Bloom Housing
Scaled Bloom Housing's expansion through strategy, research, and design operations
Client:
City of Jose, Alameda County and City of Detroit
Role:
Design lead
Skills:
User research, Design concepts, Usability testing, Developer collaboration
Bloom Housing
Scaled Bloom Housing's expansion through strategy, research, and design operations
Client:
City of Jose, Alameda County and City of Detroit
Role:
Design lead
Skills:
User research, Design concepts, Usability testing, Developer collaboration
Bloom Housing
Scaled Bloom Housing's expansion through strategy, research, and design operations
Client:
City of Jose, Alameda County and City of Detroit
Role:
Design lead
Skills:
User research, Design concepts, Usability testing, Developer collaboration
Problem
After our the success of SF DAHLIA, an affordable housing platform built to meet the needs of the City and County of San Francisco, we realized the potential impact of an open-source solution that could be applied to any city or county. We were approached by other cities and counties in the Bay Area who wanted to modernize their own approach to housing and needed solutions that would adapt to their own local policies and residents needs.
In order to make this a reality, our team would need to build an agnostic and modular platform that would allow for each of our partners to integrate with the current technology stack, security measures, and branding requirements to ensure continuity of experience for their communities.
Problem
After our the success of SF DAHLIA, an affordable housing platform built to meet the needs of the City and County of San Francisco, we realized the potential impact of an open-source solution that could be applied to any city or county. We were approached by other cities and counties in the Bay Area who wanted to modernize their own approach to housing and needed solutions that would adapt to their own local policies and residents needs.
In order to make this a reality, our team would need to build an agnostic and modular platform that would allow for each of our partners to integrate with the current technology stack, security measures, and branding requirements to ensure continuity of experience for their communities.
Problem
After our the success of SF DAHLIA, an affordable housing platform built to meet the needs of the City and County of San Francisco, we realized the potential impact of an open-source solution that could be applied to any city or county. We were approached by other cities and counties in the Bay Area who wanted to modernize their own approach to housing and needed solutions that would adapt to their own local policies and residents needs.
In order to make this a reality, our team would need to build an agnostic and modular platform that would allow for each of our partners to integrate with the current technology stack, security measures, and branding requirements to ensure continuity of experience for their communities.
Approach
Our goal with partners in the Bay Area and beyond was to create a front door within a region that simplified the process of finding and applying for affordable housing. The foundation of this approach would be aligning on a set of common data models that would allow for a shared technical infrastructure, codebase and API.
Once a shared back-end infrastructure was in place we could build a set of tools that would allow housing developers and city staff to configure and manage listings and applications to ensure an intuitive and consistent user experience for local residents. Bloom would operate as a marketplace product. We would need three different user groups engaged and contributing in order to be successful. We would need a single design system to support city staff in managing the process, developers in providing housing, and home seekers in their applications.
Approach
Our goal with partners in the Bay Area and beyond was to create a front door within a region that simplified the process of finding and applying for affordable housing. The foundation of this approach would be aligning on a set of common data models that would allow for a shared technical infrastructure, codebase and API.
Once a shared back-end infrastructure was in place we could build a set of tools that would allow housing developers and city staff to configure and manage listings and applications to ensure an intuitive and consistent user experience for local residents. Bloom would operate as a marketplace product. We would need three different user groups engaged and contributing in order to be successful. We would need a single design system to support city staff in managing the process, developers in providing housing, and home seekers in their applications.
Approach
Our goal with partners in the Bay Area and beyond was to create a front door within a region that simplified the process of finding and applying for affordable housing. The foundation of this approach would be aligning on a set of common data models that would allow for a shared technical infrastructure, codebase and API.
Once a shared back-end infrastructure was in place we could build a set of tools that would allow housing developers and city staff to configure and manage listings and applications to ensure an intuitive and consistent user experience for local residents. Bloom would operate as a marketplace product. We would need three different user groups engaged and contributing in order to be successful. We would need a single design system to support city staff in managing the process, developers in providing housing, and home seekers in their applications.
Outcome
Driving design efforts, I worked with my team to deliver an open-source platform that would allow the product to scale and influence housing policy:
Partner experience for listings and application management based on standard data models
Admin experience for data and reporting as well as local programs and policies
Multi-brand and accessible design system to support local implementations
Outcome
Driving design efforts, I worked with my team to deliver an open-source platform that would allow the product to scale and influence housing policy:
Partner experience for listings and application management based on standard data models
Admin experience for data and reporting as well as local programs and policies
Multi-brand and accessible design system to support local implementations
Outcome
Driving design efforts, I worked with my team to deliver an open-source platform that would allow the product to scale and influence housing policy:
Partner experience for listings and application management based on standard data models
Admin experience for data and reporting as well as local programs and policies
Multi-brand and accessible design system to support local implementations
Process
Centralizing research & recommendations
As our team scaled to meet the needs of multiple jurisdictions, we need to centralize all of our learnings and findings across multiple research efforts into a single knowledge base. In order to do this I helped the team standardize of tooling and processes.
