MINARA MOWSHUMI
User Experience Researcher and Designer
H2H
House to Home
Overview
House2Home is a new startup that wants to make it easier for people to decorate their new homes or apartments. In this case study, I was given the task to come up with a solution for the Google Venture (GV) design sprint challenge from BiteSizeUX. For an appropriate solution I focused on synthesizing the research, sketching, ideating, prototyping and testing my designing that were based on the materials already provided by BiteSizeUX.
Out of all the challenges I chose this particular one is because I myself will be on the move so I can then access the competitors to see what features work for them and this might help make my design better
Problem Space
From surveys we found out that many of their customers just moved into a new house or apartment. They would love to get decorating but have two major issues. First, they lack confidence when having to choose multiple items and decorating themselves and second if they find it hard to get good items within budget.
Quote from the research:
-
“I knew I needed a few things, but it was hard trying to stick to a budget”.
-
“which once should I get if I can only afford three or four of them?”
-
“I don’t have a huge budget for strictly decorative items”
-
“How can I get the look I want within my budget?”
-
“I find a lot of cool little items that I like, but I never know if they will look good together”.
-
“So many items look great in the staged photo-but will they look good in my living room?”
-
“I know the look I want. I just don’t know what products to buy to pull it off”
Objective
Our goal is to empower the user and make them confident about their find while respecting their budget. We will provide necessary tools and H2H sees this as an opportunity to provide a ‘starter kit’ to help instantly decorate their new place within budget to decorate their space.
My Role
I was the sole designer responsible for the UX research and UI design, with the help of my mentor within a week.
Targeted Audience
Users on budget, who are looking to decorate their house.
Tools
Figma
Process
Day 01
-
Research Review
-
Understanding the problem Statement
-
How Might We (HMW)?
-
-
Map Sketch
Day 02
-
Lightning Demo
-
Crazy Eights
-
Solution Sketch
Day 03
-
Storyboard
-
Wireframe
Day 04
-
Prototype
Day 05
-
Usability Testing
DAY 1
Research Review
I began my work by reviewing the research material already provided by BiteSizeUX and using those materials to come up with a solution. My task for day one included to understand the problem statement, get all the HMWs and finally to map out the user experience route.
Understanding the Problem Statement
House2Home wants to help its users who want to buy decorative pieces for their house but fails to compile products and gets overwhelmed. They also find it difficult to find items within their budget.
Users Specifically asked to be “confident while buying products they think will look good” and “wanting to stay in budget”
HMW
My HMW includes:
-
Help users to find products within their budget
-
Help users to find products that look good together
Customer Journey Map
DAY 2
Lightning Demo
I began with lightning demos-looking at different companies for ideas, inspiration, and possible solutions
Havenly:
The process starts with taking a style quiz followed by having you upload images and measurements of your space. With your information, your online interior designer proposes some themes and looks, to begin with. Then, designers present a final concept board complete with layout, new furniture, and accessories. The initial themes from a Havenly designer are in a mood board format whereas the final concept is a 2D layered rendering. As a result, this helps to better visualize the room.
Feature Summary:
-
Can Chat with designer for free
-
Upload a photo
-
Gives 2D layered rendering
IKEA Place:
IKEA Place lets you virtually place true-to-scale 3D models in your very own space.Get inspired through camera first experiences and specially curated collections. Furnish a whole room in just one tap or find the perfect product by searching with your camera.
Feature Summary:
-
True to size for item when virtually placed in the room
-
Usually Cheap
Like To Know It (LTKI):
This isn't a shopping site/app like others but this will take you to different stores. For many Instagram users this is a go to place. Instagramers usually link all the products in this one place and LTKI will allow you to shop looks and videos created by thousands of global influencers, stylists and tastemakers. Everything in LIKEtoKNOW.it is 100% shoppable, so you can instantly purchase products from over 5,000 retailers across fashion, home, beauty and more. create your profile to access shoppable content from global influencers, screenshot their page or follow their link to whatever item you might like
Feature Summary:
-
You can get an instagramable look.
-
Not usually cheap.
