Establishing a Product Design out of a website refresh:
Rebranding of a kitchen and bath remodeling company, Green House Designs
Product Design
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Service Design
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Small Buisness
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Product Design 〰️ Service Design 〰️ Small Buisness 〰️
My Role: Product Design, UX Design, Graphic Design, UX Researcher
Project: Freelance/Contract : September 2019 - January 2023
What started as a website redesign turned into an end-to-end product
About the Project:
A small kitchen and bath remodeling company located in the DC suburbs required assistance in updating its website to make company values and customer intake easier to find and help lower dropoff rates.
The stakeholder quickly realized that, much like a start-up, more areas needed to be brought to life and/or polished, including brand design creation and maintenance, social media content management and creation, and development of a new product.
About the outcome:
I conducted UX research and laid the groundwork for the new end-to-end product offering, but I was laid off before I could see it through. The owner has added some of my recommendations as features to the website and has started creating personalized packets for clients.
About the challenge:
Green House Design aimed to increase traffic to the website for its remodeling services, but also wanted to diversify its revenue stream by introducing a new virtual and in-person service: Paint Consultations. This product was not previously established at the company, and the website was not set up to support it.
About the Process:
I had done the groundwork for the new paint consultation product and website by conducting a comparative analysis and in-person interviews.
I made recommendations based on findings and was preparing low-fidelity mock-ups when the company laid me off. They have since used my insights to update portions of the website.
How can you make a saturated product like paint consultations stand out?
Comparative analysis showed market saturation
I analyzed six market competitors- three local businesses and three with a strong online presence- and interviewed three homeowners.
From these insights, I identified some features that swayed users to choose one product over another:
User completion rate across the site was lower when given generic stock photography and generalized product selection
Interviews with users revealed they completed tasks mainly due to referrals to the company, not because the site was engaging or easy to navigate.
If you’re interested in seeing more of my research beyond the key outcomes, including my analysis and recommendations feel free to view my presentation by clicking the button
Key Takeaways
Technologies:
Figma
Google Forms
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Air Table
Skills:
Comparative Analysis
Research and Planning
User Interviews
Graphic Design
Social Media Marketing
Inital Designs and an End-to-End process
The Visuals
I didn’t get to wireframe or mock-up the paint consultation page before I was laid-off, but I recommended the service be broken down based on in-person consultations and virtual consultations. Each option would have:
30 minute complimentary video chat with a designer
Allow the user to purchase up to 4 rooms, with 2-4 colors
Options to add additional designer consultations, and extra products like wallpaper, tile, and basic home decor
A personalized paint consultation packet mailed to the client, including swatches, samples, paint coupons, and paint product information
The stakeholder did make a basic page based on these recommendations. Packets were also created to send to the clients, along with the the information packet I designed, shown below.
Customized Client Packet Page 1
Customized Client Packet Page 2
Advertising Graphics
As a fun side project, I got to design some advertisement graphics promoting the new service. The company’s visual identity is based on Mid-Century modern.
Graphic for advertising
Graphic for advertising
Graphic for advertising
Graphic for advertising
Client-made product pages based on my insights and recommendations
The Website
Below are screenshots of the paint consultation pages taken directly from the client’s website: https://www.greenhousedesigns.com/colorconsultations
Screenshot of Green House Designs’ paint consultation page showing an in-person option and a virtual option
Screenshot of In-Person Color Consultation page for Green House Designs
Screenshot of Virtual Color Consultation page for Green House Designs
The Future is Modern
If I had had more time on my contract, I would have run a couple of usability tests that assessed the flow and architecture of the current site, along with updated wireframes and mockups of a simplified, modern site. Some sore spots I noticed:
The text is too small in relation to the surroundings to be prominent
The navigation bar is clunky and feels outdated
The landing page consists of an overwhelming wall of remodel photos (portfolio page)
The UI and visual images are not cohesive among themselves or with the brand identity