture framework - the first phrase of which is entirely focussed on understanding the problem space, and those which operate within it.
During this phase, the team will diverge to conduct user research and converge for synthesis multiple times per sprint. We are all personally involved in this process to ensure our findings and synthesis are free from experiential bias. Formalised interviews, cold calls, friends and family - I cast as wide a net as I can when conducting user research to establish a wholistic understanding of the problem space.
Our collective synthesis forms the foundation of the venture. We use the findings to build out the business model, brand and a list of industry players we need to engage with in order to test the prototype in the real world.
In the next stage of the framework, the team will diverge again to tackle their field-specific tasks. I handle all things design and development in team - creative direction, branding, UI/UX design, low/no-code dev and analytics.
After a lightning quick branding exercise - Spectre was born. We wanted to create a service which was ‘invisible’ to the consumer. It practically named itself.
The concept was to commission reports for the standard price and then sell that single report (among other value-adds) for a reduced price to multiple prospective home-buyers.
Holding myself accountable, and setting deadlines for a rapid wire-framing and design phase enables the project to move forward without obsessing over minor interface details. Function is the principal concern in this phase.
While I love a good Michael Bay design - a minimal interface allows for expedited development without sacrificing quality. This approach again contributes to the overall velocity of the project, and leaves room for more iteration based on user data down the line.
While I love working closely with developers, it’s very liberating to have the capabilities to bring my design to life quickly and easily.
First hand experience of actualising a design also helps me to create future designs that are more developer-friendly.
Utilising the digital product e-commerce functionality of Webflow, I quickly built Spectre as a fully responsive site.
The platform is live, partnerships are in place and advertising collateral is at the printers - it’s time to set aside the ego and get your hands dirty. At this stage the team converges once again and morphs into a small bootstrap-startup team who will do whatever it takes to effectively test the business.
We mapped responsibilities to the rough service design flow I prepared earlier in the design phase to ensure all bases were covered. There is always a degree of wincing which occurs when you see a flow like this - there is so much that could be automated if the project was at an enterprise scale, but MVP’s are supposed to be just that: the minimum viable product.
The first iteration of Spectre performaed far better than expected. We sold a report for each of the three properties we used as trials. We saw high conversion and engagement rates and a surprising level of trust in the brand - to the point that we had users contacting us to ask for inspection reports for other properties after seeing our collateral at open houses.
To wrap up the MVP phase of Spectre, I facilitated a workshop with the team to recap the trial and share our thoughts on the overall performance. This process helps us to decide next steps, but also to formalise our learnings on user behaviour and the trade space which we are able to share with the wider VC group. Team work makes the dream work.