How might the renovation of the Dutch housing stock be scaled through simple digital solutions?
Overview
Today approximately 160 homes are being renovated in the Netherlands each day.
Bouwhulp Groep estimates that to keep up with the rise of new housing stock, and meaningfully reduce its carbon footprint this rate should be brought up to 1000 homes a day by 2050. However this requires the maturing of a burgeoning and often overlooked ecosystem which requires coordinated efforts between municipalities, their residents, contractors, and training facilities.
| BRIEF | APPROACH |
|---|---|
| BouwhulpGroep is a Dutch boutique architecture firm specialized in renovation work. They asked me to help them develop an onboarding tool for potential clients which could: Emulate the kitchen table planning discussions they would have with their clients Visualize and aggregate demands and renovation needs in neighborhoods Help potential clients prioritize their renovation needs |
I worked very closely with the team in an agile, proof of concept-driven approach to develop first a working UX system which was piloted in 2021. In 2022, I then oversaw the UI design efforts with designer Eve Wolf, and the production of an explanatory video. |
Developing the app
The design, development, and testing were conducted in parallel tracks, putting a strong emphasis on the need to be able to communicate clearly and effectively across teams.
This included working with developers to create an overall architecture that could support our various key features, facilitating in-house co-creation sessions to help BouwhulpGroep formulate their technical needs and design principles, as well as providing the necessary support material for the BouwhulpGroep team to run their own user testing sessions during site visits.
| Proof of Concept : The proof of concept was a clickable prototype that contained the overall UX flow from awareness raising through a dynamic building carbon footprint estimation, to browsing the renovation options. However, it lacked a clear closure to the experience as its use as an interactive catalog needed further clarification. |
Scoping the experience: A key challenge for the development of this internal tool was scoping, several workshops were organized with the architecture firm to align their different teams on the purpose of the app. Once this was clarified, work started in rapid iteration loops starting with a clickable prototype, to help the developers get a better sense of how to structure the architecture of their app. Once a working prototype was developed and tested, which took about five months, designer Eve Wolf was brought on to create the final UI skinning. |
| The final product : The final version of the IKWOON app, has three distinct phases: Onboard, Plan Project, Confirm Project, guiding the visitor through the process of discovering why they might benefit from renovating their home, introducing them to Bouwhulp's network of solutions, helping them compare costs and efficiency, before finally notifying Bouwhulp's team of expert if they wished to initiate a renovation project. |
Promoting the app
The project resulted in the successful delivery of the Ikwoon app, designed as an interactive catalogue and survey tool for homeowners to invest in home renovation projects. Today approximately 160 homes are being renovated in the Netherlands each day.
BouwhulpGroep has since been able to roll out its use in multiple regions across the Netherlands and make it an integral part of their client interaction touchpoints.
