My Role
Creating wireframes and comps using the design system to navigate the user journey and flesh out the overall architecture.
Conducting research and user testing to ensure harmony between the user’s needs and the business’.
Working side by side with visual designers and developers through the production process.
Problem, meet a Solution
Having laid down the groundwork with the JennAir App redesign, the team began expanding efforts into examining what could improve the experience for our Whirlpool brand customers. After weeks of customer research, we were able to understand the top expectations of the users for a connected home experience as well as what the business required to encourage growth:
User Needs
Status and notifications for what’s happening with their products
Offer education on getting the most of their products
Connecting to other services or devices to make their processes seamless
Business Needs
Provide a space in the app for the brand to provide content for the users
Highlight new features geared towards giving time back to the users
Bring in revenue for appliance related products and services
Creating a system
At the start of the project, the visual designer and I sat down together to gather examples of the current design system in the existing app to track all of the variants for interactions we had within the same families. We then began identifying what groups of interactions we would need going forward (for things such as button styles, tile, forms, etc.) and creating rulesets around them in order to drive consistency in our system and reduce unnecessary variations in our interactions.
Success Wasn’t Overnight
After working on various directions, we began pitching directions to the broader teams. After many reviews and further user testing we had decided that although we were offering an experience that was a step up from the existing app, there was still a lot we could do to meet the needs of the customers as well as the business.
Issues WE had Yet to Overcome
The home screen didn’t properly educate users on connected features
Branded content felt buried in the featured tab
The tile approach for appliance status would wasted space considering most users have 1-2 connected appliances in their homes maximum
The app wasn’t bringing the warmth of home into the design, but was sterile
Back To The Drawing Board
After looking at what we were missing with our first attempt of the redesign, we worked with the brand team and ANML to create a new user to story based on our persona’s to inform our work. And so, Candace was born.
Candace
Candace is a working mother of four who is struggling to balance her busy schedule while making sure her day-to-day allows her to spend quality time with her family. She finds value optimizing small tasks to help her tackle the day.
After purchasing connected appliances, she learns in the app about how she can make her chores a breeze with quick access to features aimed at automating tasks, and enlisting help from the family.
Capturing Care
It took ideation, variation, and validation under a scrupulous lense, but we were able to learn on what to improve with our designs to offer a rock solid experience that harmoniously pleased users and the business.
INfo When It counts -
With the new architecture, we put a focus on crafting what the experience would like at different points in time. From the initial download of the app, to account creation, all the way to the day 100 experience, we considered when and where to onboard the users and arm the with information to make their connected experience seamless and worry-free.
At A Glance View -
Users are able to view the status of all of their appliances at once, or view dashboards of their individual products with quick access to their favorite cycles, high value features, appliance settings, and content on how to get the most out of their products.
Opening Up Shop -
Users now have multiple ways of getting the products they need, whether it’s through automatic reordering of your laundry detergents when you’re running low or utilizing our new shopping tab to purchase everything from appliances to cleaners.
More than just a metal box -
The Whirlpool App connects to a variety of services to add value to what a connected product can do for you. Users can learn how to remove stains with our stain guide, automate frozen food cooking with Scan to Cook, get inspiration for dinner with Yummly, control their appliances with Alexa or Google Home, and much, much more.
Thanks to the team
Throughout this process I was able to collaborate with a great team of UX and UI designers in our department, with the development team, the brand marketing team, and with additional support from ANML to push our experience beyond even our own expectations.
The redesign launched in December 2020 and is available for download on the Apple Store and Google Play Store.