Mobile app
Operations
Design system

Patronim · case study

From Excel sheets to a service that beats the guest to the door.

A mobile app for a Tel Aviv company that cleans short-term rentals. I designed it in 2019 to replace spreadsheets for six roles; in 2026 I redesigned it around one deadline, the next guest's check-in, and built it as a working prototype with AI.

Role: UI/UX Designer
Timeline: 2019 · revisited 2026
Company: Patronim
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Team: The only UI/UX designer in a team of 8: 2 mobile, 1 front-end and 1 part-time web developer, 2 QA, 1 PM

Deliverables

UX audit
User flows
Service blueprint
Mobile prototype
Design system

Live demo Design system

Property manager's Today screen: upcoming turnovers sorted by guest check-in, each with a turnover window bar — Property manager: today's turnovers

Cleaner's Jobs screen: each job leads with time left before the guest arrives — Cleaner: jobs by deadline

Inspector's queue: apartments ready to inspect, ordered by guest check-in — Inspector: queue by check-in

roles in the 2019 app, replacing spreadsheets: 6
of clients said the app made working together easier: 69%
roles in one clickable 2026 prototype: 3
deadline drives every screen: the guest's check-in: 1

Overview

In 2019 we replaced Excel. In 2026 I made the app keep its promise.

Patronim cleans short-term rental apartments in Tel Aviv for Airbnb hosts and property managers. Between one guest's checkout and the next guest's check-in there are a few hours. If the flat is not ready, the host loses a review and Patronim loses a client.

In 2019 I was the only UI/UX designer on a team of eight that replaced the company's spreadsheets with a mobile and web app for six roles, with payments, dynamic pricing and refunds. It was used every day.

In 2026 I audited our own screens, redesigned the app around that turnover window and built it as a working prototype with AI, for the three roles who do the work.

Three people, three very different contexts.

Property manager
On a phone between guests. Orders, pays, tracks.
Know the flat will be ready before the guest arrives, and what it costs.
Cleaner
Mid-job in a bright apartment, wet hands, one thumb.
See how much time is left and what counts as done.
Quality inspector
Walking between buildings, checking several flats a day.
Judge the work from evidence and send back one thing, not the whole flat.

Research

Our 2019 app tracked orders. It never promised the flat would be ready.

I went back to our 2019 screens and the original case study, and reviewed them against the real job: a cleaning that has to fit between two guests.

01The deadline was optional
02The price appeared last
03Services spoke our jargon
04The cleaner couldn't see the clock
05Inspection had no evidence
06One blue for everything

Define

One element carries the whole product: the turnover window.

A bar from checkout to the next check-in, with the cleaning block inside and a "now" marker. The same bar appears for the manager, the cleaner and the inspector, and its colour and label say whether the job is on track, at risk or late.

Job tracking with the turnover window bar, the now marker and the projected finish before check-in — Tracking: on time, with time to spare

I mapped the hand-offs before drawing a screen.

One job crosses three people. The flow shows where work passes from one role to the next, and where each role sees what the others did.

Swim-lane flow across property manager, cleaner and quality inspector: the manager books a turnover clean and tracks it; the cleaner cleans, adds photos, reports a missing towel and submits; the inspector marks mirror streaks as needs redo; the cleaner fixes and resubmits; the inspector marks as ready; the manager sees ready and rates the job. — The end-to-end scenario the prototype can be clicked through: booked, cleaned with photos, one item sent back, fixed, ready, rated. Scroll sideways, or open it full size.

The service blueprint keeps all six roles in view.

The prototype covers three roles. The dispatcher, administrator and client still shape each step, so the blueprint shows them, and the last two rows turn 2019's pain points into the redesign's answers.

01 · Book
Turnover window
Guest checks out at 11:00
Property manager
Books, sets guest check-in, pays
Administrator
Sets pricing rules
Pain point in 2019
Check-in optional, price hidden, jargon
Redesign answer
Required check-in, live price with reasons, plain names
02 · Assign and prepare
Turnover window
Window opens
Property manager
Gets next steps
Cleaner
Gets the job, sorted by deadline
Dispatcher
Delivers linen and amenities
Administrator
Plans work, manages users
Pain point in 2019
No clear next steps
Redesign answer
Four-step what happens next
03 · Clean
Turnover window
Cleaning runs inside the window
Property manager
Follows rooms and photos
Cleaner
Room checklist with photos
Dispatcher
Delivers reported missing items
Quality inspector
Sees cleaning progress
Administrator
Monitors performance
Pain point in 2019
Zip code, not the deadline
Redesign answer
Window bar and time left on every job
04 · Inspect
Turnover window
Inspection before check-in
Property manager
Sees rework if needed
Cleaner
Fixes items sent back
Quality inspector
Pass or needs redo, per item
Administrator
Handles disputes
Pain point in 2019
No photos, no item-level redo
Redesign answer
Photo proof and item-level redo
05 · Handover
Turnover window
Next guest checks in at 15:00
Property manager
Sees Ready, rates the job
Cleaner
Earnings updated
Quality inspector
Marks as ready
Administrator
Reviews feedback
Pain point in 2019
Ready status not explicit
Redesign answer
Explicit Ready for guest, then rating

	Book	Assign and prepare	Clean	Inspect	Handover
Turnover window	Guest checks out at 11:00	Window opens	Cleaning runs inside the window	Inspection before check-in	Next guest checks in at 15:00
Property manager	Books, sets guest check-in, pays	Gets next steps	Follows rooms and photos	Sees rework if needed	Sees Ready, rates the job
Cleaner		Gets the job, sorted by deadline	Room checklist with photos	Fixes items sent back	Earnings updated
Dispatcher		Delivers linen and amenities	Delivers reported missing items
Quality inspector			Sees cleaning progress	Pass or needs redo, per item	Marks as ready
Administrator	Sets pricing rules	Plans work, manages users	Monitors performance	Handles disputes	Reviews feedback
Pain point in 2019	Check-in optional, price hidden, jargon	No clear next steps	Zip code, not the deadline	No photos, no item-level redo	Ready status not explicit
Redesign answer	Required check-in, live price with reasons, plain names	Four-step what happens next	Window bar and time left on every job	Photo proof and item-level redo	Explicit Ready for guest, then rating

Before and after

Every finding, next to what replaced it.

