Overview
This project followed the Google Ventures design sprint framework. Since I am working on this alone as a part of my SpringBoard UI/UX course, it was modified to take less than eight hours a day to complete. This was a partnership with BiteSizeUX. They provided the challenge and included research to be analyzed.
My Role
My role for this 5-day sprint was to understand the problem, sketch solutions, create a storyboard of my product’s primary user flow, design a low-fidelity prototype, and then test with users.
The Sprint Task
House2Home sees an opportunity for people to find a great “starter kit” of items to instantly decorate their new place. I needed to test out a solution for this concept.
1. Map
2. Sketch
3. Decide
4. Prototype
5. Test
1. Map
Research
Users want the luxury of an interior designing expert because they lack design knowledge. Although designing a home is not a necessity, like making sure utilities are in the house, it’s important to feel like their place is comfortable and reflects their style. With tools like Pinterest, it’s easy to pin items that are appealing but the hardest part is implementing the mood board into their home.
End-to-End UX
This focuses on Starter Kit for each room so users don’t feel overwhelmed with decorating their whole apartment.
Users have more freedom and can filter products by style if needed.
It’s a customizable experience to everyone’s unique needs.
Users can keep their budget a priority because they can see their shopping cart.
2. Sketch
Lightning Demos
Before sketching, I looked at how competitors have tried to find a solution to this. There wasn’t any results for “Starter Kits’ so I decided to branch out to similar concepts. My research included subscription sites like HelloFresh, Stitch Fix, Scent Bird, and Ipsy. Their interface focused on letting their users choose items to add to their monthly subscription box.
Critical Tasks
This inspired me to create an editable “moodboard” to mimics the visualization of a queue. The best way to design this is to arrange it in a type of grid layout and include a quick add button for ease. I wanted to create a way for users not to be overwhelmed and to be able to envision their decor together. After doing some sketches, I decided that the most critical task was to add products to the user’s starter kit.
3. Decide
Solution Sketches
Since I am mimicking a mood board, rounded cards were necessary to display content side by side.
Buttons are integral and found throughout the design to optimize conversion.
Search bar, carousels, drop-downs, and forms are often found in e-commerce websites. They help users navigate during their shopping experience.
Hover states are also seen to not distract from the visual element of the mood board. It also emphasizes interaction to browse to the products page to shop.
Next was to start a lightweight, sketched wireframe. Some important UI elements included are:
4. Prototype
Since this was a sprint, I was needing to create a prototype lean enough for users to interact with and test out my solution. I had to quickly decide the look of the website. I decided on the sans-serif font ‘Futura’ for a modern geometric look. It has a clean appearance that will pair nicely with large cards. Next, I chose a green to represent new beginnings as users create a starter home kit. I’m going with something on the light muted side so that it has calming blue tones, so that choosing products doesn’t feel so overwhelming. The icons, similarly, are simple and clean too.
5. Test
Feedback
For my interviews, I tested 5 people who have experienced moving into a new apartment or house. Their task was to add an item to their living room starter kit and checkout.
Reflection
After testing, I found that users were able to finish the tasks, but there were a couple of errors that would ultimately prevent them from fully utilizing the mood board to create their starter kit. The largest critical issue was navigating back and forth from browsing and adding products. Users wanted more freedom. If I had more time, we could also add more features to include every type of problem a new renter or homeowner would experience like being able to add photos of furniture and decor that they currently own.
