Rento
www.rento.gr
A web based service for house listings in Athens, Greece. Simple and friendly, with large photographs and location based information for all listings, powered by an innovative natural language search engine capable of answering complex spatial questions such as "1st floor flat up to €450 near a metro station", "2 bd flat near the Acropolis" or even "loft downtown with fireplace".
Online startup focusing on the local market of real estate listings. Aimed at simplifying the egregious process of house hunting and quality lead generation. Offering a seamless and complete experience for users and customers of the subscription based SaaS solution focusing on simplicity, efficiency and quality.
From inception to:
The company received significant angel funding, was acquired by a large publishing house - the Condé Nast licensee for Greece and neighbouring countries, and operated from 2007 until 2011 in Athens, Greece. This page outlines the product design, the marketing efforts, the software development process, the sales material used, the company's day-to-day operations and its infrastructure.
From inception to:
The company received significant angel funding, was acquired by a large publishing house - the Condé Nast licensee for Greece and neighbouring countries, and operated from 2007 until 2011 in Athens, Greece. This page outlines the product design, the marketing efforts, the software development process, the sales material used, the company's day-to-day operations and its infrastructure.
Products
Product line addressing the needs of house seekers, students, private landlords and professional real estate agencies. All products designed and developed in-house with the following design principles: simple, context-sensitive and efficient interaction flow throughout the entire experience.
Product line addressing the needs of house seekers, students, private landlords and professional real estate agencies. All products designed and developed in-house with the following design principles: simple, context-sensitive and efficient interaction flow throughout the entire experience.
Rento Product for House Seekers
For house hunters, simplicity means an interface and interaction flow only with those elements necessary to enable expressing search queries as you would describe them naturally to a friend, while efficiency means getting the relevant results in a split of a second, being able to browse, sort, and compare critical information at a glance, as well as switching between results without losing context.
Being able to see the location of real estate listings, one of the most important factors while searching for a new house, promotes the map as a central design element of the user interface and not just as an alternative view of the same information but as the main view.
Three main user interface elements guiding the design and development of this product:
Designed and developed with these principles in mind as a single-page web application utilising modern web development techniques and the responsive user experience that people have come to expect from modern web applications.
For house hunters, simplicity means an interface and interaction flow only with those elements necessary to enable expressing search queries as you would describe them naturally to a friend, while efficiency means getting the relevant results in a split of a second, being able to browse, sort, and compare critical information at a glance, as well as switching between results without losing context.
Being able to see the location of real estate listings, one of the most important factors while searching for a new house, promotes the map as a central design element of the user interface and not just as an alternative view of the same information but as the main view.
Three main user interface elements guiding the design and development of this product:
Designed and developed with these principles in mind as a single-page web application utilising modern web development techniques and the responsive user experience that people have come to expect from modern web applications.
Search Interface
Designing and developing a simple search interface for a real estate search engine able to capture the multiple criteria necessary to express complex queries without cluttering the user interface poses quite a design challenge. Simple in this case does not mean simplistic, but rather simplex.
Departing from the classic user interface elements of drop-down menus and radio buttons and following the paradigm of command line interfaces, an alternative approach was decided early on to design and develop a textual input search interface that could accept search queries expressed in natural language.
The grammar and vocabulary of the domain language used to describe real estate search queries is relatively limited and the context is known, so a natural language search engine could solve the interface design problem of expressing multiple criteria complex queries without cluttering the user interface.
User acceptance of such an unexpected search interface to house hunting was mixed. Presenting a radically new and novel interface to users accustomed to formulating search queries on competitive real estate websites by clicking options and selecting drop down menus was a bet. Some users found it cumbersome having to type queries, even with full autocompletion provided, while others found it direct and appreciated the ability to freely express queries as they would naturally describe them to a friend - "I'm looking for a one bedroom flat downtown near a metro station up to €450".
The design of such a search interface also had to account for traditional users faced with the question of "how do I express what I want" and guide them by providing relevant cues and examples.
Designing and developing a simple search interface for a real estate search engine able to capture the multiple criteria necessary to express complex queries without cluttering the user interface poses quite a design challenge. Simple in this case does not mean simplistic, but rather simplex.
Departing from the classic user interface elements of drop-down menus and radio buttons and following the paradigm of command line interfaces, an alternative approach was decided early on to design and develop a textual input search interface that could accept search queries expressed in natural language.
