Iryna Isenko ← All work

Case study 02

Sezlik: home search for Ottawa’s top team

A full real estate website for Sezlik.com, a Royal LePage team in Ottawa: listing search, property pages, a home value tool and a private area for registered clients.

Client
Sezlik.com · Royal LePage Team Realty
Role
Sole designer · service design, UX/UI
Team
Product manager, developers
Timeline
Several months · 2022
Sezlik homepage: Ottawa’s best real estate team, with the property search panel over a modern interior
01

The problem

Most Ottawa buyers start their search on the big national portals. Sezlik, one of the city’s leading teams, wanted its own site to be the better place to search: every MLS listing plus the team’s exclusive ones, local market data, and tools that only registered clients get.

For the team, the site had a second job: turn anonymous visitors into clients the agents know something about.

02

The constraints

Listings come from two feeds with different rules. Public DDF listings can be shown to anyone. VOW data, with fuller details and sold history, may only be shown to signed-in users. Every search view and property page had to work in both states, on desktop, tablet and phone.

03

What I did

As the only designer, I worked with the product manager and developers from the service model to the final UI:

  • A service blueprint of the whole journey, from first search to the agent’s call
  • The site map and key flows for buyers and sellers
  • An analytics model: which market data clients see, and which signals reach the team
  • Listing search in gallery, map and table views, with advanced filters
  • Property pages for regular and luxury listings
  • A “What’s my home worth?” estimate tool for sellers
  • Client tools: dashboard, comparisons, favourites and saved searches
04

The live site, in motion

Two minutes on sezlik.com as it runs today: the homepage search, the map, a property page with neighbourhood insights, the client dashboard, favourites, and a luxury listing with its virtual tour.

Pick a moment below to jump to it.

0:00
05

Service blueprint

Before any screens, I mapped the service as a whole: what the client does, what the site shows, what the team does behind it, and which systems carry the data. The blueprint showed where the site hands a client over to a person, and what the agent needs to know at that moment.

Scroll sideways to see all six stages →

01Discover
02Search
03Evaluate a home
04Join
05Follow the market
06Talk to the team
ClientWhat they do
Finds Sezlik through Google, ads or social media
Filters by area, price and type; switches between photos, map and table
Opens a home, compares it, looks for sold prices nearby
Creates an account to see sold data and save homes
Saves searches and favourites, watches neighbourhoods
Asks about a home, books a viewing or requests an estimate
Line of interaction
WebsiteWhat they see
Homepage: search first, market insights, the team’s own listings
One search bar, three views, market trends beside the results
Property page, luxury variant, compare and save
Sign-up at the moment of need: Google, Facebook or email
Client dashboard, comparisons, favourites, saved searches
Inquiry form, viewing slots, home value result with “Get in touch”
Line of visibility
Sezlik teamBehind the scenes
Curates featured and exclusive listings
Promotes team listings in results
Every property has a listing agent attached
A new client appears in the team’s client list
Sees what each client is interested in
An agent follows up with the client’s history in hand
Line of internal interaction
SystemsData
Public listing feed (DDF) through the Repliers API
Search index, map clusters, price histogram
Listing details; sold history held for members (VOW)
Account and consent; members’ data unlocked
Activity signals; market statistics per area
Requests sent to the team with the client’s context
06

Site flow

The site map follows two main paths: a buyer who searches and a seller who wants to know what their home is worth. Both end with a person on the team. Sign-up sits where it pays off for the client: sold prices, saving and comparing.

Enter

Homepage
Buyers
Sellers
About the team
ListingsFrom an ad or Google

Explore

ListingsGallery · map · table
Advanced search
Team listings
Market trends

Decide

Property pagePublic data
Luxury property page
Compare homes
What’s my home worth?

Sign-in gate

Sign up or log in
Sold pricesMembers’ data
Save a home or search
Compare and dashboard

Come back

My dashboard
My comparisons
My favourites
My saved searches

Contact

Inquiry form
Schedule a viewingIn person or virtual
Contact the team
Call with an agent
BuyerHomepage→Listings→Property page→Sign up→Favourites and compare→Schedule a viewing
SellerSellers→What’s my home worth?→Estimate→Get in touch→Agent valuation
07

One search, three views

Gallery, map and table views sit under the same search bar and filters, so buyers can switch between browsing photos, scanning a neighbourhood and comparing numbers. Market trends stay beside the results.

