Bringing transparency and data clarity to the Czech and Slovak real estate market
A group of real estate industry experts, set out to build Hypox — a platform to unite market players and bring transparency to a fragmented Czech and Slovak real estate market, for sellers, buyers, and investors.
The client had commitments to investors, so we had a fixed launch deadline to hit and needed to show strong early traction to support the funding round — this was the real risk if the launch slipped or underperformed.
The founders' deep industry background gave the team access to a large body of historical real estate data — a real asset, but also the core challenge: none of it meant anything to a first-time buyer or seller without expert help.
Challenge
Scope wasn't fully defined when the clock started, so we had to design while things were still unclear, and turn dense, expert-level data into something a non-expert could actually use — all against a fixed investor deadline.
My role was owning end-to-end UX for the platform. I joined as a consultant product designer, working alongside Jimmy Technologies — the agency that led product and engineering delivery for the client.
Direction
Rather than building blind until launch day, the team ran a closed beta and iterated internally on priority features before bringing everything together for a single public launch.
Hitting the deadline mattered as much as the design — the launch closed the client's funding round and earned a Forbes feature.
Registered users in the first month
2,000Paid conversion in the first month
5.5%Growth in digital lead generation
800%Hypotheses
How might we present massive data to non-experts with limited time?
Customer interviews
I started with 12 customer interviews with people who recently bought or sold properties and those who used mortgages. This surfaced the specific problems and needs of these groups, highlighting complexity of processes, lack of transparency, and inaccurate information.
Competitive analysis
I proceeded with competitive analysis, studying 7 competitors in both local and foreign markets to extract best practices that could be reused in Hypox, looking closely at search, property information, financial tools, and infrastructure maps. The insights we got supported the hypotheses and helped with polishing the details.
User journeys
I mapped flows against business processes, backed by shared schemes so everyone on the team was on the same page.
Prototyping
I created a prototype for the valuation tool as the top-priority feature in the lineup and the lead-magnet part of the system, and tested it with future customers and team members.
Testing didn't surface any critical issues, just minor opportunities to refine the experience, something later confirmed by the business metrics after launch.
Stakeholder collaboration
Worked closely with the client-side PM (Matej Machytka) on scope and priorities, and with Jimmy Technologies' PM (Nick Lamonov) and development team on what was feasible within the timeline.
Valuation tool
Location or address input generates a market-price report from transaction history; became an organic acquisition channel via search queries like "apartment market price."
Marketplace
Filterable property search across map and list views.
Property listing
A step-by-step form to handle a large data requirement without overwhelming the user, with draft-saving built in.
100% mobile friendly
The design is fully optimized for mobile devices. All features work seamlessly across platforms, providing a smooth experience for users on any device.
UI kit
I pulled all design elements and components together into a shared UI kit, following industry best practices. Developers appreciated it, since it sped up implementation and made maintaining the UI much easier.
The project delivered on time, closing the client's funding round on schedule. Features were refined through a closed beta and internal iterations before coming together for one public launch.
Registered users in the first month
2,000Paid conversion in the first month
5.5%Growth in digital lead generation
800%Featured by Forbes
Design checklist
Early iterations didn't meet our own quality bar.
Components went to development without being properly linked to the UI kit, causing inconsistency, so we rolled it back and introduced a design checklist required before any screen moved to development, covering PO approval, Figma files, and full UI kit links.
That checklist, applied consistently through the beta and internal iterations, is what let us hit the deadline without repeating that inconsistency.
Reflection
Looking back, I'd add the UI-kit checklist much earlier — it would have avoided the inconsistency we later had to fix. The same goes for team collaboration: some of the early friction likely came from working with new teammates, and a clearer working rhythm from day one would have helped.
Beyond the deadline
There were plenty of ideas and plans still on the table when the engagement wrapped — an investor tool showing credit leverage, real-time mortgage offers pulled from banks, and a buyer-seller messenger. A few things, like verifying a property's legal status via the cadastre, were on the original wishlist but never got started.
Guys from Jimmy showed a deep understanding of what we do and helped us build a viable web application in a strictly set timeframe, which was essential for us. Jimmy's development process is one to learn from. Their product owner always keeps us updated about everything that's going on, and thanks to their transparency, I have access to all viable tools where the work happens.
Matej Machytka
Hypox Product Manager
Hypox Product Manager
Team
Product Designer
Dmitrii Ziuzin
UI Designer
Product Manager
Front End Developer
Back End Developer
Hypox Product Manager