The grammar and vocabulary of the domain language used to describe real estate search queries is relatively limited and the context is known, so a natural language search engine could solve the interface design problem of expressing multiple criteria complex queries without cluttering the user interface.
User acceptance of such an unexpected search interface to house hunting was mixed. Presenting a radically new and novel interface to users accustomed to formulating search queries on competitive real estate websites by clicking options and selecting drop down menus was a bet. Some users found it cumbersome having to type queries, even with full autocompletion provided, while others found it direct and appreciated the ability to freely express queries as they would naturally describe them to a friend - "I'm looking for a one bedroom flat downtown near a metro station up to €450".
The design of such a search interface also had to account for traditional users faced with the question of "how do I express what I want" and guide them by providing relevant cues and examples.
Natural Language Spatial Search Engine
In order to process search queries expressed in natural language, a query processor was developed using computer science compiler technology principles as an LALR(1) parser that converts these sentences into an abstract syntax tree (AST) that can be subsequently transformed into appropriate spatial SQL queries to be executed against the listing database. Spell checking capabilities were also built into the query processor in order to make spelling suggestions and recover from common typing mistakes.
The query processor component of the search engine was developed in C++ with a Ruby interface, and had to be efficient enough to meet its performance target of 250ms to complete processing from natural language to SQL. A user search query could be answered in less than 1sec, under normal load conditions, excluding the time required to transfer the resulting data over the network and the rendering time required to display results in the browser.
The query processor was an innovative interface to the design problem of expressing multiple criteria and spatial search queries without cluttering the user interface. It enabled searching for house listings using naturally rich expressions such as "1st floor flat up to €450 near a metro station", "2 bd flat near the Acropolis" or even "loft downtown with fireplace" expressed in Greek.
In order to process search queries expressed in natural language, a query processor was developed using computer science compiler technology principles as an LALR(1) parser that converts these sentences into an abstract syntax tree (AST) that can be subsequently transformed into appropriate spatial SQL queries to be executed against the listing database. Spell checking capabilities were also built into the query processor in order to make spelling suggestions and recover from common typing mistakes.
The query processor component of the search engine was developed in C++ with a Ruby interface, and had to be efficient enough to meet its performance target of 250ms to complete processing from natural language to SQL. A user search query could be answered in less than 1sec, under normal load conditions, excluding the time required to transfer the resulting data over the network and the rendering time required to display results in the browser.
The query processor was an innovative interface to the design problem of expressing multiple criteria and spatial search queries without cluttering the user interface. It enabled searching for house listings using naturally rich expressions such as "1st floor flat up to €450 near a metro station", "2 bd flat near the Acropolis" or even "loft downtown with fireplace" expressed in Greek.
Rento - Single page map-based web application to search for house listings in Athens, Greece. Searching amongst 20.000 active house listings using natural language and seeing the results on Google maps within seconds.
Listing Information Presentation & Interaction
The functions necessary to interact with the listing were placed on a toolbar always visible beneath each tab and special attention was given on how one communicates with the owner of a listing, designing and building in multiple interaction flows to reach the same point from different views.
Designing and developing the listing information presentation and interaction layers meant distilling the critical information that should be presented and arranging them in the constrained screen real estate of a single page mab-based web application to allow for progressive elaboration, while preserving the guiding principles and ease of use.
To allow for a quick view and comparison of listings as well as enable progressive elaboration, the most critical information was presented in the left results pane. The complete listing information was presented as call-out tabbed bubbles over the pin representing the location of the listing on the map and optimised to provide the most critical information at a glance on the first tab, while being able to drill down for more information with the minimum number of clicks.
To allow for a quick view and comparison of listings as well as enable progressive elaboration, the most critical information was presented in the left results pane. The complete listing information was presented as call-out tabbed bubbles over the pin representing the location of the listing on the map and optimised to provide the most critical information at a glance on the first tab, while being able to drill down for more information with the minimum number of clicks.
The functions necessary to interact with the listing were placed on a toolbar always visible beneath each tab and special attention was given on how one communicates with the owner of a listing, designing and building in multiple interaction flows to reach the same point from different views.
Listing Photos
An overlay slideshow was designed and developed to present listing photos within the same single page application used to search and display house listings that allowed quick access to photos without having to navigate away from the current search results and lose context.
