Virtual Floor Design Center

I was part of broader Customer re-experiencing initiative with one of the biggest floor manufacturer in the US. This entire project was a multi-year effort which impacted all departments across the entire organization. From the discovery research and analysis, I identified a gap in digital product lineup that lead me to develop a mixed reality and virtual designer app concept. This concept was widely accepted by the leadership team and later lead to the development of the same.

Challenges & Opportunities

Target Users

Role

Product Manager, Service / UX Designer

Industry

Manufacturing Flooring

Tools

Sketch, Axure, Pencil & Paper

Devices

Smartphones, Tablets, Desktop & Kiosk

Design Methodology

Design Thinking / User Centric

Goals & Outcomes

Inspire:

Inspire customers with hundreds of beautifully designed rooms across different styles

Seamless Experience:

When customer switch their devices the experience should be seamless

Quick Checkout:

Customers should be able to complete checkout quickly

Collaboration:

Features like social media is available for customers to share and collaborate

Fast & Simple:

Provide fast and simple shopping experience for customers, rather than complex decision making and multi-step checkout process

Engage in Process:

Without customers realize, let them get engaged in the buying process which helps to establish a better experience and increase in sales revenue

Bridge the Gap:

Between the digital and brick & mortar store. (A study by Deloitte found that digital influences 40% of retail brick and mortar store visits.)

Budget Clarity:

Keep customers informed about the approximate cost while they go through the process

Process

Contextual Interviews:

In the discovery phase I have done Contextual Interview sessions with Customers, Designers and Store Owners at their own settings. This help me and my team understands WHAT triggers certain design decisions, WHY and HOW the sale/business is done.

Stakeholder Interviews:

This was a very key step in the process to identify the product vision, business goals, learn about competitors, budget, schedule, if any technical constraints, customers and users, and defining success criteria.

Survey:

We carefully designed a Survey, targeting Customers, Designers and Store Owners. The intention was to assess reaction to the brand, loyalty, customer engagement, product & services and operational efficiency. We also leverage this tool to recruit participants who are interested to collaborate with us for future studies.

Competitive Analysis:

As part of Competitive Analysis I have evaluated similar products in the market from competitors, documented a detailed list of all key features and limitations. This enable my team to identify unique selling points.

Personas:

I created these representations based on user research and analysis. These real life representations is key to align product strategy and goals.

Affinity Diagrams:

To build empathy with users I have modeled an Affinity Diagram which helped to showcase the range of a problem, uncover similarity among problems multiple customers face, and identify areas for future study.

Customers Journey Maps:

A current state Customer Journey Map was created as an outcome from the discovery phase. This benefited me and my team to clearly identifying the phases/touchpoints where customer experiences pain-points. 

Card Sorting:

It helped me understand users' expectations and understanding of the topics / terms and helped me with the information architecture.

Information Architecture:

Logical next step in the process would be to define the Information Architecture which created a clear path for users, made the application easier to navigate and there by enhanced the user experience.

Screen Flow:

After finalizing an Information Architecture, I created a flow digram. This enables every participants in the Ideation session to validate and contribute.

Ideation:

Conducted multiple brainstorming sessions with different stakeholders to bounce ideas and concepts. These sessions benefit us to align the concept to the business strategy & product vision.

Wireframes:

Wireframes are created using Sketch. Printed and stuck those in the war room. This helped entire team to collaborate, discuss ideas, solution to customers painpoints.

Interactive Prototype:

Axure was used to build an end-to-end product experience including page flows and interaction. These prototypes were used to perform usability tests.

Visual Design Language:

A Visual Design Language was developed as a deliverable to my engineering team and to standardize the use of UI patterns across the app.

Usability Testing:

I continued to perform usability testing even after launching the product to gather feedback from users to optimize experience.