Marigolds was my second course project while completing my Google UX Design Certificate. The challenge was to create a flower shop that allowed users to create custom floral arrangements.
To gain a better understanding of users I created a simple 3 question survey for floral facebook groups to build foundational research. I would then dive deeper and probe some of the most interesting responses to gather more information. During this stage I found a lot of concern for where the flowers were sourced. Another great insight was that color matching was extremely important as well. Users want to see a highly visual representation of what the arrangement looks like while editing.
In the define stage I took my research and pulled it all together to create guiding personas, journeys, and problem statements. Most competitors are not able to create custom floral arrangements so it was difficult to find some solid examples of how the industry operates in this regard.
As with most projects I begin by scribbling on my IPad for some quick ideas and steps. During this time it's imperative to continue asking questions. How might I show where flowers are sourced? How might I arrange the images so users can see their arrangement edits? I hypothesized that a step-by-step, vertical block process that left a large area of the screen open for the floral arrangement image (live edits) would be a great flow for users. I then worked on the interaction details of how users would pick flowers, foliage, and accessories. A simple picture button that would respond by enlarging the image would be a great way to show users they have selected an item.
I used Adobe XD for this projects prototyping. I wanted to focus on interactions with the buttons, images, and fields to create a true representation for users. The limitations of Adobe XD didn't allow for the images to change when a user made a custom arrangement choice but this could be something that additional dev teams could help with. After I had a working prototype I tested on a few friends and family. I then revised the design from their feedback and created a High Fidelity prototype for moderated usability studies.
I conducted 2 usability studies that were recorded. I was able to learn how users interacted with the custom arrangement flow and had them talk through their actions and emotions while completing the tasks. Testing the prototype exposed flaws within the design and how people interpreted the design. For example, the checkout process would be cancelled if users clicked anywhere on the screen causing them to go back to the Custom Arrangement Page. Although there were flaws the whole process of customizing an arrangement, making selections, and removing those selections was very clean and intuitive.
If this were a real project I would continue to research and iterate on user feedback. Continuing the wheel of Understand, Explore, and Materialize.