All Projects

(07)

Build.Layer. Unify

Project type

Product Design, Mobile App UX, Home Renovation & Proptech

Project role

Lead Product Designer, UX Research, IA, UI Design

Date

2026

Overview

Homeowners speak in inspiration. Contractors need specification.

Renovation starts on Pinterest, scattered information and unbuildable. I led BLU end to end research, brand concept, IA and interaction model, reframing it around one shared brief both sides can edit and approve.

The problem

Inspiration scattered

No organization system

Vision transfer fails

Informal channels, misread

Can't visualize at scale

Material size blindness

Late decisions cascade

Schedule overruns

The core problem

Homeowners and contractors can’t hand over the same picture.

Homeowner

Pinterest saves

Screenshots

Aesthetic vision

?

GAP

Contractor

Specification

Quantities

Lead times

?

GAP

Contractor

Specification

Quantities

Lead times

30%

of post-start project time goes to clarifying what the brief never said.

Contractor fills the gaps

Assumptions over specs

No cost awareness

Budget surprises

Contractors duplicate work

Translation burden

Static briefs

No back-and-forth dialogue

03 RESEARCH

01 / Interview

Discovery interviews

02 / Synthesize

Themes clustered & named

03 / Map

Affinity mapping

04 / Audit

Competitive analysis

…

→

SHARED

…

→

SHARED

3 homeowners · 2 contractors

Motivations · barriers · opportunities · guidance

Themes recurring across all 5 sets

Pinterest · Houzz · Revit · planners · moodboards

01 / Interview

Discovery interviews

02 / Synthesize

Themes clustered & named

03 / Map

Affinity mapping

04 / Audit

Competitive analysis

…

→

3 homeowners · 2 contractors

Motivations · barriers · opportunities · guidance

Themes recurring across all 5 sets

Pinterest · Houzz · Revit · planners · moodboards

01 / Interview

Discovery interviews

02 / Synthesize

Themes clustered & named

03 / Map

Affinity mapping

04 / Audit

Competitive analysis

SHARED

3 homeowners · 2 contractors

Motivations · barriers · opportunities · guidance

Themes recurring across all 5 sets

Pinterest · Houzz · Revit · planners · moodboards

What pain points emerged from BLU interviews?

Unified insight

One structured brief both sides can build on together.

100%

of contractors interviewed said a structured brief would cut clarification time.

homeowner's best-ever renovation came with a designer-provided organized brief.

sides, one stated goal: a single reference point both can trust.

The insight we carry forward

One structured, shareable brief both homeowners and contractors can build on together.

Process

What must launch first to deliver it?

Must-have

Pinterest Import + AI Categorization

Organizing is the first thing homeowners give up on.

Structured Shareable Brief

The missing document the whole insight rests on.

Per-Category Comments & Q&A

A brief no one can question is a brief no one trusts.

Room Visualization (AR / photo)

Scale mistakes are the expensive ones.

Nice to have

Availability & Lead-Time Signals

Fewer surprises

Before & After Render Preview

Higher confidence

Delightful

Reusable Brief Templates

Faster onboarding

Contractor Quoting Integration

Closes the loop

Future

Supply-chain integrations · automated visualization · marketplace

Four lenses on one gap, then mapped to flows.

5 interviews · 4 affinity themes · 1 north-star artifact · 2 user flows

01 / 05

SITE MAP

The concept — the name is the model

blu · /bluː/

From blueprint : the original tool for communicating a build before it exists.

Build

Collect inspiration and non-negotiables where homeowners already gather them.

Layer

Structure the chaos into spec, comments and budget, organized by material, not room.

Unify

Hand off one clean document both sides can read, question and approve.

What testing revealed

Issue 01

Hard to tell what’s clickable: Weak affordance; interactive states not obvious.

Fix :stronger interactive states, subtle backgrounds on surfaces

Issue 02

Status indicators too subtle: Small dots, low weight in the hierarchy.

Fix: larger, labelled, colour and shape together

Issue 03

Authorization confirmation missing: Unsure whether the Pinterest connection succeeded.

Fix :post-auth confirmation naming the connected account

Issue 04

Notes & non-negotiables hidden: Feature existed, but nobody found it unaided.

Fix : explicit prompt per category, field surfaced at the top

What testing validated

✓

Core concept resonates

Participants named the problem BLU solves before we described it.

“This closes the gap between what I want and what gets built.”

✓

AI categorization is positively received

Flow completed with minimal guidance and friction.

“I appreciate I don’t have to organize manually.”

✓

Design reads as trustworthy

Confidence in the platform came from the visual design alone.

“Looks clean and professional.”

The Work

Flow A · Final

Pinterest inspiration

Meet homeowners on the tool they already use to collect.

Flow A — connect Pinterest → AI auto-sort by material → budget per category

Connect a board, then auto-sort the chaos by material.

Link to prototype

Flow B · Final

Builder brief

From inspiration to a brief contractors trust.

Flow B — shareable brief → per-category comments → non-negotiables & lead times

One shareable artifact both sides can edit, question and approve.

Link to prototype

Reflection & next steps

BLU is a living problem space.

Testing validated that the core concept resonate : a structured brief would address the communication gap. But the work revealed something bigger, homeowner-contractor alignment is a systemic problem that requires ongoing iteration across research, design, and real-world use.

Broaden research to 15 participants across price tiers and project sizes.

Bring contractors into the test loop from the first round, not the last.

Prototype the LiDAR room scan that lets the brief begin to write itself.

Socials

Socials

Socials

Let’s Work Together -

Let’s Work Together -

Let’s Work Together -