Method/Process: Interview & Gang Survey & Usability Test
Liam Miao 5 min. read
A global home appliance manufacturer created a futuristic and innovative iconic user interface design for Chinese market. It aimed to fulfill the highest expectation of Chinese consumers both in design language and usability.
The new UI design focused on large household appliances including oven/steamer, washer/dryer, fridge and hood.
This study was to understand how Chinese consumers would perceive the new UI design stories and identify the best one.
The study consisted of two phases. Both quantitative and qualitative researches were conducted in each phase.
The quantitative research was implemented with a gang survey of 128 participants who were TFT owners. It focused on the evaluation of visual design in which individual screen was shown one by one and ratings on positive/negative attributes were collected for each design story.
20 participants were selected from the gang survey to join the 1-on-1 in-depth interview which lasted for 75-90 minutes. Participants had real interaction with the UI designs and shared their thoughts on the preference of different elements. Usability issues were recorded in detail.
[Field Work Photo]
The results of phase 1 showed that all the three designs had no severe usability issues. But one design was eliminated due to fewer supporters for its aesthetics.
The remaining two designs had a close match in phase 2. Recommendations were given respectively for color, pictures, visual effect, icons & symbols, text, layout and features.
A home appliance manufacturer wanted to verify consumer acceptance of indoor planting, to be clear about target users and to design and refine the concept product which would enable consumers to easily grow vegetables at home.
This study was to understand whether consumers could sense the real benefits brought by these new design features and to identify relevant usability issues, also understanding consumers’ behaviors and patterns of putting tableware to help refine the rack design.
The client would like to understand the current experience of consumers of mattress and indoor cleaning, so as their perception of hygiene and cleanliness of bed and house environment, to find the opportunity of new launched products and to optimize the concepts.
The study was to understand the potential user lifestyle, use scenario, motivation and purchase channels of future auto cook product and to provide the actionable design guidelines and positioning advices to the auto cook products.
