House2Home

Problem & Solutions by House2Houme

House2Home’s customer research revealed that many shoppers are furnishing a new home or apartment and want to purchase multiple décor items to create a cohesive space. However, many lack confidence in their decorating decisions. This presented an opportunity to design a curated Starter Kit experience that simplifies the shopping process and helps customers style their homes with confidence.

Interview & HMW questions

To better understand the problem, an interview was made with Chelsea, a 24-year-old who had recently moved into her first apartment in New York City. While she already owned a few decorative pieces, such as framed prints, she wanted help creating a cohesive space that reflected her personal style. Inspired by beach-inspired interiors she discovered on Instagram, Chelsea struggled to recreate the look on her own while staying within her $250 budget.

The interview revealed that Chelsea had a clear vision but lacked the confidence and guidance to bring it to life affordably. Based on these insights, I defined the design challenge through the following How Might We questions:

• How might we help Chelsea discover décor that fits her style?
• How might we personalize product recommendations based on her preferences?
• How might we create a digital interior design experience that helps Chelsea bring her vision to life within her budget?

End-to-end experience Map

With these insights, I created a user journey map to visualize each step of the customer’s experience, from discovering products to completing a purchase. This helped identify opportunities to simplify the shopping journey and improve the overall user experience.

Conpetitive Inspiration

To help shape the House2Home experience, I analyzed brands that aligned with the project’s goals in terms of functionality, accessibility, and visual identity.

• IKEA inspired the concept of making great design accessible and affordable. Its focus on helping customers furnish their homes within a budget aligned closely with House2Home’s mission.
• McGee & Co. influenced the idea of offering interior design guidance. While the brand provides consultations with professional designers, I explored how a digital interior designer could deliver a similar experience in a more scalable and affordable way.
• Anthropologie served as inspiration for the visual direction of the app. Its warm, lifestyle-driven aesthetic influenced the color palette, typography, and overall design language, helping create an inviting and contemporary user experience.

Prototype

With the solution sketches finalized, I moved into the prototyping phase, transforming the concepts into an interactive experience. The prototype was designed in a single day, using the sketches as a foundation while adding additional screens as needed to complete the user journey.

The visual design was inspired by nature, with a color palette that reflects growth, balance, and warmth. Clean, geometric layouts were paired with subtle rounded elements on key screens, such as checkout, to create a more approachable and reassuring experience.

Below are a few screens from the prototype.

User Interviews

Once the prototype was complete, I conducted moderated remote usability testing with five participants from diverse backgrounds to evaluate the website’s usability and overall experience.

Overall, participants found the website intuitive, visually appealing, and easy to navigate. The Design Studio feature was consistently highlighted as the most valuable aspect of the experience, with users appreciating the personalized guidance it offered when decorating a new home. Several participants commented that the website felt modern, well-organized, and would be a platform they would consider using for future home décor purchases.

The positive feedback validated the overall design direction and confirmed that the solution successfully addressed the needs identified during the research phase.