It all started with a brainstorming session with a potential new client. At the end of the meeting a small, puffy, blue cloud floated amongst a whiteboard wall jammed full of scribbles, sketches and diagrams -- many connected back-and-forth to the cloud by a series of energetic arrows.

That cloud was an unformed nugget of an idea that arose during a 4-hour discussion of sales cycles, decision-making processes and the evolution of how people interact with information. That cloud was the idea for a smartphone app.

For Heartland and Hawthorne Homes, it was exactly the type of forward-thinking they were looking for and an idea they could see revolutionizing the way they interact with new home buyers throughout the traditional buying process.

The project was kicked off in March with Strut working closely with Heartland and Hawthorne to map out the HomingDevice™ tool and ensure it was a valuable part of the home buying process and not just an app for app’s sake.

The free app allows home shoppers to create a profile for each home they visit, take photos using their phone and add comments for each room as they walk through. Users can rate each room and add homes to a “favourites” list. The app saves all the information and the buyer is then able to sort the homes using various criteria including price, area, size and ratings. HomingDevice also features integrated Google Maps to make it easy to locate presentation centres and show homes.

Taking advantage of the user database generated once a profile has been created, Strut will seamlessly integrate users’ information with an upcoming, revamped builder web site and another “top-secret” application for presentation centres, so that they have access to the information they have gathered on each home, no matter where they access their profile from.

The HomingDevice app comes preloaded with information on Heartland and Hawthorne homes, but users can manually add all the same information for any home they are considering, whether it be a new home from another builder, or a pre-owned home.

Available now for iPhone in the App Store, HomingDevice will soon be released for BlackBerry and Android.

Strut is currently in the early development stages of our second smartphone app that will definitely be a game-changer in another totally unrelated sector.