Leasing messenger

AI-powered chat experience that pre-qualifies and capture leads

Role

Lead designer

Team

Product manager

Frontend engineer

AI engineer

Timeline

8 weeks

Key outcome

2x tours per lead

Overview

From a dead-end form to booked tours

Openigloo is a marketplace for finding rental apartments in NYC. When renters found an apartment they liked, they filled out an inquiry form and then waited, often for days, with no idea whether anyone would reply. Leasing messenger replaced that form with an in-app AI leasing assistant. It collects a renter’s details, pre-qualifies them instantly and ends with a booked tour, all in one conversation. I led the design from concept to launch in 8 weeks, for both app and web.

Problem

A form that gave nothing back

When users tried to express interest in an apartment, they had to fill a form asking for household, financial, and contact details. After submitting, renters saw a single message: “We’ll reach out to you shortly.” Everything after that, including pre-qualification, scheduling, and follow-up, happened manually and outside the platform. The form took a lot from users and gave nothing back. That hurt both sides.

For business: inquiries were slipping away before they could turn into tours.

46%

Unanswered inquiries

24-48 hrs

Manual pre-qualification

40%+

Leads lost to external brokers

For users: once they hit submit, users were left in the dark.

Unclear next step

Unknown wait time

Distrust of unknown senders

Goals

What success had to mean

Business

An outcome for every inquiry

Automated pre-qualification

Leads kept on platform

Users

A clear next step

Fast reply and predictable timeline

Trusted communication

Solution

outcome

Same leads, twice the tours

Leasing messenger turned a form that went nowhere into a conversation that ends in a tour. With the same number of leads, more renters now get answers, qualify and book.

2x

Tours per lead

78%

Reach an outcome

100%

Leads kept on the platform

Instant

Automated pre-qualification

Clear next step

For every user

Replies in minutes

Not 24-28 hrs