Courtesy Meritage Homes

As many home builders know, design fatigue and pick paralysis are existent phenomena that some buyers experience during the new-domicile blueprint process. When overwhelmed with a copious corporeality of product options, buyers ofttimes go stressed, filibuster controlling, and overall could be displeased with the process and their new home.

To take the stress out of selecting interior design finishes for new-home customers, Meritage Homes launched its Pattern Collections, or a designer-curated lineup of interior packages that includes coordinated flooring, cabinets, countertops, and more.

Architect spoke with Tracy Tannenbaum, chief marketing officer at Meritage Homes, to hear more about the research behind choice paralysis, how the visitor developed its curated collections, and what's included in the streamlined packages.

Builder: Why exercise customers desire a simple and transparent blueprint procedure?

Tannenbaum: From a research study nosotros conducted through Wakefield of buyers across a diversity of new-dwelling builders declension to declension, nosotros plant that new construction dwelling buyers faced pattern fatigue stemming from the overabundance of choices and a disjointed design procedure. This 'selection paralysis' often leads to stress, making it hard to make a decision. Notable takeaways from our findings underscore the want for a simple and transparent design process:

  • Protect buyers' fourth dimension: Traditionally, buyers have had to make several visits to the design eye, with nearly 40% surveyed spending more than than 20 hours throughout the course of the build;
  • Give buyers peace of listen: Many buyers using the conventional approach worry they fabricated the wrong pattern decisions, which can lead to buyer's remorse and dissatisfaction; and
  • Offer articulate, transparent pricing: Most buyers take a set upkeep they want to stick to, but in the traditional approach, the lack of transparency often leads to unexpected added costs.

Customers want a unproblematic and transparent design process to assist them shorten the design timeline, ensure pattern choices are cohesively curated, and stay within upkeep.

Builder: How did Meritage develop a strategy to accost those client needs?

Tannenbaum: We launched Blueprint Collections, a transformative approach to home design, to solve for these pain points and streamline the procedure for our first motion-up buyers. We removed the blueprint guesswork, while nevertheless offering a variety of designer-curated choices. This enables buyers to style their dream home confidently and efficiently.

To personalize this experience further, nosotros created our new Studio M Design Centers, which feature seven to nine regionally inspired Blueprint Collections, plus a professional blueprint consultant is on hand to walk owners through the details of each collection. We have washed the legwork for our buyers, and these collections are designed to create a simple and satisfying experience for our dwelling house buyers. By bundling collections and upgrades, nosotros can reduce the total cost, pass on the savings, and evangelize value to the customer.

We accept improved efficiencies along the mode. Design Collections greatly reduces the time buyers need to spend in the design center from more than xx hours to iii hours on boilerplate, without sacrificing choice. Additionally, the upgrade packages nosotros offering are focused on functional areas that take high consumer value and take rates, such as kitchen, primary bath, lighting, and trim bundles, bringing clarity and transparency to our "not-designer" buyers.

Courtesy Meritage Homes

BUILDER: How practice you lot provide skillful options to consumers without limiting selection?

Tannenbaum: Significant information-backed research was conducted to shape the Blueprint Collections process and reduce design fatigue. For instance, we used to offer around 50 dishwasher models, and in our research found that only a couple of options were being selected by buyers more than 50% of that time. This knowledge led usa to narrow our selection to the top five about frequently selected models for buyers to choose from. With a smaller set of options to choose from, the Design Collections process empowers home buyers to make confident design decisions, knowing they are getting high-quality, designer-canonical finishes with articulate, transparent pricing and no surprises.

Ultimately, this process doesn't hinder buyers from adding personal touches to their homes but rather simplifies the experience overall. When curating these collections, nosotros didn't lose sight of the fact that buyers nevertheless want to have some sort of choice or command when designing their habitation.

Builder: What's included in the new design collections? How are they categorized?

Tannenbaum: The foundation of a new home's way starts with our designer-curated collections, which include all the traditional options such as floor, cabinets, countertops, and more—and they are expertly coordinated to create a cohesive pattern artful. In addition, buyers can choose from a gear up of enhancements—i.east., extending the outdoor entertaining space or adding more light or ceiling fans for increased comfort—for each room that allows them to further infuse their way into their home. Design Collections themes range from classic white to modernistic coastal, bold sophistication, and modern farmhouse.

BUILDER: Was the strategy developed pre-pandemic or created as a effect of the pandemic?

Tannenbaum: Design Collections was strategically developed throughout 2019 and launched in Jan 2020. We leveraged buyer insights and consumer inquiry to implement a more than efficient pattern procedure. As with other industries, the entire habitation buying process had begun shifting to online prior to the pandemic, due to increased consumer demand for digital and virtual options. We accept connected to build out our online resources to adapt this shift, which was further accelerated by COVID-19.

Courtesy Meritage Homes

Builder: Will curated collections help movement the ownership process online? If and then, how?

Tannenbaum: With the increasing need of digital solutions, we are constantly adapting to offering our buyers the ability to complete the entire purchase from search to closing to pattern online. With Pattern Collections, home buyers can make decisions in person or via virtual design appointments. Often, they will leverage a hybrid of in-person and digital steps to make their selections. Customers tin purchase with confidence, without having to physically see the habitation, as the digital solutions showcase how it feels to live in a Meritage home via detailed photos, floor plans, online video tours, interactive maps, and digital community brochures with a few clicks. To accommodate consumers' lifestyles, Meritage as well recently launched self-guided tours in partnership with UTour in select locations. Prospective buyers can sign up for a no-contact bout of a model home on the website, and then bout the domicile afterwards hours at their convenience.

BUILDER: What feedback take you received since creating the streamlined packages?

Tannenbaum: The feedback from our buyers and sales specialists has been very positive, highlighting the model's transparency and their conviction in their choices.

  • "… I like how quick and easy the whole design centre procedure was. I also enjoyed the diverse selection of collections offered." —Houston abode buyer
  • "… it was very informative seeing collections laid out so well and talking to the knowledgeable staff made it very clear for the states. We were in the market for quite some fourth dimension and visited other studios with other builders. This was past far the most helpful layout and staff we had experienced, anybody was so helpful, dainty, accommodating and the studio is cute." —Colorado home buyer
  • "Information technology was very informative but near importantly it was a simple procedure, we were able to go all of our questions answered in what seemed to exist a short amount of time." —Colorado home buyer

Builder: What has been the biggest takeaway, and what will the visitor adjust in the future?

Tannenbaum: At Meritage, we've seen great success in our business past proactively evolving our strategy to better meet the needs of our entry-level and kickoff move-up buyers. We sympathize these groups are time-strapped and upkeep conscious, and our offerings accost evolving market place trends and consumer preferences with quality and affordability in mind.

In addition to transforming the dwelling house interior design process, we take relentlessly pursued building better, greener, and healthier homes over the by decade. It is i of our core behavior, and we know it sets us apart in the marketplace. We focus on creating thoughtfully designed homes with free energy-efficient, sustainable features—spray foam insulation to maintain healthier indoor air quality, Energy Star appliances, depression-East windows, sealed ducts, multispeed HVACs, etc. We will keep to work to provide the best in designer-curated trends and domicile innovation that will create healthier, smarter, and beautiful homes for our buyers.