Jose Barbosa's Portfolio

BUYER PLATFORM REDESIGN & AGENT PORTAL DESIGN

Meritage homes

Meritage Homes serves prospective homebuyers and real estate agents. This project modernized a dated buyer-facing website by redesigning key homebuyer journeys and laying the foundation for emerging agent-facing tools supporting incentivized participation.

Industry

Residential Real Estate

YEAR

2026

Role

Lead UX UI Designer

Industry

Residential Real Estate

YEAR

2026

Role

Lead UX UI Designer

Overview

Audience

Prospective homebuyers and real estate agents partnering with Meritage Homes.

KEY CONTRIBUTIONS

Led the redesign of Meritage’s buyer-facing website across key homebuyer journeys
Designed a scalable foundation for emerging agent-facing tools and incentives
Redesigned search, community detail pages, and PDPs across desktop and mobile
Reduced cognitive load through clear information architecture and content hierarchy
Collaborated closely with stakeholders to validate, iterate, and align solutions

We're operating across disconnected tools, and it's costing us time, consistency, and missed opportunities.

Melissa Dominguez, Partner Realtor

THE SOLUTION

Deliver a mobile-first experience supported by key features: a centralized inventory search with advanced filters, an agent rewards dashboard, client tracking tools, a place where buyers can connect with angent, and responsive design optimized for performance across all devices.

THE CHALLENGE

Meritage’s buyer-facing website had become dated and fragmented, creating friction across high-consideration homebuying journeys. At the same time, the business was beginning to incentivize agent participation without a dedicated digital experience.

We're operating across disconnected tools, and it's costing us time, consistency, and missed opportunities.

Melissa Dominguez, Partner Realtor

THE SOLUTION

Delivered a mobile-first redesign of core homebuyer journeys alongside a scalable foundation for agent-supported tools, unifying search, community, and home detail experiences across desktop and mobile.

Research & Discovery

RESEARCH PROCESS

Surveys and interviews with over 60 agents revealed a strong demand for a centralized, mobile-first platform. Agents expressed frustration with fragmented workflows, limited rewards visibility, and inefficient tools for managing listings and client updates. They prioritized time-saving features, real-time tier tracking, and seamless on-the-go access.

These findings gained strong stakeholder buy-in, ensuring alignment on user needs and business goals.

Agent Insights

Struggled to access real-time inventory

Used external tools to track rewards

Ignored Meritage marketing assets

Competitive Audit

Complementing user research, I performed competitive audits of leading real estate management tools (like BoomTown and kvCORE) and partner platforms (such as Zillow Premier Agent and Realtor.com).

Information
Architecture & Strategy

We crafted an IA focused on agents’ most frequent tasks and tier-based access levels. Key decisions included:

Designing an action-driven dashboard with cards and quick links for instant access
Organizing tools into clear, intuitive sections: Listings, Referrals, Clients, Resources
Incorporating tier progression indicators and benefits highlights to motivate user engagement
Developing a sitemap and task flows that enable agents to efficiently find and complete critical actions

This structure reduced friction, aligned with business incentives, and supported user journeys.

Research & Discovery

RESEARCH PROCESS

Surveys and interviews with partner agents and prospective homebuyers revealed gaps across buyer discovery and agent support. Agents faced fragmented workflows and limited inventory visibility, while buyers lacked clarity around floor plans, communities, availability, and next steps.

These findings gained strong stakeholder buy-in, ensuring alignment on user needs and business goals.

Agent Insights

Struggled to access real-time inventory

Used external tools to track rewards

Ignored Meritage marketing assets

Buyer Insights

Lacked clarity on communities and floor plans

Needed clearer availability and next steps

Wanted earlier agent support

Competitive Audit

Complementing user research, I conducted competitive audits across leading agent platforms and partner tools (including Zillow Premier Agent and Realtor.com), as well as major homebuilder websites such as Lennar, DR Horton, and KB Home, to identify best practices in search, content hierarchy, floor plan presentation, and agent enablement.

Information Architecture & Strategy

Information architecture was designed to support both buyer exploration and a dedicated agent portal. Key decisions included:

Structuring buyer journeys around discovery, understanding, and decision readiness
Designing scalable templates for community, floor plan, and home detail pages
Defining task-based navigation and flows for the agent portal aligned with incentives
Using progressive disclosure to reduce cognitive load across buyer and agent surfaces
Establishing a sitemap and shared framework that supports future agent portal expansion

This approach reduced friction, aligned with business incentives, and supported both buyer journeys and agent participation.

WIREFRAMES

Initial wireframes focused on improving homebuyer clarity across core journeys while streamlining agent workflows and establishing a scalable, business-aligned platform.

User Flow: Finding and Connecting with an Agent

User Feedback

User testing with agents confirmed strong workflow alignment and usability, while buyer-informed insights validated improved clarity across key homebuyer journeys.

Successfully completed buyer and agent tasks without assistance

Confirmed the experience felt intuitive and well-structured

Reduced support dependency across buyer and agent flows

Design SYStem

Built a scalable, component-driven design system that translated product strategy into reusable UI patterns, ensuring consistency, faster iteration, and seamless collaboration across teams.

FINAL DESIGNS

The final UI brings Meritage Homes’ brand to life with a modern, agent-focused design. Responsive layouts ensure seamless use across devices, delivering a professional, engaging experience that empowers agents and supports business goals.

Outcomes & Strategic Growth

KEY OUTCOMES

The redesigned platform improved clarity and efficiency across both buyer and agent journeys.

Homebuyers benefited from clearer navigation, content structure, and decision support,

Agents experienced more streamlined workflows and improved visibility into key actions.

Together, these improvements strengthened brand trust, reduced friction across high-consideration flows, and established a scalable foundation aligned with business goals.

NEXT STEPS

Next steps focus on expanding agent portal capabilities while further refining buyer journeys through real-time updates and personalization to support scalable growth.