THE BIG GOAL

In two years time, customers will feel more comfortable buying large appliances online 

as compared to in-store.

INTRODUCTION

The pandemic caused people from all over the world to turn to the internet to buy even the most trivial stuff online. The purchase of large home appliances did not remain an exception to this. There was a substantial increase in the demand and sales of large home appliances during the year 2020. This led to the need for appliance manufacturers to strengthen their online presence.

Duration

9 months

Team members

3

Tools

Adobe XD

Mural

After effects

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

To make the online shopping experience analogous to the real-world shopping experience.

 

To help the users find the right appliance, which would meet their needs

To identify the user needs to enhance the shopping experience 

CHAPTER 1

To achieve the business goals, we wanted to understand what current problems there are in the e-commerce domain, especially in the home appliance industry and how different or difficult it is to shop for appliances online.

LITERATURE REVIEW

I reviewed multiple articles online to understand the e-commerce domain. We chose the articles based on its relativity with the objectives. We got some good insights such as:

 

1. Majority of the pre-purchase research done by the consumers is online 

2. Thirty-nine percent of consumers will shop more online for things they used to buy in stores.

3. The move to online shopping is creating multi-billion-dollar value shifts, but where and how that value emerges is different across markets and categories.

 

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

I looked into three websites: Samsung, Sears and Wayfair to understand their key advantages, and we observed that the buying process is easier as there’s:

 

 Customer support options such as the chat option with experts to make the decision

 

 Better options to narrow down the search results, eg. More filters

 

 Excellent use of personalized copy  

FIELD RESEARCH

CUSTOMER BASE

Based on prior research, there were two emergent personas: traditionalists and feature seekers. For the MVP, the business decided to focus on Feature Seekers. 

How might we help feature seekers find the

RIGHT APPLIANCE ONLINE

METHODS

Traditional Interviews

To know more about the users, we conducted traditional interviews with the customer specialists. Customer specialists are the people who work at GE Appliances and deal with customer complaints on an everyday basis. 

Online Contextual Inquiry

We asked the end users to perform a few tasks eg. Find a refrigerator on their choice of website and then we asked them to perform the same task on GE Appliances website. We asked them to think-aloud while performing the tasks

GOALS

CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP

KEY INSIGHTS

Replacing vs upgrading

Buying an appliance is not something that we do on an everyday basis, so the mind set of the people buying an appliance is very different than that of buying clothes or shoes from other e-commerce websites. 

Users visit in-store as it helps them visualize how the appliance would look like in their house

When it comes to buying large appliances, most users preferred visiting a store to physically touch and see the appliance to make sure that the size is right or color of their appliance matches with their home theme.

Not sure if the options they see online match with what they look for

With so many product options on the listing page, the users get confused on which product would fit their needs.

Too many filter options overwhelm the users and confuse them while narrowing down their selection

With a large list of filters, users were not always sure which ones were important and felt overwhelmed with a long list of filters to choose from. 

A longer wait time on online orders because of COVID

In situations where the users had to urgently replace a broken appliance, they preferred going to a store as the availability and the delivery was faster.

Availability of the salesperson in-store to assist at any point in time

Another reason why users visit store is the assistance they get when they are not able to find the right product. 

CHAPTER 2

Keeping in mind the user needs and pains, as well as considering the business needs, we came up with a list of key requirements.  

Easier and a quicker way to search for an appliance which would meet their needs

Ability to understand the look and feel of the appliance

As a website, ability to understand the needs of the user eg. Size of the appliance, color 

IDEATION

Participatory Design Workshop!

To bring the upper management and all the other members of the team on the same page, I decided to conduct a participatory design workshop. 

With the help of a facilitator, I setup a template on Mural. 

Meet the participants

Each member, except for the product owner was asked to sketch out an idea on a paper and send it to the facilitator via email, to keep it anonymous.  

COMMON THEMES

Going away from the standard filters

None of the sketches display the standard filters used on the product listing pages, eg. check-boxes to narrow down the choices.

Step-by-step selection of requirements

Almost all the sketches show a linear process of selecting their requirements, eg. Asking about the type of refrigerator they are looking for. 

