LeaseFriendly
Real Estate UX From the Ground Up
Overview
Lease Friendly is an early-stage Canadian proptech startup focused on streamlining lease processes for landlords and tenants. The goal was to transform a traditionally paper-heavy, confusing experience into something approachable, digital, and scalable.
Key Contributions
Built the entire UX/UI foundation for the product, from first wireframe to polished UI
Created a scalable design system for consistency across the platform
Simplified complex legal and leasing workflows into clear, step-by-step user flows
Supported startup growth through landing pages, pitch decks, and marketing visuals
Led and implemented multi-phase user research, including surveys and interviews
Role & Duration
Lead UX/UI Designer
Lease Friendly | 2022–2023
Step 1
Mapping Complexity to Clarity
Before jumping into wireframes, I mapped out the full product landscape to ensure our design decisions addressed real business and user needs.
This end-to-end mapping helped us align the product vision with real user behavior, while respecting regulatory and technical constraints.
Step 2
Defining the Product Language
While the founders had a general product vision, there was no unified visual or UX direction. My task was to translate that vision into a clear, repeatable UX/UI system.
I authored a comprehensive internal guide — a UX/UI "textbook" — that defined:
Brand colors, typography, spacing, and component styles
Interaction principles (feedback, focus, transitions)
UX writing tone, naming conventions, and form best practices
This document became the design foundation for all screens, helping the team scale features with visual and functional consistency.
Step 3
Streamlining
the Onboarding Flow
Onboarding was a known blocker for both landlords and tenants. I redesigned the flow into a step-by-step experience with clear guidance, progress indicators, and help tips.
This reduced drop-off and confusion, especially for non-tech-savvy users.
Step 4
User Research & Testing
I conducted surveys and interviews with real users to uncover pain points and validate solutions.
This helped:
Prioritize features based on user needs
Refine confusing parts of the flow
Inform language and tone for clarity
Step 5
Supporting a Startup
Beyond UX
As the project evolved, I also supported the startup’s early growth:
Created landing pages and pitch materials
Designed visuals for investor decks and social media
Helped shape the product story for both users and partners
Outcome & Learnings
Lease Friendly launched its MVP with a clean, functional experience that users understood — even if they’d never managed leases before.
It was a hands-on lesson in building usable systems with limited resources, and a chance to lead both design and strategy in a lean startup setting.