Beava Mobile App
Daniana Daniel
User Researcher
UX Designer
Product Designer
Adobe Illustrator
Figma
Maze
My Role
I contributed to the initial user research and played a key role in developing the entire UX architecture of the app. Following that, I established the style guide and completed the final prototype interface design. Lastly, I conducted usability tests to evaluate our designs.
At -a-Glance
This project was initiated as a Design Research project where my team and I were assigned the challenge of "Mindful that people are spending more time at home and there is a service shortage, how might we reimagine engagement and inspire millennials for DIY projects?"
Problem
Millennials are less likely to engage in DIY projects than previous generations.
As a result, millennials may miss out on the benefits of hands-on learning, creative expression, and the satisfaction of completing a project with their own hands.
Did You Know:
👉 28% Prefer to hire a tradesperson instead of attempting
👉 2% of men and 12% of women said they never did any DIY
User interviews (Primary Research)
💡 We conducted interviews with 9 millennials, this was a mix of millennials who had little to no experience with DIY. We asked them the questions below to discover trends or common themes regarding the lack of DIY projects.
Participants: 9
Style: Moderated
Duration: 30 Minutes
Interview Type: 1:1 Interviews
Research Questions:
1. Details about the last DIY project (i.e. Start and end dates, Status, motivation/inspiration behind the DIY project)
2. What challenges did you experience, and what were your workarounds for these challenges?
3. Do you share your projects with your family and peers? How do you feel when you share it with them?
4. Do you engage with your family and peers before and during DIY?
5. When did you feel prepared to start the project? How did you prepare yourself?
6. What was your preferred source of information or guidance for your last DIY project?
7. How could your learning experience be made better and more engaging?
Common Themes & Insights
Cost
The lack and cost of tools discourage millennials from starting or completing DIY projects.
Experimentation and Learning
Millennials find joy in hands-on DIY learning, finding satisfaction and reward in mastering tasks independently rather than seeking help.
Confidence and pride
The confidence gained from completing their initial DIY project motivates millennials to tackle new and more advanced endeavors.
Involvement of family and friends
Millennials appreciate it when their loved ones join in on DIY projects and enjoy sharing the progress and final results with them.
Secondary Research
💡 We further continued the investigation by reading a few web articles about why millennials don't do DIY when I came across an eye-opening quote taken from one of the articles:
"Rather than a simple lack of skills, the issues are wider and societal. The lack of expertise is symptomatic of long-term renting, with the property ladder far out of reach for many”.
2 out of 3 millennials do not own their own home they’re instead renting privately or living with family.
DIY has traditionally been an activity for homeowners and renters can’t do DIY due to some restrictions.
Millennials are renting longer and buying homes later results in starting DIY later in life.
So in a 🥜 🐚
The common barrier they face is the high cost, especially regarding one-time-use tools. The financial constraints of this generation also pose challenges in investing in homes suitable for complex or large-scale DIY endeavors.
Personas
Amira, a 25-year-old underwriter who Lives in Johannesburg, South Africa
What we lack is the money for tools. Also, as a young person who doesn't own a house, I may not have sufficient need for these tools to justify purchasing them
👋🏼 Hi, I'm Amira! I recently bought my very first apartment, which required a few renovations. There were minor projects which I thought would be fun to do with my boyfriend since we’ve never actually worked on any DIY projects before. We started off by installing the curtain rails, which wasn’t as simple as we anticipated it to be. Despite us both having zero DIY experience, the tools were so expensive.
Goal
Saving money
Learning more about DIY
Finding pleasure in doing DIY
Motivation
DIY is something new and could be fun
Having someone to DIY with
Imagines the end result and how her house will look
Frustration
Tools are too expensive
Invests in tools and doesn’t know what to do with them once projects are done
Ayla, 31-year old Product manager who lives in Chicago, Illinois USA
Our house is small and It’s sometimes difficult to keep our pets away from the workspace…
👋🏼 I live with my husband and two cats. I have some DIY experience because of my father, and I’ve also done some DIY with my husband around our new home. Seeing that I'm more experienced, I prefer to do DIY alone because I tend to do some tasks better than my husband does, he also has a habit of leaving the workspace messy.