Not showing a large number of recommended appliances

Mostly all the sketches showed about 3 number of recommended appliances, eg. Good, better, best. 

 

DOWN SELECTION PROCESS

1.The facilitator added everyone’s sketches to the template and explained each idea thoroughly.

 

2. Each member was asked to add suggestions, questions on a sticky note or “like” a feature using a circle, and was open to discussion.

 

3. Each member was then asked to add their vote to the idea they liked the best.

 

4. Product owner was then asked to cast his “super vote” based on the discussion.

MOST VOTED IDEA

TASK FLOW

Following the low-fi sketch that was decided in the workshop, we created a flow of how the new feature would work to test it with the users.

TWO WAYS

  Users would have to go back and forth to make the selections and try out new combinations. 

   Easier to scroll up and down, to make any changes and look at the real time changes. 

WIREFRAMES

To test the “Design My Appliance” concept with the end users, I added this feature making it look like it is the part of the existing GEAppliances.com website. 

Difference between Replace and Upgrade?

Replace: Only the in-stock options will be shown to the users 

Upgrade: All the appliances, including the backorders would be shown to the users

The screen is split into two, and the refrigerator design would remain to the right (Sticky scroll). The changes will keep reflecting to the right, as the user is making changes on the left. 

Try it yourself! 

Start with clicking on the REPLACE button. 

CHAPTER 3

MODERATED USER TESTING

We conducted a moderated user testing with 10 end users, who were feature seekers. We gave them a scenario about   a time when their refrigerator broke and they had to replace it with a new one. We asked them to show us how they would search for a new refrigerator using the GE Appliances website. 

 

We first observed their approach on the website and then after a certain point, hinted them to use the “Design My Appliance” tool.

 

User’s’ were really excited about exploring this tool. Overall, we received a positive response for this concept. 

FINDINGS

Things that went well 

   Design My Appliance

Users LOVED the real time changes as they were making the selections   

   User preferences

Users liked how concise and limited number of questions were asked to them, and felt more personalized  

   Recommendations

Users really liked the recommendations screen, as only the top three best choices were provided which accurately met their preferences, and they were able to tell if the products were in-stock right now 

Things that still needs improvement

  Dimensions

Users were not really sure on how they would calculate the dimensions. Some of them even said that they wouldn’t put so many efforts in measuring their refrigerator. 

  Needed more real feel

Users were hesitant to make their final choice of selecting a refrigerator by just looking at the image as they felt that the images were not real.

  Would be good to see the appliance in my space

Some users suggested that they would want to see the refrigerator in their own space.

Update: This project has been approved to go into the development phase and currently is under progress.  I am creating another iteration of the designs to overcome some of the above issues with some additional features. 🎉

KEY LEARNINGS 

Observation

 

Keeping a close eye on the emotions and concentrating on not just what they say but observing what they do is the key to getting many nuanced insights. 

 

Design with stakeholders

 

Utilize the domain expertise of experienced people. I conducted workshops with these experts to understand their perspective on how they envisioned the system. Their thoughts and ideas helped me shape a better buying experience for the users. Doing this makes them feel involved and thereby being less resistant to changes.

 

CHAPTER 4

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Easier way to measure the dimensions

Ability to interact more with the appliance and visualize how the appliance looks in their space

Availability of assistance in case of any questions

DESIGN CONCEPTS

1. Personal Assistant – Video call

A video call feature embedded on the GE Appliances website, easily and quickly accessible by the users for assistance

at any point in time. 

 Assistance in finding the right appliance completely online

 Getting personalized suggestions by showing the kitchen to the assistant

 Technically Feasible

 

 With this concept, the users still won’t get the in-store experience or the ability to interact more with the product

2. Kitchen Designer

A kitchen designer is a mobile application that uses a camera to scan the kitchen’s layout & color and uses artificial intelligence to suggest the best appliances suited for that layout and color combination. Basically, it works like a personal interior designer without paying any extra fees. 

 Scans the layout of the kitchen for available kitchen appliances and empty spots.

