Company: MyBuilder (IAC)
Role: Design Director
Scope: Product Design · Strategy · UX Research · Team Leadership
The Problem
Homeowners posting jobs on MyBuilder were unsure which tradesperson to choose - they wanted quotes that gave them a realistic idea of the effort and costs involved. Tradespeople want to quote accurately but the process of writing a good quote is lengthy and once quoted it becomes binding, so the stakes for mistakes are high.
The Goal
To help tradespeople write detailed quotes they can stand behind, in a fraction of the time, on-site, on their phones. Send those quotes to homeowners to compare and allow MyBuilder to offer an insurance policy based on the detail in the quote.
“Our primary goal was to create a tool that allowed a simple quote to be produced in a few minutes, and the most complicated in under 30.”
The process
We explored the concept of a self-service “Quote Tool” that could offer easy to populate templates, based on thousands of historic quotes across the UK. Working closely with a product manager and developer, I led a small design team through:
Industry expert interviews and behavioral research to validate assumptions
Rapid prototyping user journeys to validate concepts
Defining data-driven core job quote templates and simple population controls
Designing lightweight UI that surfaced just enough context without complexity
Iterating through user testing to refine tool comprehension and quote detail usability
We kept the focus on time to complete tasks, reducing complexity, and convenience to ensure easy comprehension for a typical less tech-savy audience. We were competing with pencil & paper, so the challenges to overcome were very real.
The Outcome
The Quote Tool became one of MyBuilder’s most adopted tools, enabling tradespeople to save hours of time, or achieve something they typically would not do, whilst giving homeowners clarity over their jobs and confidence in its successful completion.
We saw a measurable lift in trust indicators between tradespeople and homeowners, as well as with the platform.
More importantly, we helped close the gap between user uncertainty and confident action—making a traditionally stressful part of the home improvement process feel more transparent and guided.
My Contribution
Defined product strategy alongside PM and engineering
Led user research and testing
Directed UX/UI design and data integration
Presented findings and rationale to senior leadership at IAC
Drove the product to MVP launch and subsequent iterations
Component library in the Sketch design system
Project success
The Quote Tool has been highly successful, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from users. The most important lesson learned was that encouraging adoption among tradespeople who tend to resist switching tools was harder than expected and required a mindset shift to longer-term engagement. A forthcoming invoicing feature is expected to increase value and adoption, along with a supporting marketing campaign aimed to educate users on the benefits of professional quoting. As of writing, over 600 quotes were being sent daily, with about 25% accepted within a week.