Competitive Analysis & Baseline Usability Testing: Zillow vs. Realtor.com
I compared Zillow and Realtor.com to understand how buyers search for homes online. My goal was to identify usability barriers in search, school ratings, and open house discovery. This project highlights how different design choices impact trust and navigation
Methods
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Usability Testing
Task Analysis
Benchmarking
My Role​
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Lead Researcher
Project Type
Competitive Usability Analysis
Research Goals & Methodology
Research Goals:
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Evaluate how effectively Zillow and Realtor.com support common home search tasks from a usability and interaction-effort perspective
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Benchmark key usability metrics (task success, time to completion, and click count) for typical user actions to identify performance gaps between the two platforms
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Assess user satisfaction and perceived ease-of-use
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Uncover friction points that impact users' ability to find homes, interpret key information, and complete their goals efficiently
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Methodology:
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Conducted a task-based usability test with over 100 participants
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Participants were randomly assigned to complete tasks on either Zillow or Realtor.com
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A Single Ease Question (SEQ) followed each usability task to assess perceived difficulty
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After completing all tasks, participants completed the SUPR-Q (Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys
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Quantitative data was analyzed to benchmark platform performance and highlight comparative insights
Usability Performance by Task: Zillow vs. Realtor.com
Participants completed three common home search tasks on Zillow or Realtor.com, simulating real-world scenarios that reflect typical user behavior. Tasks were designed to evaluate how efficiently and effectively each platform supports key user goals.
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The charts below visualize results from over 100 participants, highlighting differences in task success rates, time to completion, and interaction effort (measured by clicks to completion) across the two platforms.
Zillow outperformed Realtor.com in overall task success. Participants were more likely to successfully complete all three home search tasks on Zillow.
Participants completed tasks more quickly on Zillow than on Realtor.com. Faster task completion times could suggest that Zillow enables more efficient decision-making and reduces user friction.
Realtor.com required more interactions to complete the same tasks, especially when searching for homes with specific features. Fewer clicks on Zillow may indicate a more streamlined and optimized interface.
Post-Condition Survey Results:
How Users Felt After Using Each Platform
Zillow received higher Single Ease Question (SEQ) ratings across all tasks. Participants consistently rated Zillow as easier to use, possibly reflecting a more intuitive experience during task execution.
SUPR-Q scores favored Zillow in usability, trust, and appearance. The most significant gap appeared in the “ease of use” category, reinforcing patterns seen in both behavioral data and SEQ ratings.
Zillow users were more likely to recommend the platform, as reflected in a higher Net Promoter Score. Realtor.com's lower score suggests less user confidence or overall satisfaction.
Key Usability Findings
This summary highlights the most critical usability challenges uncovered through task-based testing and post-task evaluation. Each finding is grounded in observed user behavior and supported by statistically significant differences across platforms.
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These insights reveal how Zillow’s design better supports user goals, while Realtor.com’s experience introduces friction at key moments in the home search journey. The data presented here guided actionable recommendations focused on improving efficiency, trust, and discoverability.
Usability Priorities & Recommended Fixes
Final Thoughts
This project demonstrates how large-scale, quantitative usability studies can uncover actionable insights and guide product improvements. By comparing two leading real estate platforms, the research surfaced usability gaps, highlighted strengths, and offered evidence-backed recommendations to enhance the user experience.
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The results establish a clear usability benchmark for both Zillow and Realtor.com. This framework can be reused with repeatable methods and standardized metrics to measure ongoing UX improvements and inform future product decisions.
Main Takeaways
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Identified critical navigation issues that made school ratings difficult to find.
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Surfaced usability differences in open house search that influenced recommendations for streamlined filtering.