type
Design Sprint
Mentor
Sandra Vickery
Duration
2 Weeks
Date
Spring 2025
Problem
Many young renters struggle to decorate their first apartments, feeling overwhelmed by choices while trying to achieve their desired aesthetic within budget constraints.
Solution
House2Home is a tablet app that helps users visualize and plan their space with budget-aware room designs, offering AR visualization, mood boards, and curated furniture packages.
My Role
As a UX/UI designer during a design sprint, I analyzed provided research to create user journey maps, conducted competitive analysis, developed sketches and storyboards, and built prototypes that were then validated through user testing sessions.
01 Map
Overview
House2Home is facing a challenge where customers who want to decorate their new living spaces feel overwhelmed by the process of selecting and combining decorative items. Based on the research provided, many users know the aesthetic they want to achieve but struggle with choosing items that work together, staying within budget, and making impactful decorating decisions for their spaces. The target users are often young professionals or recent graduates moving into their first apartments, with budgets ranging from modest to moderate ($10-50 per item).
User Interviews
From the research provided, users commonly struggle with budget constraints and visualizing how items will look together while decorating their living spaces. Many want to avoid lengthy searches for perfect items and prefer smaller, portable decorations that can work across different spaces, especially those who move frequently.
"Will they look good in my living room?"
~ Anna
"Will they all good together?"
~ Dan
"How can I get the look I want?"
~ Lauren
"I moved into a new apartment…"
~ Maria
"I want my place to look good..."
~ Ron
"I don't have a huge budget to spend..."
~ Silvia
User Persona
Ally is a 23-year-old recent graduate living in her first Chicago studio apartment who browses Pinterest for bright, lively design inspiration but feels overwhelmed when shopping for decorations. Her main goals are to achieve her desired aesthetic on a limited budget and find items that will look cohesive in her space, without spending excessive time shopping.
User Research Insights
Several key insights emerge from the user research given. The primary opportunity appears to be creating a solution that helps users confidently select coordinating decorative items that achieve their desired aesthetic while respecting their budget constraints.
Visualization
Users want to achieve a cohesive look but struggle to visualize how items will work together in their space.
Budget
Budget constraints create anxiety about making the right purchasing decisions.
Starter Kits
There's a strong desire for curated "starter kits" that take the guesswork out of decorating while remaining within budget.
Inspirations
Many users find inspiration from complete room photos but have difficulty breaking down those looks into purchasable items.
User Stories Minimum Viable Product
The forth user story was selected because it addresses key challenges identified in research while providing a natural progression from browsing to purchase, with tablet compatibility for augmented reality usages. The flow effectively combines visual exploration, budget management, and visualization tools while maintaining a balance between guided assistance and user autonomy, making it ideal for our target persona.
02 Sketching
Create Screen Sketches: Crazy 8's
Based on the research showing how young adults can stress about staying on a budget while planning their room designs, I chose to sketch Create pages as the critical screens with the ability to design spaces while tracking costs. The experience would allow users to design their space while verifying their budgets stay realistic and affordable.
Solution Screens
After the Crazy 8's exercise, I took the critical screen, Create, to develop in detail through sketching. I then designed what I envisioned as an effective preceding and following screens, including a Mood Board and Room Themed screens. The following screens would guide users through a complete home decoration journey while maintaining focus on their style preferences and budget constraints.
03 Decide
Story Board
To complete the storyboard, I referenced my studied competitors for inspiration and my chosen user story variant to fill in the gaps. The completed storyboard begins with users exploring potential themes. Users then select a room they'd like to design, which opens a 3D version of the space where they can arrange and budget their ideas. After finalizing the design, users receive an auto-curated mood board for additional inspiration. They can then either make further adjustments or proceed to order their selected furniture for delivery.
Site Map
The House2Home site map outlines a comprehensive user journey through six main sections: Mood Board, Gallery, Shopping, Create, About, and Profile. Each section is organized with relevant subsections to guide users from inspiration to purchase, starting the experience with the Mood Board section featuring a Style Quiz to personalize the experience.
04 Visual Design
Mood Board
House2Home Personality
Welcoming and approachable.
Nature-inspired.
Professional yet friendly.
Calming and peaceful.
House2Home Attributes
Organic look, feel, and forms.