Rento - Large photos for all listings viewed inside the main application on an overlay slideshow.
Rento iPhone Augmented Reality Application
Because house hunting occasionally means hitting the streets to look for opportunities and check out the neighbourhood, an augmented reality iPhone application was developed using the Layar platform to facilitate house hunting on the move.
Rento - iPhone Layar augmented reality application to search for nearby house listings on the move.
mini Rento Product for Universities
A special version of the search engine was developed that allowed universities to embed a limited version of the application on their websites to allow students to search for suitable student accommodation near the university's facilities. Used by the University of Athens, the largest university in Greece, and other smaller universities in Greece it could answer specialised spatial search queries such as This product was provided on a yearly subscription contract as a SaaS solution and besides helping a university's students find suitable accommodation, it also provided useful statistics to the university's accommodation office.
A special version of the search engine was developed that allowed universities to embed a limited version of the application on their websites to allow students to search for suitable student accommodation near the university's facilities. Used by the University of Athens, the largest university in Greece, and other smaller universities in Greece it could answer specialised spatial search queries such as This product was provided on a yearly subscription contract as a SaaS solution and besides helping a university's students find suitable accommodation, it also provided useful statistics to the university's accommodation office.
Rento PRO Product for Real Estate Agencies
roduct design emphasis on productivity and efficiency of the interaction flow throughout the entire experience.
Rento PRO - Dashboard with vital statistics of agency's account. Number of active, expired and pending listings, number of listings that did not meet the minimum quality control requirements and need corrections in order to be published, as well as the number of views and visitors received over the last thirty days.
Rento PRO - Real Estate Agency Listings Management interface showing basic info for each listing, the number of views and how much time is left until each listing expires and will be automatically withdrawn. Also provides quick and easy actions to republish, withdraw, view or edit each listing as well the ability to search for listings by area, category or price.
Rento PRO - Single Page Listing Upload interface for real estate agencies. Uploading multiple photos at once while being able to fill in the remaining information as well as being able to place the property on the map with the help of geocoding, reduced the time required to upload a listing to just 2.5 secs.
Rento PRO Sales Material
A customer subscription form used by the sales team that was designed to capture the customer's contact details, selected subscription package and billing information, that could later be used to open and monitor a customer account in the company's CRM system.
A short guide describing the main functionality of the product, as well as outlining the quality control processes used by the company was also designed for both print and electronic distribution.
A short guide describing the main functionality of the product, as well as outlining the quality control processes used by the company was also designed for both print and electronic distribution.
Rento PRO - Customer Subscription Form
Rento PRO - Short guide on using the product as a professional real estate agency (hover on the guide and click on the arrows to leaf through)
Marketing
The marketing efforts to promote the product included minimum budget guerilla ads, big poster ads around the city, full page print ads in prominent monthly and weekly magazines, radio spots in major radio stations, online SEO and SEM campaigns, as well as direct marketing campaigns to acquire listings with photos.
Guerilla Ads
A very common way that locals in Greece advertise properties to let or sale is by putting up yellow stickers in public spaces where passersby can look for information and make contact. Following this practice, similarly looking stickers with the message "Still searching this way? Find the house you want on www.rento.gr" were put up side by side with the original stickers to promote the website in 2.500 public spots around the city.
Rento - Guerilla marketing done in 2.500 spots in the streets of Athens, Greece
Print Ads
A series of full page ads run on major weekly and monthly local magazines during Nov 2010 - Jan 2011
Radio Ads
Radio spots for www.rento.gr aired during Nov 2010 - Jan 2011 on three of the most popular radio stations in Athens, Greece - En Lefko 87.7, VFM 88.3 and Best Radio 92.6
Software Development
The software development team followed Agile software methodologies, Scrum, eXtreme Programming and Test Driven Development with:
Rento - Continuous Integration system used during software development to detect problems early and make healthy builds for all targeted platforms
Operations
The operations team had four main functions: answering both online and offline user and customer queries, performing content quality control, coordinate the photo service, as well as execute and monitor the performance of the direct marketing campaigns.
To facilitate smooth running of the operations, Athens was divided into distinct manageable operational areas, and the team relied on a tailored CRM system as well as custom made software which made extensive use of the geographical information collected and publicly available geo data.
