User satisfaction and usability of the Austrian land register real estate app “LexioMobil” Peter Sittler 27 th June 2015 European Real Estate Society (ERES) Conference Istanbul, Turkey INSTITUT FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT University of Applied Sciences Vienna – FHWien of WKW

What are apps? ► English short form for application ► Simple use and shallow learning curve ► Defined (small) functional area ► Short life cycle ► Consumer orientated ► Mainly low-priced ► Distribution with virtual marketplaces INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES2

Immo-Apps Real estate search/Information on surrounding area Land register Tools for flats Information on real estate Dimensions/Plannings Architecture/Interior design Tools for calculation/financial calculation Lexicon/Languages Infotainment Real estate administration/Property management Shopping malls Classification of AR real estate apps INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES3

The Austrian land register ► Public register ► Legally based on General Land Register Act 1955 (GBG 1955) Land Register Conversion Act (GUG 1980, switching to database) ► Everyone has the right to access the land register ► Every property is listed in the land register ► Accessable via internet ► Authorized companies by the Federal Ministry of Justice act as clearing houses

Other land register apps iEigentum/ IMMOmapping xEigentum *) INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES5 *) Accessable through the Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying Former announced app (in 06/2011) App was never launched (Problems with charging the fees with Apple)

RE-app LexioMobil 1 LexioMobil INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES6

► Launched in June 2014 ► by the company Medix Informatik GmbH ► in cooperation with IMD GmbH (acts as the clearing house) ► App needs an internet connection ► App shows the last 50 requests ► App synchronizes with the database of the (desktop) software ► Available for the platforms of Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) (for free, the lang register fees are charged) ► RE-app LexioMobil 2

Aims of the survey ► Testing the usability of the app ► Find out in which areas the app is used ► Identifying relevant factors influencing the user needs ► Find new ways of using mobile land register apps ► Improve the customer information and usability INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES8

Methodology ► Internet-based survey ► Sent out to 242 customers which use the app LexioMobil (downloaded the app an used it at least once) ► Survey from 8 th June – 19 th June 2015 ► Enquiry (after one week) by telephone (4 times) ► 44 (processible) requests (18%) INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES9

Results 1 : Personal information INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES10 [48] Age 51 years (average) [51] Duration of employment 20 years (average)

Results 2 : Company´s profession INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES11

Results 3 : Usage of mobile devices 12 [3] Time of S/T usage 6.5 years (average) INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

Results 4 : Usage of the app LexioMobil INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES13 [5] Time of app usage 6.7 month (average)

Results 5 : Purpose of app usage INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES 14

Results 6 : Workload INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES15

Results 7 : Readability and help INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES16

Results 8 : Control INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES17

Results 9 : Design INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES18

Results 10 : Errors INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES19

Results 11 : Learnability INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES20

Conclutions ► App LexioMobil is for mobile usage ► Improvements in controlling and handling of errors are recommendable ► Future functions and improvements have to be considered (which are made in the survey) ► No other operating systems needed (only 6 mentioned Windows Mobile, 2 Blackberry) INSTITUTE FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT – FHWIEN UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES21

INSTITUT FOR REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT Währinger Gürtel 97, 1180 Vienna Telephone +43 (1) Fax fh-wien.ac.at/immo facebook.com/FHWien twitter.com/fhwienAT youtube.com/FHWien xing.com/net/fhwiengruppe Peter Sittler Endowed Chair of Real Estate