RoOomy:
Their mission is to help you better visualize your space through the power of 3D, augmented, virtual reality and mixed reality. For home furnishings retailers, they give customers the invaluable ability to “try before you buy”. Like the previous app LTKI, RoOomy also isn't a store but a cumulative of stores.
Feature Summary:
-
View room in 3D
-
2D to 3D room picture
-
Augmented reality
-
Save entire room design
Pinterest:
You can create a board with all of your inspiration. For some products on Pinterest, you can also get linked directly to the website to purchase. A lot of the interviews during the researching phase mentioned using Pinterest already so they are familiar with the layout and how the site works.
Feature Summary:
-
Save lied items in groups
-
Inspirational
-
Most picture Collection
-
Easy link to products
Crazy Eights
Next was to create my own solution from the Lightning Demo inspiration, using the Crazy8 method. The idea is to quickly sketch ideas, spending a minute on each screen. I selected the most critical screen for this exercise.
Screens:
-
General drag and drop product
-
Choosing and selecting items from a recommended look
-
Choosing a room décor of your room (generated after uploading an image)
-
Choosing a room style (room decorated is not that of the uploaded image)
-
Choosing room style from a bloggers post
-
Choosing individual items based on your filters
-
Choosing a room depending on your budget
-
Choosing an item as suggested by your H2H designer.
Solution Sketch
For my solution sketch I chose the following screen:
-
Upload image page: This will be necessary in my opinion because the user would like to see how the products look in their own space
-
Selecting a room style. This screen is from my my Crazy8 ketch
-
For the following step the items from the design inspiration will pop in the screen and the user will have option to add them to cart or delete them.
DAY 3
Decide
Designing the Screens
After going through the research, it is apparent that the majority of users struggle with making decisions and have major budget concerns. While designing my screen I wanted to make sure I address these two concerns of the users.
The users will be asked to sign up or sign in. Then they will be asked to create a ‘project’, enter their Budget either for an individual product or the overall amount they are willing to spend (from a drop down menu) and following that they will be required to upload a picture of the room they want to decorate. With this photo, they can try out different styles of room or any particular product they are looking for. They can then select the products or they can choose a room inspiration which will place items for them in the room while making sure they are still staying in their budget. This allows the user to get an idea of what their new space will look like before committing to purchase new décor. Once they like how an item looks they can click on that product for details and add to cart or save for later.
DAY 4
Prototyping
Day four was the longest yet exciting. I finally saw my ideas coming to real design. I used Figma for this task. The images I used were mainly from Pinterest and google. I combined a variety of ideas from the different apps discovered in Lightning Demo on Day Two. I opted for a very simplistic and straight forward design to ease users in to using the website.
DAY 5
Test
On Day Five, I had to test my prototype with 5 participants that I had recruited earlier in the week. Due to the current situation I completed most of these tests remotely, but I was able to test in person.
Participants Profile:
Gender: 2 Males, 2 Female
Age: 23-34
Customer type:
-
Once who moved into new house and do not have any idea how to decorate
-
Find products within budget
-
Task:
-
Select a product from a particular style
-
Add and remove an item from the screen.
-
Add one home decor item to the shopping cart.
Feedback:
Positive Feedback:
-
“I like the header on the top with the buttons”
-
“I like that the remove button is easily accessible”
-
“I like the item is placed in the suggested area”
-
“I like it, it is straightforward”
Negative Feedback:
-
“I wish they gave an option to view style idea or customize/ create style”
-
“Do I have to sign in”
-
“I wish I could see the review before pressing on the items”
-
“I wish I had the option to see ‘view similar’ when I click on the items details”
-
“I would prefer a mobile app, so I do not have to upload images on the computer. I would use the webpage as a supportive role”
Result Summary:
Overall the flow seemed intuitive, and users found it easy to use. Users reported that the feature of being able to upload a photo of your own space is helpful. They added few improvement which if I were to redo my sprint would definitely consider
Conclusion
Putting GV Design Sprint into practice for a company that needs a quick turnaround is a good option as it gets things done quickly. My sprint ended here, but if I were to continue designing this app, I would definitely look into the negative feedback and how to improve them.