To facilitate smooth running of the operations, Athens was divided into distinct manageable operational areas, and the team relied on a tailored CRM system as well as custom made software which made extensive use of the geographical information collected and publicly available geo data.
Call Centre
A call centre with five agent capacity operated 8/5 answering online and offline user and customer queries using the company's CRM and following customer service guidelines and processes.
A call centre with five agent capacity operated 8/5 answering online and offline user and customer queries using the company's CRM and following customer service guidelines and processes.
Photo Service
In order to bootstrap and acquire listings with photos as well as publicise the website, the company made an innovative offering. "Put your listing online with us, and we'll come and photograph your place for free". In order to support this operationally, a smart phone application was developed that could receive and display information and addresses of listings and allowed one to take matching photos and upload them wirelessly on the spot. A courier service was contracted, equipped with smart phones, received relevant training and given routes and times every week to follow, take photos and upload them onsite.
In order to bootstrap and acquire listings with photos as well as publicise the website, the company made an innovative offering. "Put your listing online with us, and we'll come and photograph your place for free". In order to support this operationally, a smart phone application was developed that could receive and display information and addresses of listings and allowed one to take matching photos and upload them wirelessly on the spot. A courier service was contracted, equipped with smart phones, received relevant training and given routes and times every week to follow, take photos and upload them onsite.
Rento - The windows mobile application that was developed in-house and was used to take photos of listings and upload them online over wireless 3G internet on the spot. As a way to acquire listings and publicise the website, the company made the innovative offering "put your listing online with us, and we'll come and photograph your place for free". A courier service was contracted for this purpose, received relevant training and equipped with smart phones run around the city taking photos and uploading them online.
In order to increase operational efficiency, special software was developed to generate shortest routes for any collection of points. This software used a k-cluster algorithm to partition and group the given addresses together and find the shortest path between points in each cluster by providing a solution to the travelling salesman problem using genetic algorithms. For 2.000 listings the software run for approximately 2 hours producing 200 shortest path routes of 15-20 points saving the company about 250 hours of manual labour, while cutting down the cost per point by 34% from €1.20 to €0.80 and resulting in increased efficiency and less communication overhead for the operations team.
Rento - In order to calculate the shortest route to photograph a collection of listings special software was developed that provided a solution to the travelling salesman problem using genetic algorithms. The above is an example of a shortest route produced for a collection of 18 listings to be photographed in that area of the city, ordered by address and visualised on a map. This information was then given to the contracted courier service which was equipped with a custom made smart phone application that would take the photos and upload them on the spot.
Content Quality Control
In order to ensure a high level of quality and uniformity of published listings, content quality control guidelines and the corresponding software system and processes were put in place enabling customer service representatives to approve, withdraw and edit listings with automatic mechanisms in place to inform users and customers of required actions where appropriate. Content quality control ensured that all listings had appropriate photos and other basic info before being published.
In order to ensure a high level of quality and uniformity of published listings, content quality control guidelines and the corresponding software system and processes were put in place enabling customer service representatives to approve, withdraw and edit listings with automatic mechanisms in place to inform users and customers of required actions where appropriate. Content quality control ensured that all listings had appropriate photos and other basic info before being published.
Direct Marketing Performance Monitoring
In order to acquire listings, direct marketing campaigns were organised with an external call centre and supported by an in-house software system providing an interface to call centre agents who followed the developed and optimised scripts in order convert leads and categorise them according to outcome. It also provided an administrative interface to the operations manager in order to monitor the progress and performance of the campaigns.
In order to acquire listings, direct marketing campaigns were organised with an external call centre and supported by an in-house software system providing an interface to call centre agents who followed the developed and optimised scripts in order convert leads and categorise them according to outcome. It also provided an administrative interface to the operations manager in order to monitor the progress and performance of the campaigns.
Rento - In-house operations system to monitor the progress and performance of the direct marketing campaigns
Infrastructure
Dedicated rack-based managed servers for
Office and Team Photos
Special thanks to a great team: Fotos Georgiadis (CTO), Philip Vernardis and Dimitris Damianakis (operations manager), Yannis Gonianakis (software engineer), Eric Coen (software engineer), Nikos Dimitrakopoulos (software engineer), Christina Mingou (customer rep), Afrodite Aygerinou (customer rep), Theodora Kortessa (customer rep), Markos (photographer), Lefteris (photographer) and Aris Kentros (field sales)
