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A virtual assistant design aiding home furnishing and online/offline shopping experience through UI/UX Research
Inga
2021
CONTEXT
MPS/MDes IxD Studio
Carnegie Mellon University
Fall 2021 (8 Weeks)
TEAM
Yeonjin Park
Jonah Conlin
Priyanka Goel
Shih-Hsueh Wang
Advised by Professors Kyuha Shim and Dina El-Zanafy
ROLES
Brand Research
Conceptual Ideation
Voice Research
UI Design (Kiosk Interface)
3D Modeling and Rendering
Video Production
TOOLS
Figma
Procreate
Rhino
Vray for Rhino
Premiere Pro
Play.ht (AI Voice)
OVERVIEW
Virtual Assistants (VA) have been broadly applied to our day-to-day life for decades, such as chatbots on websites or any software agent that carries out tasks given by users. Significantly, all of them are based on dialogue systems. Voice User Interface (VUI) that can be added to VA utilizes sound-based modality transformed from dialogues to enhance user experiences. The use of VUIs provides solutions for situations when typing or reading is not possible. Furthermore, combined with AI, VA such as Apple Siri or Google Assistant can act like a real person to complete tasks based on personalized needs.
Since Virtual Assistants aim to be as real-person assistants as possible, however, emotional caring is one of the parts that VA design is supposed to achieve, instead of emphasizing task-oriented function as in the past. Thus, our team intended to explore the possibility of more natural interactions between users and a conversational VA and more engaging user experiences for both customers and the brand.
CONCEPT VIDEO
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Overview
Design Objectives -
​Design a multimodal virtual assistant to merge experiences in IKEA from Planning, In-Store Shopping, to Post-Purchase.
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Unite Digital Tools
Inga unifies Ikea’s suite of digital tools, helping customers navigate their Ikea experience online and in person
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Expand Planning Service
Inga gives every customer the experience of a personal Ikea planner, a service typically reserved for major remodels.
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Improve Engagement
As Inga learns about customers taste, it can make targeted recommendations from Ikea’s evolving product line.
Design Objectivs
Problem Statement -
How might the voice assistant augment the walk-in experience rather than replacing offline experience with the convenience of remote shopping?
Problem Statement
Experience Design -
​To Create a Holistic Experience for the Users and a Sustainable Market to the Brand
Audience: Design and Price Conscious Customers, and New Homeowners
Plan it. Or ask for suggestions.
Users use Inga to get recommendations on Ikea furniture that would work in their space. Inga asks users a few critical questions about existing furniture, budget, taste. She also assists in measuring room layout and lighting to recommend items for users' shopping lists.
While shopping, learn some fun facts about the design you like.
After arriving at the store, Inga directs users to the showroom section that contains each item on their shopping list. While users try out the products, Inga provides the story behind the Scandinavian design on the item.
We are excited to share our ideas in support of your design. Take a look!
At the end of the showroom, Inga guides users to kiosks to see their pre-design in 2D layout and 3D simulations according to their measurement at home. Inga in kiosks provides immersive visual and sound embodiment to help users make decisions. Also, help customers prepare for installation and budget control.
Need a hand? We are always here.
When customers step into the warehouse, Inga maps out the smoothest path to get items. She also arranges an employee to assist them if there are heavy items or multiple parts for a single product to pick up.
How are things? We got new designs, and you'll love them.
Based on the data Inga has collected about a customer's taste and room style, the App offers targeted suggestions that match their taste with Ikea's evolving product line.
Experience Design
Design Process
Design Process -
1. Exploratory Research
​To have an initial concept of Voice User Interface and to understand our client - IKEA, we conducted a series of analyses. We started by researching how Google Assistant works with smart lighting systems to figure out the workflow.
VUI Case study
​In terms of brand research, we mapped out IKEA's threats and opportunities, which inspired us to take merging the trending online shopping to walk-in experience as a whole. Plus, IKEA is not just a furniture seller, but a leader bringing better life at home. They had been observing modern human life's changes and publishing catalogs to document the transformation for 70 years.
The analysis also found that IKEA, especially in Asia and Europe, has been further pushing and evolving its outstanding offline experience to compete with the fastness and convenience of online shopping. Therefore, it could be an opportunity to propel the hybrid experience for US IKEA.
Brand Analysis
Insights
Though the interview with IKEA employees and customers, we found out some common points and summarized up in three insights:
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The in-store experience, particularly the showrooms, are a significant part of Ikea’s value proposition for customers.
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For larger projects, such as a kitchen renovation, Ikea’s employees work closely with customers to design and develop precisely the products that fit their needs.
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The process of locating furniture in the warehouse that a customer found in the showroom can be cumbersome and time consuming.
2. Defining Objectives & Ideation
Objectives
​Concerning IKEA's mission to make quality furniture and interior design easy, affordable, and fun, in addition to solving current inefficiencies such as confusing furniture locations and shortage of stock, our team wanted to push the design further in enhancing engaging experiences. Therefore, the challenge we defined would be:
Persona
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Targeted User:
Billy is a young professional who enjoys spending his limited free time at home. Although he’s collected a few pieces of furniture that he loves, he’s never before had the time and budget to decorate his dream living room.
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Virtual Assistant:
Inga is proactive for addressing anticipatory issues for both employees and customers. She is also a decision facilitator for clarifying customers' needs and tastes. Through long-term cooperation, Inga becomes more knowledgeable about customers' preferences to help building a sustainable relationship between customers and Ikea
In order to delineate the personality of Inga, we carried out research on tone of voice, language, and speech pace through an AI voice generator (Play.ht). We tested different types of voices to figure out the best match to the brand image, interaction pattern, and our expectations. We finally decided Inga be creative, playful, and friendly to support users in shopping accompanying and pairing up furniture with her taste as a designer.
Inga Personality Sliders
Interaction Process
​To aid the walk-in experience, we wanted to include the entire IKEA experience, such as before and after visiting stores, to reveal how fun and enjoyable it could be in the store. Our team divided the IKEA customer experience into pre-store, in-store, and post-store phases, then ideated every possible interaction between users, the mobile phone, and the kiosk by storyboarding.
Storyboard
User Journey
​After converging the ideas through storyboarding, we organized the entire experience and summarized what the user feels with the corresponding interactions at every phase with the voice assistant in multimodalities.
