Empowering Efficiency: Custom Property Management Software
Centralizing data maintenance and property management into a custom self-service platform
Project Overview
As a software engineer at High Seas Consulting, I collaborated on developing custom internal property management software for Paragon Real Estate Group, a leading Bay Area real estate company. The primary goal was to create a centralized self-service platform for managing inventory, property data, and streamlining internal processes.
My Role
As a frontend developer on this project, I was responsible for software architecture decisions, development of custom interfaces and components, and collaborating closely with our design team and various departments within Paragon to understand their specific needs.
Objectives
Efficient Inventory Management: Develop a system to track and manage real estate assets, including properties, equipment, and marketing materials.
Data Centralization: Create a centralized repository for property data, ensuring consistency and accessibility for all team members.
Personalization: Streamline internal workflows tailored to individual roles and user groups by automating routine tasks related to inventory and data management.
Challenges
- 1
Starting From Scratch: Existing tools for inventory and data management were fragmented, leading to inefficiencies and data inconsistencies.
- 2
Disparate Systems: Many tasks, such as updating property information and managing marketing materials, were manual, time-consuming, and lacked a cohesive single platform to complete all tasks.
- 3
Unreliable Data Accessibility: The lack of a centralized system made it challenging for team members to access up-to-date information promptly.
Solution
Key Contributions
Branded Component Library
I contributed to and maintained a reusable component library that incorporated with the Paragon brand as well as handling all client-side validation and data sanitation.
Many of the processes and features required heavy form-based data entry, so our library consisted of components useful in forms plus others tailored to common real estate functions.
Easy Data Maintenance
Editing property, agent, location, and geographic data was a daily occurrence for DASH users, so we implemented an "Edit Mode" that was succinct and easy to use.
Technology Highlights
Powerful JavaScript Framework
The entirety of the Paragon DASH tool was built using the React framework, useful for its reusable components and widespread adoption
Simple State Management
The team chose Mobx for our state management for its concise syntax and integration with React
Results & Impact
Impact
The custom property management system successfully transformed internal processes at Paragon, fostering greater efficiency, collaboration, and accuracy in managing inventory, property, and agent data.
Reflection
Developing the custom internal dashboard for Paragon was a rewarding experience that showcased the transformative impact of technology on optimizing internal processes within a real estate company. As a contributing developer, this project allowed me to leverage my technical expertise to address real-world challenges and contribute to the efficiency and success of Paragon.
I enjoyed the challenge of creating interfaces for an industry I was unfamiliar with at the time, and the lessons learned through working on a team benefitted my personal and professional development.
Lessons Learned
Communicate With Stakeholders: Communicating often with stakeholders will result in a better product and user experience
Know Your Data: Becoming intimately familiar with all aspects of data, even as a frontend engineer will make your job easier and your code cleaner
Future Recommendations
For future enhancements, I recommend exploring more consistent user testing to gain insight earlier in the design and development process.
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