Project Rationale
This project came about from my love of Ikea furniture. I found myself becoming frustrated at the fact that owners of Ikea furniture tend to have the same items in their homes. My goal was to create a product that would allow prospective furniture buyers to customize pieces of furniture prior to purchase, thus allowing them to have homes as unique as themselves.
Nücot is short for "new cottage" or "new home."
Comparative Analysis
I started this project by conducting a comparative analysis of related products and experiences, such as: the Ikea app, Tylko, Houzz, and the Ikea in-store experience. In the comparative analysis, I analyzed the overall abilities, strengths, and weaknesses of each platform.
Comparative analysis chart
From the comparative analysis, I was able to determine the most important elements for the product that I wanted to design.
Bar chart depicting most to least important elements for the product I aim to design
Personas
Based on the findings from the comparative analysis, in addition to the elements I wanted the product to focus on, I created three unique personas. All of whom would have a different need for engaging with the app.
These personas served as a guide for me throughout the design process.
1 of 3 personas created
User Flow
With knowledge of the app's core functionality, I created an overview of Nücot's user flow.
Concept Ideation
I used the user flow to guide the creation of preliminary user interactions. Creating preliminary sketches allowed me to determine the information that users would need to progress through the experience.
Preliminary Sketches
Paper Prototyping & User Testing
In order to test the usability of the app's design, I created a paper prototype that represented the entire experience of moving through the Nücot app, and then tested it with users. After each user test, the paper prototype was updated to reflect the findings.
Nücot paper prototype
User Testing
Findings from User Testing
Through user testing of the paper prototype, I found issues around navigating through the app. Modifications, which were then tested, were made to the designs in order to rectify the issues.
Task completion success rate
Information Architecture
Findings from user testing, allowed me to structure Nücot's complete user flow.
Visual Design
I chose eclectic colours for Nücot's visual design in order to represent the different furniture styles that can be created with the app. Additionally, there are elements that have a hand drawn feel to represent the fact that every item made is hand made and unique.
Visual design of Nücot app screens
Clickable Prototype
Click the Nücot app icon on the phone's home screen in order to launch the prototype.
Demo of Nücot app in use
This video depicts a specific scenario in which Nücot is used to create custom furniture.
Next Steps
At the end of each user test, I asked users what other functionality they would want to see offered as part of the Nücot app. A few recurring mentions were:
The ability to make further customizations - for example being able to make a heart shaped cut out in a chair's back.
The ability to create collections - this could be done by having a public area where users could view the creations of others, and essentially "collect" them for inspirations.
The ability to add your own signature to your customized furniture.
