Solution
Tenancy Manager is Rightmove’s first rental-progression product, which I designed from concept through to beta launch. It cuts the time agents spend progressing tenancies from hours to minutes by automating repetitive tasks such as chasing tenants and generating agreements. A dashboard visualises active tenancies, helping agents see at a glance which requires attention. Today, the product contributes to a new revenue stream and is used by over 380 estate agencies across the UK.
Role
Lead Product Designer
I led the design of Tenancy Manager from concept to beta launch, working in a cross-functional team with a PM and engineers. I ran workshops with estate agents throughout the project and carried out ethnographic research in their offices to understand how they worked day to day. Alongside defining and delivering the end-to-end experience, I designed new bespoke components to support the product’s unique workflows.
Activities
0 -> 1 Product design
Ethnographic research
Journey mapping
User research & testing
Information architecture
Concept development
Cross-functional collaboration
Workshop facilitation
Component & UI design
Visual design
Team
Product Manager, Front-End Engineers,
Back-End Engineers, QA
Duration
August - November 2021
(one quarter to beta launch)
Impact
Reduced admin time
Cut tenancy progression from hours to under 10 minutes through automation.
Scaled nationally
Launched with six agencies in beta and now used by over 380 across the UK.
Created new revenue stream
Became a paid add-on product, contributing to Rightmove’s new revenue stream.
Proven adoption
Over 2,400 tenancies have been completed through Tenancy Manager nationwide.
Problem
Estate agents were spending hours each week progressing tenancies, chasing tenants and landlords to confirm next steps and move deals forward. Most relied on manual tools like Excel spreadsheets and paper records, creating delays and frustration. Rightmove saw an opportunity to automate the rental journey, from viewing to offer, referencing, contract signing, and move-in, while keeping agents in control. This also supported a broader goal to diversify revenue streams and expand into the rental market.
Research
To identify where automation would have the greatest impact, I mapped the tenancy process with agents from multiple agencies. Working with my Product and Engineering Managers, we streamlined a flow that previously required 19 agent actions and 11 tenant actions down to just four and seven steps.
To make the workflow truly seamless, we focused the MVP on three core pages: the tenancy offer page, the dashboard, and the tenancy summary. The dashboard became the centrepiece - where agents could see progress, act quickly, and stay in control. For the sake of brevity, the rest of this case study focuses on the design of the dashboard
Concepts
I explored a range of concepts for how agents could manage tenancies at a glance. The two strongest directions were a visual timeline dashboard, showing how far each tenancy had progressed, and a kanban-style layout, grouping properties by stage (offer accepted, referencing, contracts, and move-in).
I tested both approaches with estate agents: most preferred the timeline for its clarity, while a few saw strategic value in the kanban view. Rather than discard it, I timeboxed two days to push the idea further and explore whether changing the structure could make it more intuitive. I experimented with segmenting tenancies in different ways: by time (from most to least urgent tasks), by stage (offer accepted, referencing, contract, move-in), and by task type (chasing, signing, reviewing).
From this exercise, I found was that the challenge wasn’t how to visualise the data but how to align with how agents actually think. Our earlier research had captured the tenancy process at a high level, but not the rhythms of a working day. That gap made me realise that designing the right dashboard wasn’t just about simplifying the workflow; it was about fitting into the mental model of the people using it.
Day in the Life
To understand how agents actually work, I ran day-in-the-life workshops with teams across several branches. The goal was to move beyond the tenancy process and uncover what drives their priorities, how they manage their workload, and what slows them down. Through these sessions, I learned that:
Reactive by nature
Agents prioritise the most urgent issue in the moment, constantly shifting focus as new tasks arise.
Experienced and self-driven
They already know what needs to be done each day and don’t need reminders or prompts to stay on track.
Familiarity over friction
They want tools that feel intuitive and require minimal learning curve, fitting naturally into their existing workflows.
Agents worked linearly, tackling the most urgent issue first. They didn’t need a Kanban board to prioritise tasks; they already knew what to do. What they needed was a simple visual aid to show urgency and help them act quickly. They didn’t need Kanban; they needed timeline.
Development
Once the timeline direction was clear, I focused on designing the dashboard so agents could see what mattered most. I used a technique called greyboxing, which helped me prioritise the urgency of information on each card and make the most important details stand out. This process clarified what should be visible at a glance versus one click away
With Rightmove's the design system still maturing, I created a few bespoke components to meet the dashboard’s needs. The dark theme UI follows Rightmove’s internal tooling standard, differentiating agent products from the light consumer site.
Final Designs
The final design brought the timeline concept to life. Each tenancy is shown as a visual timeline, allowing agents to quickly see which tenancies are most or least progressed, which have upcoming move-in dates, and which require immediate action. From the dashboard, agents can view details or complete key tasks without leaving the page.
Alongside the dashboard, the MVP included two additional pages: one that streamlined data entry and another that summarised the information before submission. The tenancy summary gave agents a final check before generating contracts, ensuring the details feeding each automation were accurate from the start.
Ethnographic Research
The beta launched successfully with six estate agencies of varying sizes across the UK. After several weeks of use, we visited each agency to observe the tool in context and identify gaps or friction points. Seeing agents use Tenancy Manager in their day-to-day work was both validating and revealing - it showed how naturally the tool fit into existing routines, while highlighting opportunities to make automation even more seamless.
Learnings
This project taught me the value of protecting space to explore before committing to a solution. Early on, engineers had already started building parts of the backend, which created pressure to move straight into execution. I’m glad I pushed to explore multiple directions, as that led to the day-in-the-life research and ultimately a much stronger timeline experience. Since then, I’ve learned to make exploration visible early by sharing low-fidelity ideas and reasoning with PMs and engineers before anything feels final. It helps the team see discovery as part of delivery, not separate from it.