Finding 01

The guest's check-in was optional

Check-in is required, and the window previews live while you book. If the service won't fit, the app says so and offers the earliest safe option.

Our 2019 booking form with the check-in time set to Unknown, marked — ① check-in time "Unknown"

The 2026 booking form with required check-in and a live turnover window — Required check-in, live window

The 2026 booking form warning that the window is too short — Not enough time: the fix is one tap

Finding 02

The price appeared only at the end

A live total sits in the footer from the first choice. Tapping it explains every adjustment in plain words, and points to a cheaper time when there is one.

Our 2019 booking form with the Total row at the very bottom, marked — ① the total, last and unexplained

The 2026 price breakdown with holiday and late-booking adjustments explained and a cheaper option — Why the price is higher today, and how to save

Finding 03

Service names were internal jargon

Plain names, what's included, how long it takes and the price, so a new host can choose without asking.

Our 2019 service picker with internal names such as Mid Holiday No Sheets, marked — ① names only the team understood

The 2026 service cards with plain names, scope, duration and price — Plain names, scope, duration, price

Finding 04

The cleaner couldn't see the deadline

Jobs are ordered by deadline and lead with the time left before the guest arrives. The zip code moved to the second line.

Our 2019 cleaner job list leading with the zip code, marked — ① zip code first ② the deadline as plain text

The 2026 cleaner job list leading with time left before the guest arrives — "Guest arrives in 2 h 35 min"

Finding 05

Inspection had no evidence

The inspector sees the cleaner's photos room by room, passes or sends back single items with a note and a photo.

Our 2019 inspection screen, a plain list of dates and addresses, marked — ① addresses, nothing to judge by

The 2026 inspection queue with turnover window bars — Queue by guest check-in

The 2026 needs-redo sheet with a note and photo for one item — Send back one item, with a note

Key flows

Three roles, one job, clicked through end to end.

Property manager

Book, pay, track, rate

From an empty Today to a rated job. Payment errors say what happened and how to fix it; rework shows as a status, not a surprise.

See the property manager user flow

Booking confirmed with a four-step timeline of what happens next — What happens next, in four steps

Ready for guest with a rating form — Ready, then rate

Cleaner

Clean with proof

Rooms are sections with a short checklist and a required after photo. Missing items are reported from the job, and anything sent back returns to the top of the list.

See the cleaner user flow

Room checklist with an after photo required to finish the room — 3 of 4 rooms done

Report missing item sheet — Report a missing towel

Job list with a rework card on top showing the inspector's note — One item to redo, on top

Quality inspector

Inspect and decide

Room by room, item by item. One failed item sends the job back with a note; all passed marks it ready and tells the manager.

See the quality inspector user flow

Inspection queue with window bars — Queue by check-in

Needs redo sheet with a note and photo — Needs redo, with evidence

Hard states

The screens nobody asks for are the ones that build trust.

Empty Today screen that guides the manager to book a cleaning — Empty: a next step, not a blank

Payment declined with a clear fix: another card or invoice — Declined: what happened, how to fix

Design system

Built on a system, in light and dark.

Tokens for colour, type, radius and spacing live in one file and drive both the app and Storybook, where every component is documented. The dark theme uses neutral graphite with blue only for actions: my first dark palette drifted into purple, and I rebuilt it.

•Status is always colour, icon and label, never colour alone
•Separate text colours for success and risk, so labels pass AA contrast
•Touch targets of at least 44 points for wet hands and one thumb
•Tabular numbers for every time and price

Today screen in the dark theme — Today, dark

Tracking in the dark theme — Tracking, dark

Cleaner jobs in the dark theme — Jobs, dark

Needs redo sheet in the dark theme — Needs redo, dark

Open the design system

Outcome

What 2019 delivered, and what 2026 adds.

people in the 2019 team, with me as the only UI/UX designer

1,460

hours of development for the 2019 app

69%

of clients said the app made working together easier

roles connected in one clickable 2026 scenario

key screens, in light and dark

hard states: empty, loading, error, at risk, offline, rework

We are happy with the app we got. [The team] are very proactive and provide recommendations before we even ask them. Some other companies we worked with waited for our instructions instead of making suggestions. [They] went above and beyond to meet all our needs.

Ilan CohenCEO, Patronim· On the 2019 app

Key takeaways

Three things this project taught me.

01
Design around the deadline
Guest check-in was an optional field. Making it required and visible to every role turned an order tracker into a promise.
02
Explain the price before it's a question
Dynamic pricing feels unfair when it's hidden. Explaining each adjustment, and offering the cheaper time, turns a surprise into a choice.
03
Proof beats a checkbox
Photos per room and item-level redo let the inspector send back one mirror, not a whole apartment.

Try it yourself

Switch between the manager, cleaner and inspector in the live prototype, or read the design system.

Live demo Design system

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