98%
Approximate share of the report that could be auto-filled.
Aloft case study
A faster way through residential appraisal work.
Aloft Toolkit helped appraisers move from manual, fragmented valuation work toward a more guided workflow for comparable sales, depreciation, site analysis, adjustments, commentary, and export-ready reporting.
Senior product designer
B2B SaaS
React + Chakra UI
Depreciated Cost / Paired Sales
Site value
$535,000
Workflow goal
45-60 min
75%
Reduction in process time, from 2-4 hours to about 45-60 minutes.
80%
Automation target for report content using AI and third-party data.
1 hr
Product goal for completing a standard appraisal workflow.
Role + ownership
I served as Senior Product Designer, partnering with an entry-level designer, two product managers, appraiser SMEs, and engineers to define workflows, review builds, and refine the product system.
Research inputs
I used expert reviews, appraiser interviews, surveys, LogRocket session replays, Zendesk feedback, and product analytics to identify friction points and prioritize design updates.
Design system
Co-owner os "Sound Design", a cusomt Figma-based design system for components, iconography, typography, and brand palettes that supported faster design and engineering alignment.
Problem
Modernizing a workflow built around legacy tools.
Residential appraisal is high-stakes, deadline-driven work, but much of the process still depends on fragmented software, manual calculations, copied report language, and subjective adjustment logic.
When I joined, Aloft was moving from a broad appraisal product toward a sharper toolkit focused on the pain points that slowed appraisers down: comparable analysis, cost adjustments, commentary, and report export.
Design challenges
The interface had to make dense appraisal logic feel usable.
Analysis workspace
Comparable sales in a working canvas
Appraisers could compare subject and comp properties, review extracted site value, and move across adjustment categories without leaving the analysis view.
Adjustments
Spreadsheet-level detail, product-level guidance
The adjustment grid organized comparable properties into a familiar appraisal structure while surfacing calculated values and editable rows.
Site analysis
Charts for valuation conversations
Visual analysis helped appraisers evaluate site size, site value, and dollars per square foot before committing to adjustment decisions.
Commentary
Report language tied to the work
Commentary sections connected analysis decisions to export-ready report language, helping appraisers explain adjustments with less rework.
Design moves
Reducing appraiser effort without hiding professional judgment.
Inline guidance
Added guidance where appraisers needed help interpreting
fields, valuation logic, and report sections.
Calculated adjustments
Used AI-populated data, third-party sources, and
auto-calculations to reduce repetitive entry while keeping
values reviewable.
Contextual panes
Brought public records, visual cues, and comparable details
into the same surface to reduce tab-switching.
Flexible exports
Supported diverse appraisal workflows by making analysis and
commentary easier to move into downstream report formats.
Research to action
Feedback loops shaped both the workflow and the interface.
Appraisers were not asking for a black-box replacement. They needed speed, consistency, and better evidence while still retaining control over the judgment calls that define appraisal work.
Impact
A denser product made easier to learn, review, and ship.
The work helped Aloft clarify a more focused appraisal product: a toolkit for completing high-friction valuation work faster while improving the consistency of adjustment decisions and report outputs.
Alongside product managers and engineers, I translated research findings into screens, components, reviewable tickets, and design-system patterns that could support both immediate releases and future automation.
Back to work