What We Learned from Our First 3 HOA Communities
Real lessons from real communities. We thought we knew what residents needed. Then we watched how they actually used our software—and everything changed.
The Humbling Reality of Real Users
When we launched HeyNeighbor with our first three communities, we had a lot of assumptions. We'd spent months building features, designing workflows, and creating what we thought was the perfect HOA management platform.
Then real people started using it. And they didn't use it the way we expected at all.
Here's what we learned—lessons that fundamentally shaped how we build software today.
Lesson #1: Our Desktop Assumption Was Wrong
We built a powerful desktop web application. Document management, detailed analytics, comprehensive settings, multi-step workflows—everything a board member or property manager could need. The mobile app? We thought of it as a companion. A nice-to-have for quick checks.
Our assumption: "Residents will use the desktop app because it has more features."
Reality: 78% of all resident interactions happened on mobile.
It seems obvious in hindsight. Of course people use their phones. They're checking community updates while waiting in line at the grocery store, not sitting at a desktop computer. They want to report a maintenance issue the moment they see it—snap a photo, submit, done.
But we had to see it to truly believe it.
Lesson #2: Mobile Isn't a Companion—It's the Primary Experience
Once we started watching actual usage patterns, the data was clear:
of resident activity was on mobile (primarily iPhone)
peak usage hours (after work, on the couch)
average session length on mobile
more engagement after mobile improvements
Residents weren't opening laptops to check HOA stuff. They were pulling out their phones for 90 seconds while watching TV, or during their lunch break, or while walking the dog past that broken fence they wanted to report.
"I downloaded the app thinking I'd never use it. Now it's how I do everything—check announcements, ask questions, RSVP to events. I haven't logged into the website once."
— Resident, Phoenix community
The Pivot: Building for How People Actually Live
Once we saw the data, we made mobile our primary focus. Not just a scaled-down version of the desktop app—a purpose-built experience for quick, on-the-go interactions.
One-Tap Actions
RSVP to an event? One tap. Report an issue? Photo + submit. Ask a question? Type and go. Every common action optimized for thumbs, not mouse clicks.
Smart Notifications
Push notifications for things that matter—new announcements, event reminders, responses to your questions. Not spam, just relevant updates.
Offline-First Design
Community documents cached locally. Check pool hours even without signal. Draft a message and it sends when you're back online.
AI Chat Front and Center
The AI chatbot isn't buried in a menu—it's the first thing you see. Ask a question, get an answer. No navigation required.
Lesson #3: Easy-to-Use Isn't Optional—It's Everything
Here's the thing about HOA software: your users didn't choose to use it. They live in a community that happens to use your platform. They're not enthusiasts. They're not power users. They just want to check if the pool is open or find out when the next board meeting is.
If your software is confusing, they won't figure it out. They'll just email the board instead—which defeats the entire purpose.
What "Easy to Use" Actually Means:
- →Zero training required. If residents need a tutorial, you've already lost.
- →Works for all ages. Your 75-year-old resident and your 25-year-old resident should both find it intuitive.
- →Fast. Slow apps get abandoned. Every. Single. Time.
- →Forgiving. Made a mistake? Easy to undo. Can't find something? Search works.
We stripped out complexity. Removed features that looked impressive in demos but confused real users. Made the AI chatbot the default way to find information, because asking a question is easier than navigating menus.
Other Hard-Won Lessons
Onboarding Is Make-or-Break
The first 48 hours determine whether a community adopts your platform or abandons it. We learned to front-load value—make sure residents see something useful immediately, before asking them to set up profiles or customize settings.
Board Members Are Users Too
We initially built separate "admin" interfaces with more complexity. Wrong move. Board members are volunteers who want simple tools too. They don't want to learn a complicated dashboard—they want to post an announcement and get back to their lives.
Community Culture Varies Wildly
A 55+ retirement community in Arizona uses our platform completely differently than a young-professional condo building in Denver. Flexibility matters. Don't assume one workflow fits all.
The AI Chatbot Changed Everything
We thought the chatbot would be a nice addition. It became the killer feature. Residents prefer asking questions in natural language over clicking through menus. The communities with highest satisfaction? The ones where the AI is well-trained on their specific documents.
What This Means for How We Build
These lessons weren't just interesting observations—they fundamentally changed our development priorities:
Before
Desktop-first, feature-rich, complex admin interfaces, mobile as afterthought
After
Mobile-first, simplicity-focused, unified experience, AI as primary interface
Every new feature we build now starts with a question: "How would someone use this on their phone while waiting for coffee?" If the answer is "they wouldn't," we rethink the design.
"The best software is software you don't have to think about. You just use it, and it works."
— Internal design principle at HeyNeighbor