Modern aesthetic with clean geometries.
Natural textures and earthy to colors.
Balanced composition.
House2Home Image Inspiration
Forest landscapes.
Botanical gardens.
Minimalist nature photography.
Zen gardens.
House2Home UI Attributes
Deep forest greens for primary elements.
Fresh sage for accents.
Light natural tones for backgrounds.
Soft shadows and subtle transitions.
Visual Style Guide
05 Implementation
Usability Testing Highlights
User testing revealed strong enthusiasm for the professional interface design and mood board feature, with participants consistently praising the app's visual appeal and trustworthy brand perception. Key areas for improvement included implementing more 2D/3D visualization features, adding customizable room layouts, and enhancing budget filtering options to create a more comprehensive furniture planning experience.
Development Mood Board
Problem:
Users requested earlier access to the "Mood Board" section in the user experience.
Half of the users expressed interest in having a choice between taking a "Style Quiz" for guidance or directly browsing the "Mood Board" section.
Solution:
The "Style Quiz" is now integrated as a button option at the beginning of the "Mood Board" section, allowing users to choose between taking the quiz or browsing directly.
The user journey flows more naturally with sections organized sequentially: "Mood Board," "Gallery," "Shopping," "Create," and "About."
Development Gallery
Problem:
Users had difficulty locating the price adjustment feature on the right side of the screen.
Users expressed a preference for organizing the page by style (similar to the "Mood Board") rather than by room type.
Users were overly distracted by the information displayed at the bottom of the thumbnails.
Solution:
The price adjustment button is enlarged and centered at the top of the page for better immediate visibility.
Style buttons were added alongside room types to provide the additional organizational layer requested by users.
To improve hierarchy and visual clarity, the background color for thumbnail information was changed from dark green to light green, allowing primary buttons and key information to stand out more prominently.
Development Create
Problem:
Users wanted the ability to view spaces in 3D.
Users had difficulty locating the "Checkout" button on the right side of the screen.
Users weren't aware they could scroll horizontally through furniture pieces in the bottom sheet.
Solution:
The "Checkout" button is given a dark green color for better visibility and its width is expanded to display the room's total price.
A "3D View" button is added below the "Checkout" button to provide three-dimensional visualization capabilities.
The furniture pieces in the bottom sheet are compressed horizontally to better indicate scrollable content that users previously missed.
Final Prototypes
These final prototypes incorporate all critical user feedback and demonstrate significant improvements in task completion rates across all three main pages: Mood Board, Gallery, and Create.
User Flow Mood Board
User’s have the Initial choice between taking a style quiz or directly browsing “Mood Board” page.
A "Style Quiz" button prominently placed at the beginning of the section "Mood Board" page to encourage personalized exploration and style discovery.
House2Home features a natural flow enhancing the shopping experience, progressing from Mood Board through Gallery, and Shopping, to Create.
The “Style Quiz” is a full-page experience for better focus and usability.
User Flow Gallery
Price adjustment button prominently centered at the top of the page for easy access and visibility.
Dual filtering system combining style buttons and room types for intuitive content exploration.
Thoughtful contrast between primary buttons and supporting elements for clear navigation.
Well-structured layout that seamlessly integrates both style and room-type filtering options.
User Flow Create
An expanded checkout button in dark green that clearly shows the total room price.
Dedicated buttons for different 2D and 3D visualization experiences to enhance room preview capabilities.
Streamlined layout that simplifies furniture selection and room personalization.
Last Thoughts and Next Steps
Impacts & Results
Successful user testing with 5 diverse participants provided comprehensive feedback.
Positive reception of core features like mood boards and budget filtering.
Users found the interface professional and trustworthy.
Strong validation of the app's value proposition for young renters.
Lessons Learned
Clear pricing information is crucial for target audience.
Users strongly desire both 2D and 3D visualization options.
Customization features are highly valued by users.
Continue personalizing early on experience to prevent choice overload.
Future Opportunities
Implement AR visualization features.
Add style quiz for a greater personalized experience and recommendations.
Develop more robust filtering options.
Create interactive room layout tools.
Personal Growth
First time designing an e-commerce platform.
Learned key lessons about pricing and product displays.
Developed skills to quickly prototype iterations based on feedback.
Increased ability to recognize and synthesize patterns.