Target wants to push brand awareness of their home collections.
PROJECT BRIEF
- Overview: Target retail chain has an app that allows shoppers to access a large array of home good collections not available in stores.
- Audience: The middle-class aged 22-66
- Deliverables: AR (Augmented Reality) app feature
- My Role: Researcher, UX/UI Designer
PROBLEM
Customers feel dissatisfied because they are unable to visualize how furniture will fit and match with their current furniture and room dimensions.
Hypothesis
Part of the sales initiative is to develop a feature that will allow users to view items in augmented reality (AR) prior to purchase. This will create a more personalized shopping experience.
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
The data collected compare strengths and weaknesses within Target, Amazon, Wayfair, and Walmart's online and mobile site/app presence.
KEY FINDINGS
Target does not have 3D AR view for home products
AR feature on competitor platforms are unintuitive
Competitors provide unexpected icons for the AR feature without labels
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
Research of what other companies were already doing with we came to a key finding that each company has different AR kits, accordingly to the technology research we found that Target needs designers to design its very own specific AR kit.
KEY FINDINGS
The designs have proportionate placement and movement in each 3D plane of view
User-friendly language to explain AR i.e. "View in Room” or “Place in Room” or “View in Space"
AFFINITY MAPPING
Two rounds of affinity mapping helped organize data from the screener survey and interviews in order to find key patterns and trends.
KEY TRENDS & PATTERNS
Customers want consistency when it comes to online & in-store products
Customers want a way to visualize how a piece of furniture would fit in their personalized space. (Color, size, fit)
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
USER SURVERYS & INTERVIEWS
The UX team collected user data by first sending out a screener survey with interviewees that were recruited through social media (Facebook & Instagram stories and surveyors ranged from ages 22-66). Then we sent out another user survey to refine the results and followed up with 5 follow up interviews.
Screeners: 33
User Surveys: 29
Follow up Interviews: 5
KEY FINDINGS
Only 27.6% of our participants do currently use the target app.
93% of our users feel “neutral” to “Very Comfortable” using an augmented reality feature on an app.
PERSONA
STRATEGIC | TRENDY | TECH SAAVY | DETAILED
Kimberly is a marketing strategist who commutes to work in Silicon Valley by public transportation. With long working weekdays, she spends her weekends relaxing with her puppy and fiancé as well as enjoying some retail therapy.
Wants trendy, but affordable products
Wants to use apps with intuitive usability
Needs to be able to visualize how products will look in her personal space, before purchasing.
Enjoys modern, practical, & simple furniture
USER JOURNEY
The primary persona, Kimberly is looking for a new couch and the user journey displays her emotions of positive and negative experiences with finding the ideal piece to fit in her space.
STORYBOARD
Kimberly just moved to Walnut Creek and wants new furniture, but doesn't know how to shop virtually for size, fit and colors.
Being a loyal Target shopper, she uses the app to search for furniture and is delighted that she can use the "View win my Room" AR feature to check out some options.
PROBLEM & SOLUTION STATEMENT
PROBLEM
The customer feels dissatisfied because the home products they ordered online did not meet their expectations which were displayed on the application.
SOLUTION
By offering a feature to view products in augmented reality, it will empower customers to make more informed decisions regarding home products and purchases.
We will know this to be true when customers feel more satisfied, have more brand awareness, and purchase more brand products online.
We can verify this later by conducting a user survey and by analyzing Target’s financial reports.
DEFINING THE MVP (MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT)
FEATURE PRIORITIZATION RESULTS
Based on research from our screener surveys, interviews, and follow-up interviews an importance-difficulty matrix maps out the features users want based on the MoSCoW method.
- AR View on a single product
- AR Filter
- A better way to view colors in AR
- AR Icon
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE (SITEMAP)
EXISTING SITEMAP
The team focused especially on the architecture surrounding the furniture categories of the app. The current map has MANY categories within the depth of the furniture category.
Products are repeated multiple times
Depth makes it difficult for users to find exactly what they want
NEW SITEMAP (shone to the right)
- Simplified for easier navigation
- Put more emphasis on the new AR feature
USER FLOWS
LOW-FIDELITY SKETCHES
WIREFRAMES
First, wireframe sketches were made to flush out basic concepts.
PAPER PROTOTYPES
Secondly, a paper prototype was created.
LOW-FIDELITY USABILITY TESTING
The paper prototype was tested with users and treated as a real feature for the Target App.
MID-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES (BLUEPRINTS)
First, we started with a wireframe sketch that we tested early to bring us to the next stage.
FINAL DELIVERABLE TESTING
Usability testing was conducted for iterations before the final deliverable.
PROTOTYPE
SUGGESTED ITERATIONS FOR NEXT STEPS
Design is Iterative - ADDED AFFORDANCES FOR USABILITY
I decided to take some next steps into developing the AR screens for the prototype and included 3D light-blue marks that appear with "handlebars" for easier placement of the furniture.
AR Icon Filter
To easily scan the screen to recognize what items have the AR "View in Room" functionality.
Categories
I replaced the image of a user using an iPad with a user a mobile in an empty space to map out the room, and added images of Target's furniture categories to show the home furnishing's collections.
AR Instructions
Scan an area with a camera.
Detect a surface and a grid would appear.
Users can tap where to place a product, and an oval will appear with a finger tap. This could also be moved across the grided plane in live AR time, for scale and fit.
Apple Pay Checkout
The customer has the option to pay with Apple Pay.
Apple pay has a credit card, shipping, and contact info already saved with Apple Touch ID capabilities.
There is a confirmation screen that the product has been shipped.
PAYMENT & SHIPPING CONFIRMATION A module to confirm the payment. Once the order is placed, then notification would email the customer when it has been shipped with estimated arrival date.
