HOUSE2HOME
AN E-COMMERCE WEBSITE
Project
Use the Google Ventures 5 Day Design Sprint to create a website for House2Home.
Challenge
House2Home sees an opportunity people find a great “starter kit” of items to instantly decorate their new place.
Solution
Focus on helping users that want a “starter kit” of multiple products to decorate a new apartment.
Tools
Tasks: Sketching, Lightning Demo, Story Board, Prototyping, Usability Testing
Programs: Marvel Prototyping, Sketching, Procreate
My Role
UX Designer, UI Designer
Constraints
Desktop website
Focus on “starter kit” bundles
Day 1 : Map
Background
House2Home is an existing e-commerce company that sells home decor items and accessories. Items include prints, posters, photo items, lighting, and small accent accessories ranging from $10-$50.
The objectives of House2Home are to assist users in decorating their new homes using House2Home’s products and provide users with a starter kit for those who don’t know where to start in the decorating process.
Audience
Through customer surveys, House2Home found that users struggle in seeking items to match their new place or don’t feel confident doing it on their own. Feedback was received from 10 surveys where the following pain points were surfaced:
Items don’t meet budget
Not sure if purchased and personal items will look good together
Users know the “look” they want, but don’t know how to find the items
Time constraints
Indecisive about items
User wants a balance of quantity, quality, and budget
Persona: Ally
Background
Ally is a 23 year old who is excited to decorate her new studio in Chicago since this is the first space all to herself. She uses Pinterest for inspiration and finds herself saving small apartment and room references that are bright and lively. Although Ally makes time to shop for home decor, she gets overwhelmed and procrastinates the process.
Frustrations
Ally knows the “look” she wants but doesn't know the exact products to pull off the look. She finds many items that she likes, but they are frequently out of budget. Ally hopes to find items that will make a big impact to her apartment while avoiding significant changes like painting or renovating. She finds many small items she enjoys, but is not sure if the items will look good together.
Goals
Ally wants to give her apartment a “facelift” without needing to shop for many individual items. She wants the items to match her taste as well as her budget.
Key Problems
After learning about the company and its audience, the following questions were created to focus on the key issues in creating House2Home’s website:
How might we provide items to users that match their budget?
How might we help users best envision their items prior to purchasing?
How might we provide items to users who have aesthetic ideas prior to using the app?
How might we best build a starter kit for users to find items that match their home and aesthetic?
Idea Sketch
End to End Experience
After concluding the key problems of the potential users of House2Home experience, the following solutions were drafted and drawn in a possible End to End Experience.
Key Experiences for Users:
Allow users to search for items within their budget by using a $$ filter or allowing users to enter their budget before shopping.
Help users visualize their items together and suggest multiple items on the site with a potential Moodboard resource.
Provide a Style Quiz can help get users who don’t know where to start by suggesting items that may match their taste.
Day 2: Sketching
Lightning Demo
A lightning demo was conducted to research approaches of competitors who want to solve similar problems as House2Home as shown in the images below.
Crazy 8’s
After deciding on the most critical needs for House2Home, the following screens were drafted in a Crazy 8 method. The draft consists of a Homepage, Shopping page, Style quiz, Room visualization, Item page, Moodboard, Cart, and Filters. In creating these drafts, most ideas were based on the intentions of the End to End Experience done on Day 1.
Solution Sketch
Amongst the screens drafted in the Crazy 8’s, I found the Style Quiz was the best visual sketch and was also high priority to include in the product for House2Home. The 3 panel story board in the bottom right image was created to expand the style quiz from the Crazy 8 sketch (middle). A homepage (left) was added to show where users may find the style quiz and the quiz itself was expanded to show how users may interact with it (right).
Day 3: Storyboard
Storyboard
On Day 3, a storyboard was created to further visualize the solution sketch of the Style Quiz drafted on Day 2. While iterating and adding to the drafts, the drafts fitted more to a web based platform. The questionnaires on the style quiz expanded to ask users more questions and provide images, colors, and a results screen that will appear when the quiz is complete.
Day 4: PRototype
Homepage
This is the landing page for users when visiting House2Home. The 3 main actions encouraged from this page is to Start a Moodboard, Shop, or Take a Style Quiz.
Style Quiz
The Style Quiz has a total of 5 questions asking users about products they are looking for, rooms they would like to decorate, budget, style images, and colors. The Style Quiz solves our “How Might We” questions by allowing users to submit their budget (by item price or total budget), input their aesthetic ideas, and providing items on the site at the end of the quiz based on their preferences.
Shopping
Shown is the shopping page with items listed. The filters pop out on the right side of the shopping page and can be applied. Having the available filters fulfills an alternative solution to the “How Might We” problems of users with budgets or have aesthetic ideas.
From the shopping page, users can click on an item, view further details and add to cart. When adding the item to the cart, their remaining budget that was entered from the style quiz is shown.
Moodboard
When using moodboard as a first time user, users will be taken through a tutorial of the functions allowed on the page. The moodboard can provide users with a Starter Kit by suggesting items from the site that match a design style they enjoy. It also helps them envision items on the site with their own personal images, colors, or notes. These were key problems surfaced from the “How Might We” questions.
Day 5: Validate
Usability Test
5 users completed a Usability Test to test the current functions on House2Home as well as receive feedback, thoughts, and interest in the product’s purpose and aesthetic. The users had interior design skills ranging from none at all to high skills.
High Priority Issue
Typo in tutorial for adding color
Not sure what style quiz/moodboard is prior to using the features
Buttons and text are light in the homepage
Mid Priority Issue
User couldn’t apply their new filter without closing the dropdown in the filter page
“Repeat Tutorial” text at the end of the Moodboard tutorial is not noticeable
Cart button mistaken for trash button in moodboard
Low Priority Issue
Images in the Style Kit are small
Adding and deleting item in moodboard doesn’t match
The Moodboard button next to the item confusing in the shopping page
Successes!
Smooth navigation in Style Quiz, Shopping Page, and Details Page
Users are easily able to shop and view items
Users had a close or spot on assumption of new Moodboard feature prior to using it
Users who were not familiar with home decor enjoyed Moodboard feature
Users who were interested in home decor found appeal to uploading their own items via Moodboard feature.
Recap
After completing these usability tests, I found great success in the first prototype in House2Home. There were limitations with time being the greatest in a design sprint, however learning about the users and understanding the goals of House2Home allowed me to best draft and create the product. With more time, I would definitely iterate my prototype and focus on the critical and major usability issues listed above. Additionally, I would like to make more items and buttons live for users to click based on their true preferences.
All in all, there was much success in the Design Sprint of House2Home however there remains great room for improvements to make the product the best it can be!