As Senior Product Designer at Side, I enhanced website customization options for real estate partners. The project improved flexibility in the WordPress template system, enabling unique brand experiences through expanded editing capabilities. By introducing advanced color configuration, typography controls, and layout options, we empowered both our implementation team and agent partners to create professional, distinctive websites that truly represented their brands.
Details
Template Standardization vs. Brand Differentiation
We initially assumed consistent templates would ensure quality and speed implementation, but partners complained their sites looked identical to competitors. Realized brand differentiation was more valuable than design consistency, so expanded customization options for colors, typography, and layouts.
WordPress Block Adoption
We were hesitant to enable standard WordPress blocks thinking our custom components were superior, but implementation team feedback showed they needed more layout flexibility for complex designs. Researched and enabled core blocks after extensive QA
Accessibility Tool Development
We knew we needed WCAG compliance but assumed partners would choose accessible colors naturally. Discovered branding teams regularly selected high-contrast palettes that failed web standards. Built a color contrast checker so partners could see accessibility issues before implementation rather than fixing them after launch.
Customization Scope Definition
We originally focused on content-level customization thinking that would be sufficient, but partner feedback revealed they needed site-wide control over headers, footers, and typography systems. Expanded scope to include comprehensive branding controls—sometimes you need to solve the bigger systemic problem.
Enhanced website customizer with expanded typography and color options
Custom-built accessibility tool for verifying color contrast compliance
Partner websites showcasing unique branding and customization
Future Roadmap
Updated Property Detail Pages
As partner needs expanded into new markets, more flexible property pages were planned to handle not just single property data, but leases, rentals, multifamily properties, and more diverse listing types.
Increased Focus on Lead Generation
The roadmap included working on lead generation capabilities, enabling partners to include custom pop-ups, contact walls, chat windows, and enhanced data collection methods throughout their sites.
Migration from Custom Components
A comprehensive migration plan was developed to shift from custom-built components to default WordPress blocks, supporting the implementation team's need to create more advanced design layouts quickly and efficiently.