Listings in gallery view with market trends in the left column
Gallery view · signed in
Listings on a map of Ottawa with price pins and result cards
Map view
Listings in a sortable table with MLS number, status, price and address
Table view
Advanced property search with price histogram, property type, amenities and dates
Advanced search with a price histogram
08

Property pages, two moods

Luxury listings get a darker, more editorial page. The structure and actions stay the same on both: photo gallery, key facts, compare, save, an inquiry form and booking a viewing with the agent.

Standard property page with photo gallery, price and property information
Property page
Luxury property page with a dark header behind the gallery
Luxury property page
Sezlik.com team listings page with a red header and featured property cards
The team’s own listings
09

What’s my home worth?

A tool for sellers. They enter the address, purchase price and date, and the cost of improvements. The result shows an estimate range, the change in value since purchase and a direct way to contact the team. For the team, every estimate is a seller lead with an address attached.

Home value form with location, purchase price, date and improvement costs
The form
Estimate result with a map pin, value range and change in value since purchase
The estimate
10

Analytics for two audiences

The site collects one set of data and shows it two ways. Clients see the market, so they can decide when and where to buy or sell. The team sees each client’s interest, so an agent calls with the right homes instead of a cold pitch. Every market number comes with a comparison period, so it reads as a trend.

For clients · Is now the time, and where?

Market data

  • Average sale priceThis week compared with the same week last year
  • Properties on market and days on marketThis month compared with last year
  • Hottest neighbourhoodsPrice change over a week, a month, a year or two years
  • Condo and house prices by areaOttawa Centre, East, West and South side by side
  • Sales volume and listing valueMonth by month, this year against last year

Shown in
Homepage insights · market trends beside search · client dashboard · home value estimate

For the team · Who is ready, and for what?

Client signals

  • Saved searchesArea, price band and type each client is looking for
  • Favourites and comparisonsThe homes a client keeps coming back to
  • Home value requestsA seller lead with an address and purchase history
  • Inquiries and viewing requestsA buyer ready to see a specific home
  • Interest across the siteWhich areas and price bands draw the most attention

Arrives as
A lead with the client’s history attached, ready for the agent’s first call

01The client acts. Searches, saves, compares, asks for an estimate.
02The site records it. Each action becomes a signal on the client’s profile.
03The team sees it. Interest in context, not just a name and an email.
04The agent follows up. With homes that match, and the client comes back.

↺ Every visit adds to the picture on both sides

Market trends column: average sale price, annual comparison, days on market, hottest neighbourhoods and condo highlights
Market trends beside search
Hottest neighbourhoods over a week, a month, a year and two years, with a listing value chart
Hottest neighbourhoods by period
Quarterly sales volume chart comparing 2022 and 2021
Sales volume by quarter
Client dashboard with average sale price, properties on market and neighbourhood price bars
My dashboard
Comparison of homes in the Glebe and Vanier with a table of property details
My comparisons
Neighbourhood real estate insights on a live property page: homes for sale, sold, sales price, days on market and sales volume
Live site · neighbourhood insights on a property page
My Ottawa Dashboard on the live site with homes for sale and sold, sales price, sales volume and trending neighbourhoods
Live site · My Ottawa Dashboard
11

Every screen, three sizes

Each page was designed for desktop, tablet and phone, signed in and signed out. On the phone, search and filters collapse into one bar and the map works with a thumb.

Mobile homepage
Mobile listings gallery
Mobile map search with clustered pins
Mobile property page
Mobile home value estimate
Mobile client dashboard

Phone · 428px

Outcome

140+
Screens in the final design file
3
Breakpoints: desktop, tablet, phone
2
States per page: signed in, signed out

A complete product designed end to end by one designer: the service behind it, every page and state, and the data model that serves clients and the team.

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