Research Interviews

To understand homeowner expectations and struggles with digital design tools, I developed a research plan and recruited 10 homeowners for 30-minute interviews. These sessions included open-ended questions and a usability test of IKEA’s similar tool.
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— How do homeowners perceive a configurator tool?
— Do they understand its purpose?
— Is it something that would make a big difference to them when deciding on a renovation?
— Do they understand the proposed process? Finding a trend, tweaking it, trying out options in the configurator, saving the configuration, then booking a design consultation to finalize the design?
— For feedback on initial thinking, what would help them visualize their space in the design planning phase? i.e., Moving around the render, seeing different angles, the level of customization needed to convert, etc.

I created an affinity diagram to identify patterns and synthesize the data. The key takeaway was that starting with an online tool reduces pressure and surprises.

A simple and limited configurator is more beneficial than a complex, detailed process. Longer customization times means users might be put off by the complexity. And, it might even be irrelevant if users' end goal is requesting a design consultation.
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Evaluations

After ~5 hours of interviews, patterns quickly emerged. I identified four personas to describe potential renovators, making it easier for non-product stakeholders to discuss research. In Lode’s millennial demographic, homeowners were generally open to using a digital tool and navigated IKEA’s tool with ease. Although, the personas showed that not every homeowner needs this kind of tool.
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Competitive Research

I conducted competitive research on similar tools, finding IKEA’s and Target’s to be the most robust. Additionally, I drew valuable patterns from auto companies like Tesla and Rivian.
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IKEA's Bathroom Planner

Tesla's Model Designer

Initial Ideations

Blending Product & Marketing Styles

Usability Testing

Inspired by these best-in-class experiences, I designed an interactive prototype with a confident UX/UI to test with users. Since 80% of Lode’s traffic comes from mobile, I started with unmoderated usability tests on mobile. I used Maze to identify areas of confusion and hotspots. In parallel, I integrated the estimation portion of the tool (impact of room dimensions, layout, styles, etc.) and tested the end-to-end flow in 10 moderated usability tests. Homeowners rated the tool 8.5/10, with the main complaint being the lack of material options—they wanted customize even more!
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Before Usability Tests

After Usability Tests

Proposed Solution

The new all-in-one configuration and estimation tool uses three.js in the browser to layer and mask components; and, connects Lode’s marketing site with the post-conversion experience. This evolved into Lode’s updated product design system, built holistically in Figma. To maximize visibility, I made entry to the tool the marketing site's primary call-to-action. Iterative enhancements led to incremental increases in lead captures, surpassing our target of 100 leads per month. Now, customers can visit the Lode site, input their project details, and customize a design in the Configurator to see live estimates—all without needing to speak with anyone.