The Finnish Real Estate Management Federation
Analysis of the current state, concept design and technical specifications streamline website project
The Finnish Real Estate Management Federation is an interest association of real estate managers and organisations providing real estate management services. The federation offers its members a wide range of training, advice and services for developing the real estate management sector. We helped the federation to launch an extensive website redesign project by mapping the current and target state of the digital environments, carrying out a technical specification and designing content wireframes for the new website. This thorough groundwork will allow the redesign project to be implemented efficiently and in the most user friendly format possible.
Starting by understanding the current situation and clarifying objectives
With more than 500 member companies and 21 associations, the Real Estate Management Federation’s website has to cater for a wide range of different user groups and their varying needs. To improve its online services, the Federation has launched a large-scale website redesign project, the first step of which was to seek support in designing content wireframes and deciding on the technologies to be used. The renewal also focuses on improving usability and the traceability of the site’s analytics.
With these premises in mind, we analysed the current state of the online services and set goals for the renewal together with the Federation’s team. We identified and defined the needs of the different user groups, created illustrative user stories to facilitate content design, and sketched preliminary wireframe models of the content structures and elements for the future site.
Technical specification concretises the concept
Once the user needs and content structures of the site were defined, it was time to start thinking about how the site should work and how to implement the different functionalities. The technical specification covered issues like ensuring system performance, integrations and privacy aspects. In addition, the specification concluded that the needs of the Federation would be better served by a multisite model, rather than a single large site. A multisite split into several subsites can be conveniently managed from a single location, and individual services can be more easily developed further within their own sites.
Measurement plan for analytics guides further development
Monitoring analytics is also a key part of site development. Firstly, the data provides valuable insights into visitor behaviour, and which parts of the site are working well and which need further refinement. It also allows for more systematic evaluation and improvement of the effectiveness of marketing efforts and the quality of the user experience. The data also makes it easier to make rational and objective decisions on how to develop the site and its user paths in the future.
To enable the team at the Federation to continue developing its website and its content after the launch, we established a clear measurement plan for analytics based on the objectives set for the redesign. This measurement plan will ensure that the right data is being monitored with the right metrics to meet the objectives, and will also make it easier to plan and prioritise further development initiatives.
The outcome: a solid basis for efficient implementation, maintenance and improvement
Thanks to careful specification work, the new website will serve both the different user groups and the technical needs of the Federation. The detailed technical specification also ensures the multisite site and its content will be maintainable and further enhancable throughout its lifecycle. It also makes planning and budgeting for the development project much easier and more accurate.
What we did
- Defining the current state of the business and setting targets
- Mapping user groups and forming user stories for the website
- Designing the content structures and elements of the site
- Technical specification for the site
- Measurement plan for analytics
About The Finnish Real Estate Management Federation
The Finnish Real Estate Management Federation acts as a national interest organisation for property managers and companies and communities providing property management services. The association has more than 500 member companies and 21 associations, through which about 4/5 of the Finnish property management industry is represented. The activities of the Federation focus on supporting the development of the property management sector and the activities of its member companies, which in turn indirectly affect the lives of all 2.7 million Finns living in flats and terraced houses.
