ARTISAN HOME TOUR
Explore the most exquisite homes in the Twin Cities through a premium digital experience.
The Artisan Home Tour invites visitors to explore a curated collection of expertly crafted homes designed by the region’s most renowned builders and remodelers. Presented by Housing First Minnesota, this exclusive event celebrates artistry, innovation, and design excellence—brought to life through a digital experience as refined as the homes themselves.
The Opportunity
While the Parade of Homes app and website provided a solid foundation, the Artisan Home Tour required additional refinement to reflect its upscale experience.
Housing First Minnesota wanted to retain the essential features and functionality of the Parade of Homes app, while creating a more sophisticated, curated experience that reflected the caliber of homes on display.
The Outcome
The Artisan Home Tour app and website allow users to browse homes by builder, location, or style, and create personalized tour plans. It features route optimization, note-taking, and home ratings, all within a refined user interface that reflects the luxury of the Artisan brand.
The app serves as a digital version of the guidebook, enabling attendees to plan and navigate their tour with ease, all from the palm of their hand.
The Goal
Partnering with Housing First Minnesota, we took inspiration from the Parade of Homes digital experience, refining it to reflect the exclusive nature of the Artisan Home Tour. We aimed to deliver a more elevated aesthetic without compromising essential functionality.
The Design Focus
We focused on keeping the interfaces clean and intuitive, leveraging successful UI patterns from the Parade of Homes app. Layout and navigation were streamlined to suit the smaller collection of homes, and visual styling was refined to reflect the exclusivity and sophistication of the Artisan brand—with updates to typography, imagery, and color palette.
Getting to Work
Our process began with workshops focused on understanding the unique goals of the Artisan Home Tour. We adapted user flows and wireframes from the Parade of Homes app, aligning them with Housing First Minnesota’s specific requirements.
From there, we moved into visual design and prototyping in Figma, fine-tuning the experience to maintain usability while elevating the overall aesthetic.
The Development Focus
The backend architecture mirrors the Parade of Homes setup, with data synced via Google Cloud Platform and content managed through Webflow CMS. The use of low-code tools allows the Housing First Minnesota team to easily make updates and helps ensure the app remains lightweight and high-performing.
The Result
The Artisan Home Tour website and app deliver a tailored, high-end experience that helps users discover and tour some of the Twin Cities’ most beautifully crafted homes.
Its success lies in maintaining the same essential functionality as the Parade of Homes app, while presenting it through a refined, brand-aligned interface. Housing First Minnesota now has a versatile, scalable platform that supports both of its flagship events.