 Scans the dimensions of the empty spots and available kitchen appliances.

 Based on the user inputs (filters like price, ratings, etc. ) and scanned dimensions, it will suggest the best possible           appliances to the user.

 For existing appliances, it also suggests trade-in offers. (Works in the favor of business)

 Uses AR to visualize how the appliance would look like in the user’s house providing an in-store and an enhanced interaction experience

 

 This solution might have technical complications

 GEA currently does not have a e-commerce mobile app, so a mobile application needs to be created

3. GE Appliances Streaming

The users can get the in-store experience at home on their television. Users can cast the 3D view of a store on the television. This concept will allow the users to navigate the entire store, and check out different appliances as per their requirements. 

 

 Provides a store like experience at home

 Can see a detailed view of products on a larger display

 Provides a better perspective of the size and color of the appliance

 

 

  Creating 3D models of such a wide range of products is a time taking task

  The users must have a TV with the capability to cast the website

 Unavailability of personal assistance

FINAL CONCEPT

After discussing the ideas with the managers and the developers, we decided to combine the first two ideas as it would solve most of the user’s painpoints. 

 Scans the dimensions of the refrigerator and the kitchen space 

 Detects the color scheme of the kitchen

 Uses AR to visualize how the appliance would look like in the user’s house and a chance to interact more with the appliance

 Provides a store like experience at home

 Personal kitchen designer providing expert suggestions based on the kitchen layout and color scheme.

 Provides custom suggestions that fit user needs, thus saving time to search for the right appliance

  A video call feature with a sales representative in case of any questions (eg. warranty period, delivery time,                   availability of stocks to name a few.)

 

 

 

CHAPTER 5

MIDDLE FIDELITY DESIGNS

Early Feedback

Since the concept is very new, we learned that addition of the on-boarding screens would really be helpful. 

Video call feature should be more prominent. Currently, it is not grabbing much attention.

An indication before the scanner starts to make the user ready to start scanning  (eg. Go to the kitchen to start scanning)

TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY

Before moving towards the high fidelity prototype, we looked into the technical feasibility of the solution. We found that there are existing technologies that we can make use of for the scanner and AR feature.

 

LiDar technology: This can be used to scan the kitchen and get the dimensions of the appliances or spaces. This is a new technology and currently available on latest iPhones. (eg. Iphone 12)

 

Google Lens: This can be used to for the AR technology, to visualize how the refrigerator would look in the user’s kitchen

Introducing GEAssist

Get ready to be BLOWN AWAY! 🤯

 

Onboarding

 

Helps the users in understand what the application is about and what all can be done using this app, 

 

 AI powered suggestions (Scanner) or talking to a real agent

This will help cater to the needs of a wide range of users, even those who do not feel very comfortable trusting the technology

Kitchen Scanner

Clicking on “start recording” would show the screen

User preferences 

 

Once the processing is all complete, the app gives a list of the appliances scanned in the kitchen, along with the and an option to either upgrade or look for similar. 

 

Clicking on “Upgrade”, will ask the user about the user preferences, and the app will also guide the user to make the selection by prompting the appliance that is recommended by the expert (expert’s choice). The color scheme detected during scanning is also shown on this screen and the recommendations are shown accordingly, based on the automatically detected dimensions and the colors. 

Place and Check 

 

Clicking on the “View in kitchen” button will start with the AR feature. The on-boarding screens will again help the user in understanding about the feature. 

A layout of the kitchen is shown to the users highlighting the spaces which are 1. Unavailable due to lack of enough space, 2. Existing other appliances and 3. Available space that could fit the selected appliance. 

Selecting any on of the spaces can help you visualize how the refrigerator will look in the kitchen space, and the user can even change the space and the colors of the refrigerator. 

 

Shop with an expert

 

The video call feature will connect the user with a customer specialist or a design expert who can help the user in shopping for the right appliance. 

 

The video of the user will not be automatically turned on in order to maintain privacy. If the users decide to turn on their video, user can then show their kitchen to the expert to get their advice. 

 

Try the application yourself!

NEXT STEPS

We would soon be testing this prototype with the end users!