Overview
Black and Decker famous for the garden strimmer, wanted to launch a robotic lawn mower to gain more market share. The mower was to have an easy-to-use application for setup and everyday use.
My role
I was to work with a partner company to take their progress on an app concept and develop it to give the users the best experience possible under the European Black and Decker name.
The challenge
The application had been designed with little user research and required new testing, new features and updated branding.
The process
Discovery.
The concept of a robot lawnmower was new to me. A robot lawnmower works similarly to a robot vacuum, excepting for the installation process. 1 to 1s was led by myself to find out the users' needs and current experience of similar apps. Discovery included: User research, Competitive Analysis, and Stakeholder Interviews.
A few key insights were that the app should have at least these four features:
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Hardware status indicator
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Activity log
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Adjustable cutting height
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Weekly cutting schedule
I also categorized the results of user interviews by pain points of using current robotic lawnmower/ vacuum apps. After categorizing the pain points I prioritized them using a 2x2 matrix which led me to concentrate on particular areas.
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I want to be able to stop my mower from my phone
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I want to see the status quickly
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I want to schedule or mow there and then
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Ideate
wireframes are not just for exploring proof of concepts but are also tools for thinking through design problems. When certain ideas seem like dead-ends, mockups can spark insights that surface turnarounds and open avenues for further exploration. They serve as springboards for conversation and help to materialize abstract thoughts so that they can be further refined and clarified. After numerous rounds of user flows and wireframes were discussed and tested I begin on the prototype.
Prototypes were tested across Europe in multiple languages which were extremely interesting to find out common thoughts and pain points as well as any loved areas.
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Areas to iterate on and improve were.
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Mow now and stop needs to be bigger and the first thing I want to do.
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Scheduling should be quicker and use recommendations for length and time.
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I want to see a bit more on the home screen.
Wireframe 1.2
Wireframe 2.0
The solution
The design was based on the outdoors with grass as the main background a representation of the sun to be used as controls. The design received positive feedback with areas of improvement next focused on the schedule and settings screens.
