The first screen every user saw in the app was a news feed. The challenge was to make it look attractive regardless of the tedious nature of commercial real estate data.
Full-image templates
Cards filled with images looked awesome but had a severe flaw. The contrast between the background and the text could be too low. To avoid this problem, I made two new types of cards:
A map card that used a custom-made low-contrast map
A company card that used a logotype and was filled with color (selected from a predefined set)
I realized that the cards' diversity still wasn't good enough. I had to find a way to place text on photos safely.
I had an idea to put a colored rectangle on top of a photo. It could help with the text contrast problem and improve the visual appearance of poorly made photos.
It was also essential to leave buildings recognizable. So, I used gradients that were intense at the left and almost disappeared at the right side of a card.
After many experiments, I created a set of filters that could be applied to our images.
More templates
The more I worked on cards, the more opportunities I saw. We added cards with lists, image-focused cards, interactive cards, custom-made cards, etc.
Reflections
We need to remember that usability practices aren't laws. They shouldn't automatically restrict a designer. There is always a way to implement an idea and stay user-friendly.
Also, any small task can become a prominent, essential feature. You just need to dig deeper. The possibilities are almost infinite.
