Collaborators
The Challenge
Only 31% of homeowners find it "very easy" to locate qualified home service professionals. Existing lead-generation platforms create a disconnect — they indirectly raise service prices and produce inconsistent quality because they optimize for volume over fit. Homeowners lack a trusted, friction-free way to discover and hire the right provider for the right job at the right time.
The Approach
Applied the IBM Enterprise Design Thinking framework across a 3-person MBA team to explore the homeowner-to-provider relationship from first principles. Mapped the full ecosystem — demand side, supply side, intermediaries, and critical dependencies — then conducted structured customer discovery to surface behavioral patterns and unmet needs. Delivered a prototype and a 9-page discovery plan with actionable design opportunities.
See It in Action
Walkthrough of the Shared Fences Co prototype — recorded via Loom as part of the course deliverable.
The Shared Fences Ecosystem
Mapped the full network of actors, dependencies, and forces shaping how homeowners find and hire home service providers.
Who Needs the Service
- Homeowners seeking reliable home service professionals
- Neighbor groups and community networks as referral channels
- Choice influencers — friends, reviews, social proof — that shape provider selection
Who Delivers the Service
- Local service providers with operational dependencies on labor availability, materials, and insurance
- Difficulty predicting demand makes capacity planning challenging
- Current lead-generation services indirectly raise prices and produce inconsistent quality
Design Opportunities
Two core questions emerged from the ecosystem mapping and customer discovery process — each representing an unmet need with meaningful design potential.
Understanding the decision drivers behind provider selection — trust signals, social proof, referrals, reviews, price, speed of response — to identify where the current experience breaks down and where a better-designed solution could reduce friction and improve confidence in the hiring decision.
Exploring the behavioral triggers that move a homeowner from awareness of a need to active hiring intent — particularly for discretionary, non-urgent jobs where timing, budget, and perceived hassle all factor into the decision to act or defer. This is where lead-gen platforms lose homeowners and where Shared Fences Co saw its greatest opportunity.
Customer Discovery Plan
9-page structured plan covering research objectives, interview guides, and discovery materials for the Shared Fences Co project.
Shared Fences Co — Customer Discovery Plan & Materials
PDF · 9 Pages · University of Arkansas MBA · Human-Centered Design
IBM Certification
Earned during this course — validates the Design Thinking methodology applied throughout this project.
