Zillow iOS app – 2013 version

The Zillow iPhone app takes a minimalist approach to their first time user experience, truly embracing the idea that their users just want to jump in and start looking for homes.

The good bits:
Upon entering the app, I was shown the standard location services alert. When I dismissed it I landed on the app’s home screen with its side navigation panel open by default. Showing the side navigation first allowed me to quickly see options for searching and saving homes, and I had easy access to the map content on the right. This was a simple and cheap way on their part to avoid the heavier product tour approach.

This app is extremely light-handed when it comes to educating users, relying on learn-by-usage. It does display one hint, which showed me how to swipe up or down to view more or less details about a home tapped on the map. This hint appears in a home’s empty image container while photos load, and fades out when the photos are available. It’s a creative use of this waiting period to provide education.

To be improved:
In general, sign-in prompts are reserved until a user initiates an action like saving a search. While it is great that they don’t prompt for sign in until this point, the message on the Saved Searches screen could be clear that an account is required. The current text makes it sound like you only need to be logged in to sync the searches with your account.