House2Home
A concept solution focused on helping users that want a “starter kit” of multiple products to decorate a new apartment.
Duration
2 Weeks
Role
Solo Project
Problem Area
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Through customer surveys, House2Home has found that many of their customers have just moved into a new home or apartment. These users want to buy multiple items to personalize their new place- but, they don’t feel confident doing it on their own. House2Home sees an opportunity to help people find a great “starter kit” of items to instantly decorate their new place.
Hypothesis
A survey questionnaire that matches users' needs and constraints to the right products to decorate their new home.
Business Opportunities
This feature would be helpful for a business like House2Home because as the research shows, most buyers get overwhelmed with too many options and the time-spent looking for items to buy that they don’t purchase anything at all. This tool will help buyers feel confident about their purchases by narrowing products down to the users needs and increase businesses sales.
01
Retention
Reduce the number of people abandoning the website and cart.
02
Logic
Convince buyers that the products are right for them based on their answers.
03
New Tech
Ignite interest in new potential customers.
Approach
Define
Understanding problem space
Defining project goals
Forming a schedule
Research
Competitive Analysis
User interviews (5)
Persona Creation
Design
Crazy 8's
Sketches
High Fidelity/Prototype
Evaluate
User-based testing (5)
Design Changes
Research
Competitive Analysis
Survey the problem space through competing state-of- the art solutions
User Interviews (5)
Understanding the user needs and various pain-points, of various stakeholders
I divided the research phase into two phases - a primary research phase where I understood the context of the problem, conducted initial stakeholders interviews and audited existing solutions.
This was followed by a secondary research phase where I conducted 5 user interviews and synthesized all of this data to help me build personas and design ideas.
Who did I interview?
2 interviewees were college students, 3 were just starting out in their career
Recently moved or in the process of moving houses/apartments
Spends more than $100 a year on home decor
Insights + Themes
Theme 1 - Affordability
Insight 01
Users wanted to purchase a few things, but it was hard sticking to a budget
Insight 02
Doesn't want to commit to buying expensive things that will be difficult to move in the future
Theme 2 - Decision fatigue / Uncertainity
Insight 03
Get's overwhelmed and ends up not buying anything
Insight 04
Doesn't know which items are the most important to pull off the look they want
Insight 05
Find cool items they like, but never know if they’ll all look good together in the same room
Persona
Based on insights and observations from the research methods, I created a persona and their goals and frustrations
Concept
Touchpoints
Website Feature
Questionnaire Survey
Product Item Recommendation Feature
A feature to refresh a product suggestion
Crazy 8's
For the final results page which would recommend the customer products to buy based on their survey answers, I completed a Crazy 8 exercise to brainstorm ideas of what that screen should look like and include. I wanted the final solution to tick the following boxes:
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Not leave the customer frustrated with too many options to choose from but still give them the freedom to add more items if they want or change a recommended item if they didn’t like the suggested product.
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Show the customers tips and inspiration of what to look for in an item when styling their new apartment.
Sketches
For the results page I picked the screen that would recommend however many products the customer specified that they are looking for in the survey with the option to refresh a product to suggest a new product of the same category.
The results page would recommend items based on:
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Customers budget
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Customers style preference
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How many items the customer wants to purchase
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The weight, size, and transferability of each item based on the customers preference
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Which type of decorations the customer is looking for
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Which items the customer is looking to buy specifically
Hi-Fidelity Designs
Key Screens
Usability Testing
I conducted moderated in-person testing at two different businesses in my town. I picked (5) different users ranging from 20-31 years old. I asked them the following questions and had them walk me through the prompts listed:
Qualitative Questions
To gather thoughts, feelings & impressions
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Are there any questions in the survey you think are missing?
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What is your thought process while taking the survey? Do you wish to see one question before the other? Are there any that are out of order?
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What do you think of when you see these design colors and fonts?
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Are there any answers that are missing on the survey that you wish to choose instead of what is already there?
Quantitative Tasks
To identify any usability problems
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What do you think the (refresh) button would do if you clicked on it?
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How would you add a suggestion to your list of recommended products?
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How would you exit the survey results and go back to the main home page?
Key Learnings
01
The men who I interviewed appeared stuck on the question which asked them what their style preference is. Some asked for an additional link to a quiz which would help them find their style preference while others wanted the option to choose ‘no style preference’.
02
Some interviewees wanted an option to select ‘studio’ or ‘all of the above’ as an option for what room they are decorating for.
03
Thought the color palette appeared old instead of young and fresh.
Final Prototype
Outcome
I had positive feedback from interviewees regarding the survey. The male participants discussed how it would help someone who isn’t design-savvy create a home for themselves by letting the survey pick out decorations for them. It leads them to feel more confident about their purchases rather than second-guessing their decisions.
Future Roadmap
Future Research + Changes
While the testing phase went well and interviewees had positive feedback regarding the helpfulness of what the survey could do for them, only true data showing increase of sales for the business after a customer takes the survey would show if the solution truly works.
What I learned
01
A huge lesson for me during this design sprint was to not attach myself to the design. I needed to pick colors that fit the brand and the target audience even if I don’t personally like the UI
02
How to ask better questions during the testing phase. I knew ahead of time that testing this project might be difficult since it is so straightforward with few interactions. I found that asking the right questions helped with feedback and re-designing the site to better fit the user's needs.