We landed on Dovetail as a place to store all of our research plans, interviews and insights. I worked with the team to standardize templates including interview guides, recruitment emails and synthesis share outs.
As we unified our approach, we were able to move forward faster with interviews, workshops and technical deep-dives to arrive at recommendations for a shared data model which informed a single common listing and application template.
Process
Centralizing research & recommendations
As our team scaled to meet the needs of multiple jurisdictions, we need to centralize all of our learnings and findings across multiple research efforts into a single knowledge base. In order to do this I helped the team standardize of tooling and processes.
We landed on Dovetail as a place to store all of our research plans, interviews and insights. I worked with the team to standardize templates including interview guides, recruitment emails and synthesis share outs.
As we unified our approach, we were able to move forward faster with interviews, workshops and technical deep-dives to arrive at recommendations for a shared data model which informed a single common listing and application template.
Process
Centralizing research & recommendations
As our team scaled to meet the needs of multiple jurisdictions, we need to centralize all of our learnings and findings across multiple research efforts into a single knowledge base. In order to do this I helped the team standardize of tooling and processes.
We landed on Dovetail as a place to store all of our research plans, interviews and insights. I worked with the team to standardize templates including interview guides, recruitment emails and synthesis share outs.
As we unified our approach, we were able to move forward faster with interviews, workshops and technical deep-dives to arrive at recommendations for a shared data model which informed a single common listing and application template.
Shared partner experience
Our original implementation in San Francisco has been built on top of a Salesforce backend. In order to meet the needs of everyone, we decided to build a cloud based partner experience that would allow each client to have the flexibility to integrate with their own systems of record.
I led the service design and information architecture of the Partner’s Portal which would onboard new users and allow them to manage housing listings and applications. I helped design a flexible listings process that allowed developers to easily edit and preview listings as well as access real time application submissions.
As digital uptake took off, we continued to help support developers with managing larger quantity of applications and custom policies. With more applicants applying digitally, I helped develop a system for resolving duplicate submissions. As housing policies that favored local residents increased, I also helped develop a system for geocoding residential and work addresses.
Shared partner experience
Our original implementation in San Francisco has been built on top of a Salesforce backend. In order to meet the needs of everyone, we decided to build a cloud based partner experience that would allow each client to have the flexibility to integrate with their own systems of record.
I led the service design and information architecture of the Partner’s Portal which would onboard new users and allow them to manage housing listings and applications. I helped design a flexible listings process that allowed developers to easily edit and preview listings as well as access real time application submissions.
As digital uptake took off, we continued to help support developers with managing larger quantity of applications and custom policies. With more applicants applying digitally, I helped develop a system for resolving duplicate submissions. As housing policies that favored local residents increased, I also helped develop a system for geocoding residential and work addresses.
Shared partner experience
Our original implementation in San Francisco has been built on top of a Salesforce backend. In order to meet the needs of everyone, we decided to build a cloud based partner experience that would allow each client to have the flexibility to integrate with their own systems of record.
I led the service design and information architecture of the Partner’s Portal which would onboard new users and allow them to manage housing listings and applications. I helped design a flexible listings process that allowed developers to easily edit and preview listings as well as access real time application submissions.
As digital uptake took off, we continued to help support developers with managing larger quantity of applications and custom policies. With more applicants applying digitally, I helped develop a system for resolving duplicate submissions. As housing policies that favored local residents increased, I also helped develop a system for geocoding residential and work addresses.
Consistent resident experience
We knew that any successful rollout of home seekers would require common approach to simplifying eligibility requirements and a streamlined application process. I took our learning from our pilot implementation and ideated on solutions for residents that would meet them where they were at.
Through iterative testing and development, we were able to arrive at listing format that would simplify criteria and be available in each local communities most commonly spoken languages. As the variety of opportunities expanded I focused on highlighting key details to help applicants self identify which listings matched their current income and desirability.
We were able to deliver a common format mobile first application process. I focused on intuitive forms best practices including, establishing what to expect, showing progress and clearly indicating submission and next steps. For our design language, we focused on left aligning content, focusing on one step at at time and clearly indicating errors and how to resolve them.
Consistent resident experience
We knew that any successful rollout of home seekers would require common approach to simplifying eligibility requirements and a streamlined application process. I took our learning from our pilot implementation and ideated on solutions for residents that would meet them where they were at.
Through iterative testing and development, we were able to arrive at listing format that would simplify criteria and be available in each local communities most commonly spoken languages. As the variety of opportunities expanded I focused on highlighting key details to help applicants self identify which listings matched their current income and desirability.
We were able to deliver a common format mobile first application process. I focused on intuitive forms best practices including, establishing what to expect, showing progress and clearly indicating submission and next steps. For our design language, we focused on left aligning content, focusing on one step at at time and clearly indicating errors and how to resolve them.
Consistent resident experience
We knew that any successful rollout of home seekers would require common approach to simplifying eligibility requirements and a streamlined application process. I took our learning from our pilot implementation and ideated on solutions for residents that would meet them where they were at.
