Block by Block

Designing a Smarter Way to Find Housing in Chicago.

Role

UX Designer

Team

Melissa Vozar

Timeline

January - March 2026

Tools

Figma
HTML
Airtable

For this project, I decided to take raw data on Chicago rent prices for specific neighborhoods in the city and turn it into useful information by adding semantic structure through HTML. Using classification systems, navigation patterns, and taxonomies, I wireframed a digital product to help Chicagoans effectively locate and act upon rent and pricing information across Chicago neighborhoods. I created a flow for two target user groups: those familiar with Chicago and those new to Chicago.

Overview

  • Users familiar with Chicago

  • User new to Chicago

Target User Group

I was tasked with finding a source of content of my choice and capturing it in a manipulative environment to create new value propositions. The data set that I decided on for this project was Chicago rent prices by neighborhood.

Data Set

I took one row of data from my dataset and marked up each element with the column name of the field in Airtable. After I created the example record using just column names, I used HTML tags to translate up to two of my other records with real HTML markup, chosen as I thought was appropriate to the hierarchy and grouping.

HTML

I developed a site map and flow diagram to help illustrate my process and design.

Site Map & Flow Diagram

Wireframe Iterations

I designed a detailed, black-and-white wireframe with real content, displaying how the content and navigation appear to a user to help them contextualize the records.

Wireframes

Key Takeaways

  • Turned raw data into usable structure. I learned to transform unorganized information into meaningful experiences using semantic HTML, dynamic data visualization, and front-end manipulation techniques.

  • Designed for discoverability, not just aesthetics. Working with classification systems, navigation patterns, and taxonomy strategies taught me that good information architecture is what actually lets users locate and act on what they need.

  • Built a bridge between data and experience. This project sharpened my ability to think about the full design process: from raw information, to structured systems, to an interface someone can actually navigate with confidence.

Keep Exploring My Work