Harry Potter and the
Property Management App
Project Brief
If you are someone who rent, have you encountered issues such as slow communication with management, need to be home to confirm service, and must manually track service frequency, including routine maintenance? I for one unfortunately have, thanks to New York City pre-war buildings.
That’s why Property Sage was born; it is an AI-driven platform (I know, I know) to streamline property management for companies facing staffing challenges and high tenant demands. It’s like magic... with a chance to happen.

Highlights

Real User Interviews

Full Scope Pitch Deck

Future Business Plan
My Role

I did everything
Project Timeline
Ideation
Sep 2023
Initial design
Oct 2023
Data organization
Nov 2023
Pitch deck presentation
Market research
Sep 2023
Oct 2023
User interview
1st iteration
Nov 2023
Dec 2023

Users

Tenants
Mostly living in largest metro areas, millennial, tech-savvy
(Interviewed)

Management company

Landlord/ Board members
(Interviewed)
Painpoints - Solutions

Tenants
Slow communication with landlords for issue resolution
Manual tracking of service frequency and scheduling

Understaffed and overwhelmed, lacking capacity to handle tenant requests
Management company
Little adaption of automation in the current market

An application that utilizes:
-
(Tenant side) Request Tracking & Data Reports
-
AI-assisted Request Urgency Level System
-
AI-generated Data Report
-
AI-automated Preventative Reminder
User Journey Mapping

Tenants
Encounter issue
Keep waiting...
Send request to building to fix issue
Calling/emailing for update
Building sends someone;
issue solved
See Request Status update
Set “auto-reminder” if no update in 24/48 hours

Management
company
Come to work
Deal with hundreds of requests with 3 hundred more to come
Solved as much as they can; Go home
Deal with requests based on urgency level
Check data report and reminder to set up routine/preventative service
Design Discussion
To find the right people to talk to
Finding the right people to talk to without offering incentives can be tough, especially for a solo project. You want genuine insights, not just opinions from friends. Luckily, my capstone project professor stepped in and helped me connect with board members from NYC co-op buildings. This gave me a real look into what tenants experience when dealing with management companies.
To justify using AI
From a product design standpoint, using AI makes a lot of sense here because it's great at spotting patterns, which is exactly what we need. It's not just a trendy buzzword, but a practical choice given the huge amount of data our app can collect. This data will be really useful for analyzing and coming up with solutions, as well as for managing things with clear seasonal demands - the buildings.
To make money
This aspect of product design is crucial, yet it’s often a topic that designers hesitate to discuss openly. Yes, the negative connotation. However, the profit model and strategies for encouraging user retention are integral to the overall user experience—something we can’t overlook. I addressed this in the pitch deck.
Design Overview












Final Thoughts
One concern we should address is the possibility of competitors adding data reports and reminder features as follow-ups. This could potentially pose a threat to Property Sage, and the reality is that the market already contains several AI-powered management tools, making it essential for us to differentiate ourselves.
To outperform our competitors, we can focus on a few key strategies:
Algorithm Reliability: Enhancing our algorithm's reliability will give us a strong competitive edge - this requires great engineering effort.
Timely Market Opportunities: We should seize market gaps, especially where competitors haven’t caught up with us feature wise yet. Strengthening our marketing and sales can help us capture significant market share quickly.
Navigating Price Wars: To withstand price competition, we need adequate funding. Pricing should accurately reflect our product quality, but we also need to remain flexible with discounts and promotions, particularly during key phases of market share acquisition.
Service Integration: Developing partnerships with major third-party maintenance companies will streamline processes for property managers. A strong network of property management firms will attract more service providers, enhancing our platform's appeal.
And Above all; stay flexible to the market, act precautiously and accordingly.