How might we…
reimagine the arduous process of interior door installation?
Masonite International
UX/UI Design, Customer Research, Product Design, Human Factors Design
Overview
-
Masonite is the world’s largest manufacturer and merchandiser of commercial and residential doors, specializing in manufacturing interior and exterior doors, door components, and door entry systems.
-
4 Months Total, 2020
-
My Role: Design Research Consultant
Rick Harlow, Principal Account Manager
Elizabeth Bush, Associate Design Researcher
Aine Delaine, Associate Design Researcher
Barret Hoster, Senior Designer
-
Miro, Figma, Airtable, Otter.ai
Oh, and a lot of power tools to build a door frame -
Screener Questionnaire and Research Guides
Hierarchical Task Analysis and Task Flows
Jobs to be Done Framework
In-depth Customer Journey Map and Storyboard
Mental Models
4 Forces Model
Physical and Digital Instructions Guide
Customer Satisfaction Survey
Needs Prioritization Matrix
and Customer and Needs Statements
Challenge
The Problem
Masonite, a leading manufacturer and merchandiser of commercial and residential doors, faced the challenge of gauging the market potential for a new product that would enable homeowners to effortlessly replace interior and exterior doors.
This ‘Quick Change Door’ (QCD) product needed to be tested with users to understand their level of instruction comprehension and ease or difficulty changing out a door themselves.
The Opportunity + Approach
We conducted market research and engaged with potential customers to validate their interest in the product and evaluate installation experiences. Our focus was on the DIY homeowner experience, specifically installing pre-hung and slab doors.
We gained insights into the measuring process, identified the need for user guidance, and explored challenges and engagement levels. In-person research uncovered the user experience journey, emphasizing critical measuring and product handling.
Phase 1:
Understand Key Moments in Door Installation
Qualitative Research Interviews
Interviewed 10 participants who have installed doors to understand their previous experience. We synthesized our research with high-level personas, identifying different levels of experience (competent, advanced, or expert) and key insights from what we heard. We leveraged some of the following frameworks to model our understanding and surface opportunities and key insights.
Jobs to be Done Framework + 4 Forces Model
We leveraged the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) framework to develop an understanding of the underlying motivations and needs of users by identifying the specific tasks or "jobs" they want to accomplish when taking on a door installation project.
The 4 Forces Model allowed us to identify the push and pull factors that lead to action or inaction relating to someone’s decision to change their door.
Mapping the experience from consideration to installation
To help visualize the current process, I created a storyboard to help map out the entire journey of how a DIY home-owner researches, purchases, and installs a door, based on our research. Within this customer journey map, we identified pains and opportunities to drive recommendations.
Making the case for an
improved experience
Through all of the research conducted, we identified key considerations and opportunity areas to inform Masonite's new product. The next phase of research would be to take these evidence-based insights to inform a digitally guided experience.
Design Sprint 1:
Understand the Measuring Experience with a Digital Prototype
Creating a Digital Prototype with Informational Guidance
Our objective was to further understand the measuring experience for persons purchasing a ‘Quick Change Door’ and better understand the right level of user guidance, common mistakes and confusion, and engagement and confidence.
To do this, we created a digital prototype on mobile with custom step-by-step gif videos. We had to ensure that the measuring intake flow was extremely clear to minimize error. We provided users with the option to choose between a Guided Process and a Quick Form Process.
Testing with Experienced DIY Home Owners
We had four willing experienced, self-proclaimed home improvers come into the OST office to test our digital prototype and attempt to change out a door with the QCR product.
Making Improvements to the Digital Experience
We delivered our findings and insights and recommendations, and went on to iterate on the digital experience before continuing to test.
Iterating on the digital and physical user guides and testing in different environments with DIY homeowners of varying experience
Play the prototype on the right to see how we integrated custom gifs as short explainers to guide the user each step of the way. We included a QR code on the paper instructions to gauge how many people were interested in this digitally guided experience.
Design Sprint 2:
Understand Digital and Physical User Guide Instructions
Testing the Install of the QCR Door in a Different Test Environment
Our design team went on the road to The Masonite Innovation Center in Chicago to connect with their team and conduct 12 further sessions over the course of a week.
Through our sessions, we conducted a time study to understand which parts of the process were most time-consuming, developed task flows and task analysis, iterated on our personas and mental models, gathered user quotes and observations and identified safety concerns and user workarounds.
Creating and Testing a Physical + Digital User Guide
In addition to the digital prototype, we created a physical instructions guide to understand user preferences and rationale. The QCR Installation Guide included estimated time, tools required, materials included, and step-by-step instructions with visual aids and videos.
Iteration, iteration, iteration
Throughout the week of testing, we made minor updates that would improve the experience to test out constructive feedback in action. We worked overtime to develop the most informative instructions to minimize error and improve understanding to build.
Outcomes
After all was said and done, we provided the Masonite team with key observations, findings, and recommendations on how they might leverage our discovery work to inform the next phase of their newest product.
Provided DIY Homeowner Insights: Obtained a deeper understanding of the DIY homeowner door installation perception or experience, mental models, and behaviors based on experience.
Market Validation: Engaged with prospective customers to validate interest, gain insights into their decision-making and purchasing process, and better understand common door installation challenges and frustrations. We validated the need for instructional guidance and then were able to build a test environment and solution.
User-based Insights: Successfully gauged users' comprehension and solved for challenges based on real-time insights for Masonite's new product.
Increased Success and Efficiency with Instructional Guidance: Explored the process from ordering to installation and developed step-by-step guidance in an instructional prototype to increase engagement, level of confidence, and ease of build.