HomeMaker - Showroom
HomeMaker is a digital store for designing your new apartment, such as selecting the fridge, stove, or shower you want in your new place before moving in. The project began as a need for the company to redesign its product and, simultaneously, make user-friendly flow changes. It turned out that I'm currently a product designer and working closely with user support, understanding the needs of the users before going into redesigning the whole concept and working this closely with different disciplines to make the product and experience better and validated for many other user groups, clients and companies. As a designer, this way of working makes me happy and validates my thoughts that design exists when you collaborate. Design is constantly in flux due to others' views and opinions. It's the product designer's responsibility to canalise all the ideas and thoughts into a great solution.
The product also evolved during this time to include more than just new-build apartments, such as renovations, a CRM/Leeds-generating platform, and issue handling. And it's growing every day, with every piece of feedback from users.
The problem(s) you had to solve or the hypothesis you came up with for solving them
The problem was that the application itself had an outdated design, which developers created. So much information was missing, you didn't know what the system was doing or how it would respond to your actions. Based on meetings with clients, input from customer success, sales and product owner. The design was constructed to meet the new needs and wants of both businesses and users.
Your specific role in the project and how you collaborated with others
I was the first designer ever in the company. On an agile team with three developers and the product owner.
I was responsible for determining the overall design direction of the project, talking with users, while collaborating with the rest of the team. Additionally, quality control and an in-house tester are also employed.
How you came to your proposed solution(s)
In interviews and through the use of Productboard, it was apparent that admins struggle to find specific issues. Therefore, we put a lot of effort into understanding what they were searching for and how to make it easier.
How did your proposed solution(s) solve the problem
I introduced solutions by referring to what we should focus on as the product owner. Validating claims and suggestions with user cases as the basis for justification. After that, I made designs, use cases and/or user stories and handed them to development.
Challenges you faced, including design concepts that were ultimately not pursued
The biggest challenge was that working with a designer and user feedback was new for the whole company. It was not easy trying to implement all the good and practical tools you have if the organisation and team are not ready for it. I have to take things step by step.
One unexpected challenge is that I have to leave the company before the product hits the end-users. I will, therefore, never know if all my insights were channelled into the end product.
How the project affected the users and the business
It's hard to tell because it's still in the early development phase. However, the primary goal is to make the application more straightforward to use.
What you learned
I realise how difficult it is to communicate user feedback to a team that is not familiar with handling it. Also, when they're used to develop, external test and then move to the next thing. There is no real feedback loop, and implementing it requires energy and hard work. It would be best if you answered why you have come to a particular conclusion.
It's challenging to design for a future you're not part of, where the parameters of the design and user adoption might have changed.