Through iterative testing and development, we were able to arrive at listing format that would simplify criteria and be available in each local communities most commonly spoken languages. As the variety of opportunities expanded I focused on highlighting key details to help applicants self identify which listings matched their current income and desirability.
We were able to deliver a common format mobile first application process. I focused on intuitive forms best practices including, establishing what to expect, showing progress and clearly indicating submission and next steps. For our design language, we focused on left aligning content, focusing on one step at at time and clearly indicating errors and how to resolve them.
Birds eye view for staff
For city staff, it was critical that they be able to configure the system to meet their needs and extract insights about local housing supply and demand. Our shared framework, needed to allow each local government adhere to its local financing polices and fair housing guidelines.
I created property management workflows that would allow each jurisdiction to choose how much oversight it required over the listing process. The system could be configured to allow developers to add each property themselves or for local staff to upload the entirety of its housing inventory and maintain governance over the verification process.
Since each community its own unique distribution of incomes and demographics, I also designed local preference and program options that would allow staff to implement policies to set aside units for those who qualified. All of these details could be tracked and aggregated with scheduled reporting.
Birds eye view for staff
For city staff, it was critical that they be able to configure the system to meet their needs and extract insights about local housing supply and demand. Our shared framework, needed to allow each local government adhere to its local financing polices and fair housing guidelines.
I created property management workflows that would allow each jurisdiction to choose how much oversight it required over the listing process. The system could be configured to allow developers to add each property themselves or for local staff to upload the entirety of its housing inventory and maintain governance over the verification process.
Since each community its own unique distribution of incomes and demographics, I also designed local preference and program options that would allow staff to implement policies to set aside units for those who qualified. All of these details could be tracked and aggregated with scheduled reporting.
Birds eye view for staff
For city staff, it was critical that they be able to configure the system to meet their needs and extract insights about local housing supply and demand. Our shared framework, needed to allow each local government adhere to its local financing polices and fair housing guidelines.
I created property management workflows that would allow each jurisdiction to choose how much oversight it required over the listing process. The system could be configured to allow developers to add each property themselves or for local staff to upload the entirety of its housing inventory and maintain governance over the verification process.
Since each community its own unique distribution of incomes and demographics, I also designed local preference and program options that would allow staff to implement policies to set aside units for those who qualified. All of these details could be tracked and aggregated with scheduled reporting.
Unified design language
All three products shared a common visual language which was supported by a single design system. I worked closely with the engineering team to mature the existing system so that it was based on the needs of both design and engineering partners.
We created an architecture rooted in foundational tokens and a set of flexible core components. Once we had this in place, we knew we added layers to the system to support our specific content and behavioral patterns.
Our challenge was building a system that could be customized and branded. We started by creating primitive and semantic token layers. For our components, we leaned on atomic design principles to establish our core “seeds” components first. Once we had our Seeds in place, we created Patterns to act as content and layout guidelines to document how components could be assembled into use cases.
Unified design language
All three products shared a common visual language which was supported by a single design system. I worked closely with the engineering team to mature the existing system so that it was based on the needs of both design and engineering partners.
We created an architecture rooted in foundational tokens and a set of flexible core components. Once we had this in place, we knew we added layers to the system to support our specific content and behavioral patterns.
Our challenge was building a system that could be customized and branded. We started by creating primitive and semantic token layers. For our components, we leaned on atomic design principles to establish our core “seeds” components first. Once we had our Seeds in place, we created Patterns to act as content and layout guidelines to document how components could be assembled into use cases.
Unified design language
All three products shared a common visual language which was supported by a single design system. I worked closely with the engineering team to mature the existing system so that it was based on the needs of both design and engineering partners.
We created an architecture rooted in foundational tokens and a set of flexible core components. Once we had this in place, we knew we added layers to the system to support our specific content and behavioral patterns.
Our challenge was building a system that could be customized and branded. We started by creating primitive and semantic token layers. For our components, we leaned on atomic design principles to establish our core “seeds” components first. Once we had our Seeds in place, we created Patterns to act as content and layout guidelines to document how components could be assembled into use cases.
Key takeaways
Bloom, is a public sector product, that should serve everyone equitably, and must be compliant with government regulations. By balancing accessibility, security and legal compliance, we were able to create a product that is well positioned to serve a wide range of communities and local governments. I am proud of everything our team was able to accomplish and am hopeful that additional states will be able to adopt and customize the platform in the future.
Key takeaways
Bloom, is a public sector product, that should serve everyone equitably, and must be compliant with government regulations. By balancing accessibility, security and legal compliance, we were able to create a product that is well positioned to serve a wide range of communities and local governments. I am proud of everything our team was able to accomplish and am hopeful that additional states will be able to adopt and customize the platform in the future.
Key takeaways
Bloom, is a public sector product, that should serve everyone equitably, and must be compliant with government regulations. By balancing accessibility, security and legal compliance, we were able to create a product that is well positioned to serve a wide range of communities and local governments. I am proud of everything our team was able to accomplish and am hopeful that additional states will be able to adopt and customize the platform in the future.