UNDERSTANDING
IDEATION
STORYBOARDING
RAPID PROTOTYPING
TESTING
Simplifying the home decor shopping experience.
MY ROLE
UX designer; modified 5-day, Google Ventures-inspired design sprint
APPLIED SKILLS
Problem Mapping, Sketching, Storyboarding, Rapid Prototyping, Usability Testing
ACHIEVEMENTS
Rapid build of an online experience designed to take the pain and guesswork out of shopping for home decor. Key features: an interactive quiz to identify style and budget preferences and a personalized and fully customizable shopping experience.
LEARNINGS
Providing users with a guided experience helps combat the feelings of discomfort and overwhelm that can come along with online shopping for home decor. Offering personalized product bundles with the option to customize gives users the freedom they want and the comfort they need to make purchases.
THE PROBLEM
How can we empower new renters and homeowners with the confidence they need to make home decor purchases?
THE CLIENT
House2Home is an e-commerce startup that wants to help people instantly decorate their new homes and apartments by offering home decor starter kits.
​
Target users are young professionals interested in decorating their first apartments. Though inspired by what they see on Pinterest and Instagram, they often fail to make purchases because:
​
-
items are out of their price range
-
they lack experience with and/or knowledge of interior design
-
they feel uncomfortable or become overwhelmed
-
they can't or don't want to spend a lot of time shopping
MY GOAL
Create a delightful digital experience that helps ease users through the process of shopping for home decor by eliminating points of frustration and offering expertly styled product kits that match personal style and budget needs.
DAY 1:
UNDERSTANDING
"How can I get the look and feel I want within my budget?"
The first day of my design sprint was devoted to understanding House2Home, its business need, and its target customers, then sketching out potential user experiences to solve the problem.
THE COMPANY
House2Home is a website and web app that sells home decor pieces including wall decor, lighting, accent pieces, and other accessories, all priced between $10 and $50.
USER RESEARCH
To get a deeper understanding of who I was designing for, I studied personas and reviewed data collected during user interviews. In summary: when target users move into their first apartments they have a desire to transform those spaces into places that feel like home, but are often unsuccessful. Pinterest and Instagram help them understand the look and feel they want, but they don't know how to recreate those looks in their spaces while sticking to their budgets.
MAPPING THE SOLUTION
With an understanding of the company, its potential customers and they challenges they face, I created 10 potential end-to-end user experiences and selected the one I felt best achieved our goals:
End-to-end user experience map
DAY 2:
SKETCHING
Finding inspiration and sketching solutions
DEFINING PERSONAL STYLE AND BUNDLING PRODUCTS
To find out how competitors and other retailers identify a user's personal style and create product bundles, I conducted a solo version of lightning demos. Along with Modsy and Stitch Fix (pictured below), I also reviewed Bare Minerals, Nest Set, and Bohemia Design.
Company:
Modsy, an online interior design service
Notable Feature:
A fun image-driven quiz onboards users and helps the company learn about their needs and preferences.
Company:
Stitch Fix, an online personal styling service
Notable Feature:
After new users complete a style quiz, the site presents customized head-to-toe outfits containing products that can be purchased separately or as part of a set.
PEN TO PAPER
SKETCHING POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
I determined that the most critical screen in my solution would be the home decor starter kit product page. Inspired by what I saw in lightning demos, I did a Crazy 8s exercise to quickly generate a variety of solutions for that page.
Crazy 8s: home decor starter kit product page
EXPANDING ON THE MOST CRITICAL SCREEN
I selected the sketch from my Crazy 8s exercise I felt best met my goals, then created a three-panel storyboard to show how a user will reach that screen and what will come next.
Solution sketch mini storyboard
FROM BROWSE TO PURCHASE
My storyboard focused on four steps over 13 screens to help guide a target user from searching for home decor inspiration to purchasing a House2Home home decor starter kit:
-
An engaging ad on Pinterest for House2Home decor kits emphasizing a focus on matching personal style and budget
-
A fast, fun, easy quiz to determine the what space is being designed and the user's interior design style, color scheme, budget, and must-have items
-
The "Create My Kit"feature: presenting the user with customizable home decor starter kits that meet their wants and needs
-
A seamless checkout including free shipping for any kit
DAY 3: STORYBOARDING
Visualizing the journey of the House2Home customer
Storyboard: From browsing Pinterest to purchase
DAY 4: PROTOTYPING
Rapidly building a façade of the web app experience
ONE DAY TO PROTOTYPE
With a clear idea of what a minimum viable product would look like, I turned to Marvel to quickly build out my prototype. Along the way I discovered which screens and elements were missing from my storyboard, and added those to create a cohesive experience.
Images of the prototype
DAY 5:
TESTING
Testing the concept and gathering feedback
Users felt the design was clean and the process was easy to follow. They identified an opportunity to make the ad on Pinterest more eye-catching and to offer products not only as kits, but as individual items. In the future, the company should consider building a House2Home mobile app so that users can quickly and easily access the shopping experience after initial discovery on Pinterest.
INTERACT
Experience the interactive prototype
Follow the link below to experience the House2Home prototype.
CONCLUSION
An MVP that got the job done
The House2Home web app successfully eased users through the process of shopping for home decor by eliminating points of frustration and offering expertly styled product kits that match personal style and budget needs. Goal achieved!
MY TAKEAWAYS
This solo design sprint worked to minimize risk of failure and quickly generate user-centric solutions and their delivery.
I'm excited to take on team-oriented design sprints in the future. I look forward to collaborating with stakeholders to co-create more innovative solutions. I always enjoy the sense of camaraderie and accomplishment that comes with working on a team, and the added challenges and opportunities of working with multiple perspectives.