Related Companies is a leader in luxury real estate development around the world, and is proud of its innovation in world-leading placemaking.
When Related engaged VMLY&R, they were seeking to elevate their web properties to match the luxurious offline experiences of their physical properties. At that time, their digital ecosystem was fragmented and they needed to simplify and consolidate their experiences on to a singular platform.
VML was tasked with defining a model to drive consistency among all of their experiences with a single CMS in order to reflect how the company has evolved and grown.
The two websites that we designed were Related Rentals and Related Companies.
(November 2017 — December 2018)
The VML team began with Branding and Team workshops to define user and business needs. I evaluated the existing sites and worked with my UI support and Design team to catalog and define a component set that could work across the Related ecosystems. Next, I developed a proposed site structure and worked with the client to align the existing and desired content and functionality with a new page inventory.
Based on using an agreed upon set of (new) responsive components, we moved forward with “whiteboard wireframes” which allowed us to move directly into design for many page templates.
Using a combined agile and waterfall process, the XD and Design team re-built the site using a product backlog – taking design components and templates from wireframe to visual design to live prototype.