Untangling house prices in Ireland with Whack
UX Review
posted on
22 Jul 2024
Whack is a property valuation app made by the one man generator Paul Meagher, who I had the fortune to work closely with during our time together at CYGNVS. Whack solves a real need for people to research the Irish property market by showing historical sales prices against what they were listed for. Right now, it’s early days but is positioned primarily towards first time buyers and home owners.
Appeal to the needs of one to capture the hearts of many
Currently Whack is aimed broadly at home owners, first time buyers and real estate agents. It also is likely to appeal to nosy people, and dreamers, too. Targeting a single cohort would make the app more focused, more personal, and less complex. It’s also more realistic to do than trying to do everything, especially when you consider this whole thing is a one man operation. There are a many paths this could take, but a good experience is driven by focusing on a specific target group at a time.
Postpone registration to lead with the product experience
There is a significant investment of effort to get to the value promised by the app. This is sadly a standard practice, but it isn’t something people tolerate in the real world. Loyalty cards are offered after you purchase a coffee. By gradually engaging people and letting them explore the app before creating an account, the hook that would bring them back could be better identified. The number of sign ups would drop, but signing up and actively using something isn’t the same thing and first impressions count.
Give people a reason to come back
Most apps die on the vine. 80% of downloaded apps are never used again after 90 days. Consider the top tasks that people will use Whack for, and how it can stand out. Is it a case that, as a property owner, you want to keep an eye on the property market to see what your investment is worth? Do you just want to look at fancy houses and have a goo? Are you going to suggest alternatives properties to people in areas that they hadn’t considered? More questions than answers
This review was unsolicited, totally subjective, and doesn’t claim to be a deep dive or have any of the actual answers. These are just like, my opinions. A big debt to the format goes to the work of Peter Ramsey of Built for Mars, and Samuel Hulick who’s been doing onboarding teardowns for the last decade or so.
