Q&A with Product VP Yi-Wei Ang

Table of Contents

Tell us a bit about yourself…

I just moved to Dubai in October 2018. My past jobs at IBM, Microsoft, and TradeGecko (a startup) have taken me all over the world; Dubai is the eighth city that I’ve lived in. In the past, I have lived and worked in Singapore, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur.

What made you move and join Property Finder?

I was introduced to the Property Finder team in April 2018 when I coached them on experimentation design and user-centered product development. It was during this trip that I got to know the highly talented and passionate group of Property Finder employees. We have a hungry and eager product development team that really cares about the customers and users they serve – this is really fantastic to see.

What products are you most excited about?

A few months ago we launched Lead Tracker, a mobile app that gives our agents the ability to manage their work on the go. It’s really great to see how we’ve been able to let agents respond to potential customers more quickly. When agents can work better the net effect is that we’re able to serve the house-hunting consumer so much better.

I also love that we’re finally able to give consumers and agents data about their property search (or sale) that they never had visibility into before.

Our House Prices page has given house hunters (myself included!) the ability to feel like we have all of the information we need to make an informed decision.

What are the latest trends in tech that you think are super exciting?

While not new, I believe that mobility will continue to be a trend. Coming from the tech world in Asia, I’ve really seen the wave of mobile-first experiences that have overtaken the growth of traditional web experiences. Being able to design experiences that allow agents and users to connect on the fly is really exciting.

It’s amazing to observe how augmented reality and virtual reality experiences have taken over in the real estate space as well. Interior designers of today can actually showcase the full rendering experience of a site which can really bring things to life.

You are house-hunting yourself right now, how has that experience been?

I love the fact that I’m able to use my own product in my house-hunting process. It’s a great chance for me to “dogfood” our product to see what works and what we can improve on. I also get to speak with many agents and get their feedback on how we can serve their needs better.

While I’ve been generally pleased with the house hunting process, I would love to see Property Finder facilitate the end-to-end user journey more. I’m asking myself questions like:

How can we make it easier to contact an agent and schedule a viewing?
How can we make it easier for agents to remind themselves of follow-ups?
How can we ensure that consumers have the right data to ensure that they’re getting a good deal?
How can we give agents the capabilities to inform landlords and sellers of the market trends so they can price accordingly?

Can you share with us one thing that you want to focus on moving forward?

One of my product philosophies is to be truly customer obsessed. And I mean that in the nicest, most professional, non-stalkerish way. A team that puts the user and customer at the heart of their work is one that can truly commit to solving problems the right way. I’d like to see the product development team be so deeply intertwined with our agent and consumer workflows that they feel the pain that our users go through when they’re buying, selling, or renting out property. So don’t be surprised to see our team members out and about!

If you’d like to get in touch, feel free to reach out to me at yiwei@propertyfinder.ae