Goal
Work on more complex DIY projects
Attain new DIY skills
Motivation
Gain more skills and knowledge
Sense of pride and accomplishment
Frustration
Workspace is often messy
Pets get in the way of their DIY projects
🧠 Brainstorm Session
We spent hours brainstorming, coming up with ideas of how to solve the problem
✨ Finally, We conceived the idea of a comprehensive all-inclusive solution—an app that offers fully equipped space rentals at an affordable cost. This innovative approach aims to provide users with a seamless and convenient experience for their various needs.
Solution
Beava provides users with the convenient ability to explore and discover nearby, fully equipped spaces, specifically designed to cater to their do-it-yourself (DIY) endeavors.
By leveraging this app, individuals can effortlessly locate and connect with hosts who possess the essential facilities, equipment, and tools necessary to bring their creative projects to life.
Main Features
Competitive Analysis & Opportunity Space
💡 In the competitive analysis, we created a graph to showcase Beava's distinctive position in the market. The graph highlights four quadrants representing convenience and inconvenience, as well as low cost and high cost.
Analysis
In evaluating the competitors "Rent My Equipment," "Yoodelize," and "Sparetoolz," we find them positioned in the lower left quadrant due to their high cost and inconvenience. While they offer affordable tool rentals, they fail to address a significant barrier faced by many millennials: the lack of suitable homes for complex or large-scale DIY projects. This limitation makes their solutions inconvenient for this target audience.
GAP
Our proposed solution aims to bridge this gap by providing a cost-effective alternative that caters to millennials who lack suitable homes for complex DIY projects. By addressing this critical aspect, our solution aims to offer a more convenient and comprehensive user experience, setting us apart from the competition.
Architecture & Wireframes
✨I created Sitemaps and low-fi wireframes, followed by hi-fi with Figma, so we can test out our idea
Onboarding Flow
Two User Flow
App Navigation Flow
Usability Testing
✨I conducted multiple usability tests, refining prototypes to align with user expectations, streamline the interface, and enhance essential elements for an improved user experience.
Style: Moderated
Main tasks requested for users to complete:
1. Make a reservation
2. Share a post on the feed
3. Applause (like) a post
4. Comment on a post
5. View notifications
6. Save a post
7. Open and reply to a message
8. Edit account information
Usability issue 1
Task:
Save a post
User Issue:
User mistook the the “Report” icon (🚩) icon for the “save” icon
Reason:
The red flag icon tends to draw more attention compared to the save icon, which is relatively discreet and can be easily overlooked due to its less prominent outline color
Solution:
The placement of the 'save' icon has remained unchanged, with a white stroke. However, I enhanced its visibility by introducing a green fill, ensuring that the icon stands out prominently against various background colors.
Usability issue 2
Task:
Edit account information
User Issue:
The user encountered difficulty in locating the 'Profile' icon within the navigation bar and resorted to clicking on their profile photo on the feed page to access account editing.
Reason:
The navigation icons lacked clarity, hindering quick identification of the 'edit profile' page and making it challenging to distinguish between enabled and disabled icons. Additionally, the aesthetics were suboptimal.
Solution:
I implemented a floating navigation bar to declutter the footer, enhancing the visibility of the 'edit profile' icon. This design refinement resulted in a cleaner interface by eliminating unnecessary elements and reducing visual complexity. Enabled icons were highlighted with a white fill, while disabled icons were rendered with reduced opacity.
Reflection
Outcome
I've created Beava, an app that solves millennial DIY engagement challenges. It offers affordable access to fully-equipped spaces, and encourages learning and project showcasing among DIY enthusiasts. Space and tool owners can also monetize their resources.
Takeaway
I observed that maintaining consistent UI implementations during the hi-fi wireframe stage is advantageous. This approach prevented users from getting distracted by visual elements and enabled them to provide feedback primarily focused on the app's usability.
In retrospect, it would have been more effective to conduct the usability test much earlier in the development process, rather than waiting until the first hi-fi iteration.
✨ Thanks for watching ✨