User Research
How to reduce the time and improve the process of moving to a new house?
Starting with a topic of housing in this group project, we talked about different types of houses, moving purposes, house storages, services, and etc. To further categorize those discussions, we narrow down into 10 areas that we four think are the most interesting to dig deeper. Then it came up with we want to focus on moving process, and our goal is to assist working professionals who feel exhausted by the moving process and need to move, by reducing stress and sticking to a schedule.
Identify Topic Space:Â Moving
Qualitative Research
Starting with survey to filter the right users to interview, and we received 111 responses to move forward. Identifying 3 key research areas to help us better understand working professionals' moving experience, which are moving preparation, resources, and moving day. Most interview questions surround on their overall journey, especially how they physically and mentally prepare to move. The questions try to unveil their pain points and if any resources or learning they received from that experience. Overall, 6 full-time working professionals who aged 30-40, are renting a home, and moved with the past 6 months in Greater Boston are interviewed.
Interview Synthsis
I synthesized the bulk of insights into two overarching pain points that can serve as guidelines for future design. These two pain points are the key directions for our offerings of direct resources, moving notes, and personalized tips. Although moving exhaust people with so many pain points:Â "I want to pack for myself but I don't have time to do it..." and "Unpacking is stressful. Laying everything out just to find what you need to cook the pasta with is a task!"
However, people still feel excited to move into a new home and they feel helpful if receiving prior moving experience from others. Also, packing and unpacking is a chance to go through what we own.
INSIGHTÂ 1
Too much to do and don't know where to start
Working professionals are really stressed when they think about moving since they don't have enough time to do all the preparation and moving. Even most of them are unaware about how to start their packing process and when they would be the right time to register for utilities in the new residence?
INSIGHTÂ 2
Need to stick with estimated moving budget
The moving cost in Boston is high, so most people choose to move by themselves. However, working professionals are often confused with what kind of resources could be useful with their budgets and how can they keep a check on it, which end up with a exhausting and stressful process that people been through.
Problem Statement
How might we assist working professionals needing to move, by reducing stress and sticking to a schedule?
Based on the insights we got, we dote-vote on the opportunity areas to further brainstorm ideas. The 3 key opportunities are: moving stuffs is tiring as lots of stuffs and heavy, the less people you have, the more difficult, and people don't trust the movers.
Ideation
How do we decide creating a mobile app and essentials packing kits?
After brainstorming ideas on the insights and problem statement, we further evaluate the ideas on the Sweet Spot of Innovation framework on desirability, viability, and feasibility aspects. Then, we decided to go for a personalized packing assistant app with essentials packing kits for working professionals who feel exhausted by the moving process. We'd like to support our customers with a personalized packing assistant app and an essential packing kit that give them back a sense of control. Unlike other services, we elevate the moving experience through an efficient organizational platform that ease you through one of life's most stressful moments.
PROPOSEDÂ IDEA
Personalized packing assistant app + Essentials packing kits
UXÂ Design
Business Model
Creating a Business Model to illustrate how a business can be built around our solutions.ââââââ To actually support and delight our users, we make the whole moving process from packing to moving very easy for them. We partner with moving vendors and deploy our service on their websites to attract our target customers. Moreover, we are highly value-driven and want to offer the best moving assistance to our customers.
Sitemap for the App Structure
Visualizing a UXÂ sitemap to outline all the content and services that we will provide to the users. At this stage, we want to fully understand how a user navigate through the app and determine what needs to be done.
Sketch & Wireframes
Based on the information architecture we laid out, I started with sketching out the idea, then created a low-fidelity wireframe to structure the app flow. Then, making a medium-fidelity wireframe with user flow to lay out the user's movement from entry point right through the final interaction before going through a high-fidelity prototype.
UIÂ Design
Design Guideline
Since we have 5 service sections offered to our users, we are hoping to provide the clarity for each section. At the same time, we want to offer a sense of joy for them while moving when choosing the vivid colors.
Design Solution
An mobile app with an essentials packing kits to help working professionals control the whole moving process
Based on the insights we got, we dote-vote on the opportunity areas to further brainstorm ideas. The 3 key opportunities are: moving stuffs is tiring as lots of stuffs and heavy, the less people you have, the more difficult, and people don't trust the movers.
Reflection
To conclude, this project was a great opportunity for me to collaborate with a graduate school cohort and gain a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience in creating an app from the beginning to the end. Moreover, we presented our results in Cantina Design Consulting Agency to receive constructive feedback for improvement. During the final presentation, we received positive feedback from working professionals at Cantina Agency that they wish they could have this app and kit to help them move and control all the moving details in one app, so they won't get distracted.
TAKEAWAYS 1
đ Fall in Love with Process, not Solution
Initially, we fell in love with our solution and started to sketch out that idea. But it ended out with it didn't help solving any problems that our users have while moving. Therefore, I learned not to assume what our users might want or need since our assumptions are based on our biases and they didn't lead to innovation. In every step, I found how important it is to keep empathy and user insights in mind, so we can retrospect if our solution actually address users' pain points or not.
TAKEAWAYS 2
đ Exploring Design Alternatives Leads To Better Design
During the idea development process, it is valuable to check if the proposed solution exists in any capacity. If it does, then how do we offer something different through business model and so forth. Something I found worth to tackle this is through a value proposition map, we can clear see user's problems and explore as much ideas as possible to address the issues. Also, a great idea won't be ideal if there isn't a sustainable business model or plan to build over it. It's not always necessary for an idea to be viable and feasible even if it's what our customers want.
