Idea 87

Idea 87 was a pitch that never was; the one that got away. An idea so good and ahead of its time that I still think it could’ve revolutionised how we sell houses.

It’s just messaging

It was a day like any other at Strike. We were in Ideation phase of redesigning the whole customer facing portal, when my Manager reached out to me to hop on a zoom call.

Over the past weeks we had been combing through user feedback, and there it was, staring at our faces.

“It’s just messaging” he said. It was so obvious. Customers were navigating around the hub correctly, but still, they chose to message each other constantly. It was almost as if the interface was blocking their communication, like the portal was the nagging part.

All of a sudden, it all made sense. I found time to start working on a pitch. I could see it so clearly.

Two hours later, the pitch was ready (see prototype below).

It was obvious, elegant and simple. It had all the characteristics of a great user experience, but unfortunately we couldn’t secure the resource to transform Strike’s entire infrastructure to accommodate all our crazy ideas.

Still, I wonder. WhatsApp for selling and buying houses? One day, someone will do it, and maybe, just maybe, it’s because of Idea 87.