Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices' Innovation Lab is a hub for transforming the real estate arm of Berkshire Hathaway through Lean Startup Methodology. Created to serve 43,000+ agents across 43 brokerages, our mission was to enhance transparency and accessibility for clients. The platform we developed includes a consumer-facing website, a Salesforce-based CRM, and a proprietary CMS that prioritizes GDPR compliance and accessibility. The project's major challenge was integrating the diverse and unique cultures of each brokerage while fostering trust among technology-related stakeholders.
Create a unified platform (Website, CMS, CRM) that supports 43 different brokerages and empowers their agents nationwide while giving respect to the unique aspects of each real estate market.
As Director of UX & Product Design at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, I scaled the product team from 4 to 16, leading the design work and overseeing product designs. During the 11-month acquisition process, I played a key role in showcasing our innovative UX process to 14 C-level executives at Berkshire Hathaway. Upon acquisition, I co-founded and directed product design, supervising six designers across four cross-functional teams. For this portfolio, I will detail the journey of on-boarding our first client, BHHS Kansas City Realty.
BHHS Kansas City Realty, based in Kansas, is the 3rd smallest brokerage under the BHHS umbrella. They pride themselves on being a 'one-stop-shop' for all real estate needs, offering services like title, insurance, mortgage, home warranty, and relocation. Through interviews with the CEO, we identified him as a visionary and ideal early adopter of our platform.
The creation of an MVP release line within our story map was challenging due to stakeholder reluctance to let go of certain features. The agent website was one contentious example, and Kansas City Realty agents were vocal about wanting it as part of their "desk-fee." However, after extensive research and discussions, our Product Design team advocated against including it in the MVP to retain control over the search experience. While this decision was initially unpopular with agents, engagement between key stakeholders and myself led to the agent website being excluded from the MVP. In retrospect, this was the right decision, as only 10% of agents utilized the proprietary CMS built post-MVP. Most agents now direct clients to the newly designed brokerage website.
With the successful launch, we're better positioned to approach the remaining 42 brokerages with strong data backing our proposals.
Throughout the acquisition process to the full life cycle of the product, my experiences have taught me valuable leadership lessons. Embracing failure as motivation, understanding the importance of team passion, creativity, and culture, and recognizing the crucial role of each individual has led to our success. These insights have shaped our approach and strengthened our impact on the product we're creating.
