Day One: The Great UI Overhaul Begins

Today marked the first step in completely transforming how our app looks and feels. It’s been clear for a while that the user interface (UI) needed an overhaul, but, as with any major project, getting started can feel daunting. Spoiler alert: This is going to take a lot longer than I initially thought!

1. The Wake-Up Call
   This morning, as I opened the app, the reality of how far it was from my vision hit harder than ever. It wasn’t a surprise—I’ve known for some time that things were off—but today, it felt undeniable. The layout was disjointed, the colors weren’t quite on-brand, and some elements just felt awkward to use.

But today was about finally facing the music and beginning to dig into the changes, even if the road ahead is long.

1. Small Fixes, Big Headaches
   I decided to start with a small visual tweak—cleaning up a few sections to improve their appearance. Turns out, in UI design, nothing is truly small. Every “quick fix” spirals into a series of other tweaks.

Take our lot listing, for example. What began as a simple button change led to rethinking how the entire row behaves. Should it highlight on hover? Use a different background color? That snowball rolled quickly into uncovering inconsistencies across the entire app, which needed fixing too.

1. Reworking the Flow
   Next, I dove into improving the app’s navigation and interaction flow. Right now, moving from one section to another feels clunky, like the app is actively resisting you. I started streamlining the workflow, but I quickly realized this wouldn’t be a quick job.

It’s one thing to make an app look good, but making it feel good to use? That’s a whole other challenge—finding that sweet spot between aesthetics and usability.

1. The Component Conundrum
   Then came the consistency issue. Buttons, menus, text fields—you name it—were styled differently depending on where you were in the app. No wonder it felt disjointed! This was a stark reminder that the entire interface needs to feel cohesive and unified. That’s not going to be an overnight fix.

2. Baby Steps
   Still, there were some small wins today. I managed to clean up some of the major visual mismatches, and things are already looking a little more cohesive. But I’m just scratching the surface here. There’s still a lot of work to be done before the app feels polished.

I also laid the groundwork for gathering feedback from real users. Their insights will be critical as we move forward. It’s one thing to make the app look better, but it’s the users who will tell us if it actually works better.

1. Realizing the Scope
   By the end of the day, the biggest lesson was that this is going to take time—lots of it. Today was about laying the foundation and beginning to untangle the mess. And you know what? That’s exciting. This isn’t a one-and-done project; it’s an ongoing process. Challenges will keep popping up, and that’s okay.

It feels good to know that today was just day one.

1. What’s Next?
   The road ahead is long, and there’s still plenty to figure out. Next, I’ll dig deeper into refining workflows and making the user experience smoother, but I’m in no rush. This is more of a steady march toward a better app, not a sprint.

Day one is in the books, and I’m ready for whatever comes next.