From 2018 to today, we've continued to build a web solution for designers worldwide that allows them to design interior spaces for their clients. This is one of our flagship products, and I have invested significantly in it, from design to product management.
The 3D Cloud Kitchen Planner product was built from the ground up. Our goal is to streamline decades of complex desktop-based software into a multi-channel experience that any designer of any skill level can use.
My job has been years of Product Design and UX Research, and now years of Product Management of these tools. I designed the first 3D Kitchen Planner experiences and tested them with our clients, and now I maintain a product that grows from year to year of end-user consumption.
Take a decades-old method of designing rooms with desktop software and bring it to the web by simplifying the tools while still giving designers the tools required to be efficient.
We know that the enterprise market of DIY retailers using this software is outdated and does not surface an omnichannel experience. This is where we introduce our product and services.
My job has been to continue consulting, updating the UX, and testing to perfect a tool for these businesses.
I helped break down three core areas where we were lacking compared to our competitors and the end users' expectations. Below are various implementations of our WLA Kitchen Planner across Lowe's, PlaceMarkers, and BNQ.
1. Floor Plan Creation
2. Design Views
3. Cabinetry & Countertops
DESIGN, LEAD, & PRODUCT STRATEGY
The Problem
Creating a floor plan needs to be precise, accurate, and easy to use when drawing. We've long struggled in this department.
What do you do with measurements when you zoom out? When a room is enclosed, do you need to adjust a dimension? Measurements on the inside or the outside? Walls typically have 4" of thickness, and how will you visualize that?
Trial by Fire 🔥
We've prototyped floor plan creation tools and learned over the years with production code that kitchen designers have used. My main goals were to work on the measurements, drawing processes, the designers' requests, and the tool's overall aesthetic.
Product Design Overtime - 'Blueprint'
Over time, here's a high-level look at our improvements to Blueprint, where kitchen designers work on their floor plans. I've committed a lot to this over the years, and it was something I wanted to get 'right'. Blueprint is never done, but my goal with this product detailed constant user testing, learning, and improvements that only come from watching users.
User Testing
I have watched over a thousand user testing sessions, QA replays, and over-the-shoulder moments of users creating floor plans. I've become an expert in this realm and dedicated to ensuring it could be the best it can be for all audiences using the tool.
Adjusting Measurements
One challenge that I'm proud of pushing forward involves the issue of adjusting measurements (in a fully enclosed space), which would affect previously drawn measurements. It could affect many dimensions or angles depending on how it is built.
I researched how other tools were doing this and what we liked and didn't like.
Lock Measurement Design
We continued to tweak how we wanted this 'lock measurement' concept to work. We watched multiple users experience this issue, and I really pushed for some of these concepts as I knew it would solve their issues. The image on the left highlights how important measurement control needs to be as a space becomes more complicated that a square room.
Conclusion
Since 2023, we've had growing praise for our floorplan tool and little issues or requests. It's used by 200k times a month by kitchens designers across the globe.
“The Holoroom has contributed to over 100K in sales already. It’s clear that this is the future for our customers, truly an inspiration.”
DESIGN LEAD & PRODUCT STRATEGY
The Problem
We started as a 3D visualization company but lacked knowledge in kitchen planning, and the camera views a designer needs to be precise with their designs.As we build into this world of professional kitchen designer, there are certain expectations/needs we need to meet and this is one of them.
Research - Elevation Views
Other teammates, including the UX Research/Training Team, and I have visited our various kitchen customers and researched, learning more about the importance of 'Elevation Views.'
I led these sessions and taught others how to practice product discovery and capturing feedback.
Product Design of Orthographic Views
We learned we needed to provide more views that were not in perspective and, most importantly, all the necessary measurements so a designer could design to millimeter-perfect.
My job has been to understand the market of these tools and this particular feature and push the UX to adopt the requirements for our web tool. I built out plans and provided research to the UX team on the rules we needed to follow to get to these orthographic views. Designers need them to be without materials, lighting, shadows and more of a stylistic view to know what the products are.
Measurements, Annotations, and Exports
Part of the discovered purpose of these views is the ability to have measurements in an architectural format. Each row represents measurements of the wall, base cabinets, wall cabinets, windows, and doors.
We also needed to build and design an experience where designers can place comments in these views and have the visuals and annotations exported for contractors, owners, and/or installers.
Conclusion
Since this launch, we've had two more phased improvements and really cut the gap in the market from our web-based tools to standard pro-cad-like tools.
We invested a lot of time and resources into this feature, but after all of the discovery, we knew the impact would be immense. This type of product has helped the company sign 2 very large enterprise contracts to replace those incumbent tools largely due to these features.
