Hygge Home Services App
UX/UI DESIGN SOLUTION
An app-based platform that connects renters and homeowners with local home service professionals.
Summary
Hygge is a one-step home service app design for homeowners and primary renters to find reliable and affordable contractors in the US.
By using Hygge, users will be enjoying the home services with value, simplicity, trust and transparency.
My Role
My major responsibilities were analysing market and users, defining the UX strategies and delivering MVP specification. I mainly contributed to user persona, low to high fidelity wireframes and high-fidelity prototype.
Tool Used
Miro.com
Mapping & Forming
Adobe XD
Wireframing & Prototyping
Slack
Communicating
Google Drive
Sharing & Collaborating
The Challenge
Empathising with target users
Home services is worth billions in the US, however, millennial homeowners and renters alike report difficulty in finding reliable and affordable contractors that return on the value they promise. In order to solve this problem and improve user experience, figuring out users' pain points is both challenging and critical.
Echoing the current eCommerce trend
We are approached to build an on-demand app that offer the control back into hands of homeowners and primary renters, who are direct stakeholders. The challenge lied in taking advantage of digital transformation to connect professionals directly to millennial homeowners and primary renters.
The Approach & Discovery
Competitive Analysis and User Interviews
As part of our user research, competitive analysis and user survey have helped greatly in term of providing domain context and a peek for potential opportunities.
Handy and Task Rabbit are two leading roles in and industry and were defined as two major competitors of Hygge. Combined with the user insights we got from survey, we found out the following aspects are of great importance to major users.
Reputation of the company plays a big role
Reviews impact the users’ decisions to hire
Conflict Resolution & Customer Service can easily affect the user experience
Background checks & licensure matter
User Persona
According to the survey,
-27% of respondents are between the ages of 36-45 years old
-60% of respondents are between the ages of 46-55 years old
-67% of respondents were female
-90% of respondents are homeowners
Based on these key demographic features we learned from user research, two user personas were developed. With the visualised user profile, the following process would be practical and actionable.
Problem Statement
Homeowners need an all-in-one home improvement management tool so they can complete their projects in an easy, efficient and stress-free way.
The Solution
Affinity Diagram
Design Principles
Based on the research and understanding of interaction design, the following four keywords summarise the design principles
Seamless: Cut through the noise, curate the experience
Transparent: Users know what they’re getting and at what price
Retain: Keep users engaged and coming back for more
Trustworthy: Users trust the product and its offerings
Low-fidelity Sketches
Mid- Fidelity Wireframes
The Outcome - User Flows
Book a painting service
Scenario: Max wants to book a professional painting service for a room in his house on 27th April and wants to take the least steps to accomplish his goal.
Pay for a service
Scenario: Before payment, Mary wants to see a full itemised receipt that includes the cost of supplies and labor in details so that she knows there is no hidden cost.
Report an unsatisfied service
Scenario: Mary wants to report the unsatisfactory experience she had to customer service in the most responsive and convenient way. She holds the photos and other evidence to prove her below-the-expectation experience.
Usability Testing
Purpose & Objectives
To ensure our medium-fidelity prototype aligns with the problem statement;
To address any issue or unclear feature that might prevent users from achieving their goals while using the the app;
To ensure we have followed design principles so that the prototype is visually modern, neat, and minimal;
To improve the design and functionality of the app by observing users completing one activity flow on the app.
Key Findings from Testing
75%
need a confirmation page after submitting payment details
found the reviews feature helpful
100%
enjoyable experience and concept
at least one major pain point
would recommend the app to others
Quotes:
“I would prefer some sort of email paper trail because I have had my share of really bad experiences with contractors.”
“Long are the days are you have to write all proposals as a text when you can just send them a photo of the wall”
“When I click on painter and is says ‘Painter’ at the top I expect to see only painters listed”
“It was quick and easy to get to contacting someone.”
“Nice, you still remember I don't have an account yet.”
“A great way to keep yourself safe by providing actual evidence to customer service when needed”
“I’m such a visual person so somehow a calendar view [pop-up] is helpful to me.”
Recommendations:
Include the functionality for first time user to provide only input for required fields when signing up;
In the booking section - add functionality to add notes for customised proposals;
Make “GRAND TOTAL” bigger, show hierarchy;
Need to clarify the rate on pro's profile page - e.g. hourly rate or project based?
Reflection
The outcome of this project has received extensive good reviews from respondents despite the imperfection. We achieved the goal to build an interactive home service platform that connects professionals and homeowners/ primary renters in an efficient way by curating a customer-oriented user experience.
By evaluating macro forces, analysing user behaviours and following the right designing principles, we provided a valuable, simple, trustworthy and transparent UX solution.