Increasing Engagement Rates for Rental Listings on Zillow

Zillow serves a variety of users, which we divided into two main segments: primary and secondary. Its primary users include buyers—people seeking to purchase properties, renters—people seeking rentals, and casual lookers—individuals without intent to buy/rent but browsing listings out of curiosity or to stay informed about the real estate market. The secondary users consist of real estate professionals such as agents/brokers, property managers, landlords, lenders, builders, and local advertisers.

For our project, we focused on addressing the needs of one of the app's primary user segments—renters—by helping them gain confidence in making informed decisions. We will consider our objectives achieved if this user segment demonstrates increased trust in Zillow rental listings and proceeds with a rental decision.

Developing an appropriate problem statement required careful thought. I consulted with the instructor to learn how to construct a statement centered around a key performance indicator (KPI). Ultimately, I decided to focus on engagement rates, specifically through increased inquiries and tours.

Problem Statement

"Zillow’s mission is to help more people get home  — with speed, certainty and ease.

We have observed that customers are struggling with gaining insights into properties from listings to make informed decisions, which is causing them to close the listings without any interaction.

Our goal is to enable users to leave reviews for rental properties, as this will ensure our customers are confident in their decision to use us based on improved engagement rates through increased inquiries and tours."

Jobs To Be Done

We identified several Jobs to Be Done (JTBDs) to understand how renters might use the review feature. Three notable JTBDs are:

• "When searching for rental buildings, I want to filter by responsive, clean, and attentive property management, so that I have a positive experience living in an apartment building."
• "When deciding between two properties, I’d like to access verified building and neighborhood insights, so that I can choose the rental property that best suits my needs for living in a long-term rental."
• "When evaluating a property, I want to be able to check out user reviews and comments from users, so that I can be informed about their living experiences, property conditions, and the neighborhood."

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Assumptions

While researching and designing the review feature for Zillow, we kept the following assumptions in mind:

• Customers will have high confidence using Zillow if they have access to reviews from verified users.
• Agents, sellers, and property managers are likely to flag negative reviews even if they comply with guidelines.
• Users are most likely to leave reviews based on negative experiences.
• Potential renters will engage with a listing for a longer time if there are reviews to read.
• Reviews and ratings significantly influence users’ decision to contact a rental property.

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Building a Zillow Pattern Library

We built a pattern library for Zillow by following the atomic design framework and replicating the existing brand guidelines found online. I started with the smallest building blocks of a design interface—foundations such as typographic scales, color palettes, and elevation (atoms). From there, I moved to groups of UI elements like Property Cards, Review Cards, and Buttons (molecules & organisms), before diving into the feature design.

With an existing review function for property management on Zillow, I based our design on it but made necessary improvements. For example, the current review section displayed all reviews vertically, making the property listing even longer. I redesigned the review preview as a horizontal scroll, displaying only a few reviews at a time. Users can click "see more" to be directed to a full-screen page where they can sort and upvote/downvote reviews. This approach ensures the review section integrates seamlessly without being intrusive or cumbersome, helping to reduce cognitive load.

For the review form, I used the existing property management review form as a precedent. I closely followed its design but made adjustments for scalability. For instance, the original design had criteria and stars inline, which caused line breaks on smaller viewports. In my design, I separated the criteria and star ratings onto different lines, making the rating clearer and easier to scan while preventing line breaks. I also increased the spacing between text and sections to enhance readability and provide more breathing room.

As for rating criteria, we have temporarily settled on four: "Property Management," "Location," "Amenities," and "Cleanliness." However, these criteria require further research and consideration to ensure they are free from bias. For instance, it is important to avoid favoring upscale properties, as this could alienate a broader range of users or marginalize more affordable and diverse rental options.

We conducted moderated usability testing with five users. The three tasks we tested were locating the review section on the property listing, browsing existing reviews, and submitting a review. Overall, the feature was well-received, and we received numerous compliments for integrating the review feature into Zillow, as if it had always been there.

All participants (5/5) were able to identify the starting point for reviews. They successfully navigated to read all the reviews and found the sorting options reasonable. Additionally, all participants found leaving reviews to be very easy and straightforward. However, a few issues were identified:

• The feature’s discoverability could be further enhanced.
• The rating criteria feel vague and may not be comprehensive or relevant.
• The star ratings were difficult to press due to their small size.
  

“Finding the review is fairly easy and intuitive.”

“It took a bit of scrolling to get there.”

“Location—what does it mean?”

Key Takeways

From conducting the usability testing, we gathered the following key takeaways:

• The feature is valued by users, especially by renters looking to make quick, informed decisions.
• While users do consider reviews when making rental decisions, they would prioritize other factors such as price, amenities, neighborhood, pet policy, and property photos.
• Detailed reviews on the quality and quantity of amenities could significantly impact decision-making.

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Recommendations

We developed two recommendations:

• Display the Review section more prominently for easier discovery. Place the star ratings below the property headline. Instead of having to scroll down the listing, users can click on the stars and be directed to the Review section.
• To avoid ambiguity of the rating criteria, add an overall rating. Additionally, increase the size of the stars to 48x48dp, as recommended by Material Design for touch targets.

I quickly incorporated these changes into the prototype.

Through this project — ranging from conducting desk research with a focus on the Opportunity Solution Tree, to crafting a problem statement centered around KPIs, to rapidly developing a clickable prototype for user testing, and finally iterating the design based on test feedback — I gained valuable insights into UX design.

Some of the key lessons I learned include:

• Start working on the problem statement earlier to ensure the KPIs are well-defined before testing.
• Simplify prototypes to focus on the most essential interactions.
• Ideally, be able to conduct unmoderated testing to compare click-through rates (CTR) for listings with reviews versus those without the feature.

The design process is inherently iterative and can often feel messy, requiring frequent movement between different stages of the process as needed.

As a final consideration, introducing a review section for rental listings raises ethical concerns, for example, its potential to contribute to gentrification. Reviews may amplify privileged perspectives, attracting higher-income tenants and driving up prices, which could displace long-time residents and reduce neighborhood diversity. Small business renters may also have little reviews compared to a big management and hence could be marginalized in search results. To address this, Zillow may consider creating review guidelines that encourage inclusivity, using algorithms to showcase a variety of perspectives, and adding features that help users make thoughtful, conscious choices.