HEEM
Furniture shopping in Augmented Reality
Ease furniture shopping experience
with Augmented Reality interactions
User Researcher / UX/UI Designer / Prototyping & User Testing
Overview
HEEM simplifies furniture shopping with massive AR catalog.
HEEM is a new interior design app that has partnered with top U.S. furniture stores to build a comprehensive Augmented Reality catalog of products. The goal is for users to visualize the furniture's size, color, and texture in its intended environment before making the purchase. Through this AR app, users can browse, compare, and "try on" the furniture with just a few clicks and swipes.
This project focuses on delivering an immersive and enjoyable shopping experience on the newest AR-ready devices and minimizing the hassle that is commonly associated with furniture shopping.
Note: This is a self-commissioned project
Defining Goals
Do people even like AR?
Although Pokemon Go sparked a great appreciation in AR, one of the first thing I wanted to know is the acceptance of the technology in a shopping context. Since the business objective was to create a multi-brand platform that would ease users' shopping experience, I was eager to learn the following:
- Make an outstanding AR furniture app
How are customers reacting to current AR furniture apps? - Show me what this sofa looks like in my living room now
What would be the best way to incorporate AR seamlessly in the shopping process? How to make the interaction with the virtual product intuitive? - Help me easily compare different brands of furniture
How can the organization of the products be more intuitive to the shoppers?
Exploration
I created paper prototypes to learn about users' expectation of AR.
The paper prototype included product catalog, viewing products in augmented reality, placing order, and checking out. This helped me understand how people interacted with the AR objects and how to best transition from "shopping around" to "let's get it now".
Findings & Synthesis
- 4 out of 5 users agree AR would bring much convenience in furniture shopping and would download HEEM if it has major furniture retailers.
- Disruptive shopping experience found in the IKEA Place app. This is the most appreciated competitor, but the app runs independently from the main IKEA app, which handles orders.
- Help me trust that sofa really is that big. The app must include measurements that help deliver true-to-size objects to users.
- AR won't completely eliminate the visit to the store. When it comes to a larger piece of furniture, it is natural that shoppers would want to sit, touch, feel that product before placing the order. Help
“...[AR] is really cool if I’m buying a coffee table. But I would still measure out the space or the size of my sofa before I go [shopping]. I’d like to sit in before I pay for it.”
Concept HEEM Screens
The Solution
Folding AR into the shopping experience.
Based on the findings, offering categories by room and furniture type and search functions are important shoppers. This help users locate what they already have in mind quicker. The research also suggests furniture-shopping usually involves careful decision-making. To accelerate the process, HEEM needs to save pictures of the products' arrangement in AR and include the ability to add multiple pieces of furniture at once.
Browsing and seeing products through AR