HomeWorld Display Village Wayfinding

Overview

HomeWorld is a display home organisation with hundreds of display homes from building companies across New South Wales. HomeWorld Marsden Park is one of its display villages, with a range of home designs from many builders in one place.

Recognising the need to enhance visitor experience and simplify navigation around the large display village, HomeWorld partnered with Mobiddiction to create a custom map using drone photography, custom pedestrian wayfinding, all in a mobile application. This app was designed to assist home buyers in connecting with builders, exploring display homes, and navigating the Marsden Park village with ease. The application represents HomeWorld’s first foray into mobile technology, aiming to provide an enhanced, location-aware extension to the traditional display village experience.

Problem Statement

Prior to the development of the app, visitors to HomeWorld Marsden Park faced several challenges when exploring the extensive display village:

• Poor and outdated satellite view coverage from Google and Apple Maps
• Difficulty navigating the large display village and locating specific homes or builders
• Limited information about the display homes while physically on site
• Challenges in comparing different home designs and features across multiple builders
• Inefficient means of contacting builders directly about specific homes or queries
• Lack of contextual information about the homes and builders based on a visitor’s physical location
• Reliance on printed materials that could quickly become outdated

HomeWorld needed a solution that would enhance the visitor experience by leveraging digital technology to provide location specific information, simplify navigation, and create a more engaging and productive home selection process for potential buyers.

Our Thinking

While HomeWorld’s website already provided visitors with basic information about display homes, including pictures and descriptions, we recognised an opportunity to create a more immersive and practical experience through a dedicated mobile application. The key was to leverage location aware technology to provide context specific information and navigation assistance. Our approach focused on creating a true extension to the HomeWorld experience by providing site specific capabilities that would make visiting the display village more informative and efficient.

We identified several key opportunities:

• Use Mobiconnect, the platform that has since become M4, for the gallery, push notifications and location-based wayfinding
• Create a custom map of the display village using drone imagery for precise navigation
• Implement wayfinding technology to guide visitors from their current location to any display home or builder
• Develop a comprehensive database of display homes and builders with detailed information and gallery images
• Integrate direct communication channels with builders to facilitate enquiries
• Implement smart notifications to provide relevant information as visitors explore the village

By combining these elements, we could create a powerful tool that would enhance the visitor experience while providing valuable data to HomeWorld about visitor behaviour and preferences.

The HomeWorld Marsden Park experience was built to test a better visitor experience once a customer walks into the display village. It had to be easy to use and engaging, and create a valuable connection for the builders there.

Design

Our design process began with a clear focus on user experience, ensuring that the app would be intuitive and valuable for visitors of all technical abilities. We conducted extensive user research to understand the needs and expectations of home buyers visiting display villages. The app’s interface was designed to be clean, visually appealing, and aligned with HomeWorld’s brand identity. We prioritised ease of navigation and quick access to key features, recognising that users would be accessing the app while walking around the display village.

Key design elements included:

• Interactive map interface with clear markers for display homes and amenities
• Simplified navigation with intuitive icons and minimal text
• Responsive design that works on both iOS and Android devices
• Visual consistency with HomeWorld’s brand guidelines
• Strategic use of colour and typography to enhance readability in outdoor settings
• User-friendly filters to help visitors narrow down homes based on their preferences
• Intuitive builder contact forms accessible directly from home profiles

The map, a central feature of the app, was created using high resolution drone imagery of the Marsden Park display village. This approach provided a more accurate and visually appealing representation than standard mapping services, allowing for precise placement of homes and walking paths.

Development

The app was built on Mobiconnect, which at the time provided the foundation for its gallery, push notifications and location features. Starting from a platform meant we did not build those from scratch. The development process focused on several critical aspects:

• Location Intelligence: Implementing precise GPS tracking to determine visitor location within the village
• Wayfinding Algorithm: Developing a custom pathfinding system that calculates the most efficient walking routes between any two points in the village
• Content Management System: Creating a flexible back-end that allows HomeWorld to easily update information about homes and builders
• Push Notification Framework: Implementing location-triggered notifications that provide relevant information based on where visitors are in the village
• Performance Optimisation: Ensuring the app runs smoothly even with limited connectivity in the display village
• Cross Platform Compatibility: Developing for both iOS and Android to reach the maximum number of visitors

The integration of the custom map was particularly challenging, requiring precise georeferencing to ensure that the map aligned perfectly with real world GPS coordinates. This was essential for the wayfinding functionality to work accurately. We also implemented analytics to track user behaviour within the app, providing valuable insights to HomeWorld about visitor preferences and patterns. This data helps inform marketing strategies and future improvements to both the app and the physical display village.

The Experience

The HomeWorld Marsden Park app delivers a comprehensive and enhanced experience for display village visitors through several key features:

• Plan Your Visit: The app provides detailed information about all homes on display and the builders on site. Users can browse photo galleries for inspiration and use interactive maps to plan their journey through the village.
• Interactive Wayfinding: Using location intelligence and Mobiddiction’s wayfinding technology, visitors can easily navigate from their current position to any display home or builder’s office. The app provides turn by turn walking directions, making it simple to explore the village efficiently.
• Direct Builder Communication: Users can send queries or requests directly to builders through the app, streamlining the communication process and helping potential buyers get quick answers to their questions.
• Smart Notifications: As visitors walk through the display village, the app provides relevant information through push notifications, enhancing their understanding of different homes and building options.
• Comprehensive Home Information: Each display home features detailed specifications, floor plans, inclusions, and promotional offers, allowing visitors to make informed comparisons between different designs and builders.

The app gave visitors a way to plan a visit, find homes and builders, and contact builders from their phone.