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‍The Who
‍Most people are familiar with Home Depot, a multi-big box store geared at do-it-yourselfers, laborers and contractors; or have heard their motto “More saving. More doing.” Since the launch of their first mobile site back in 2010, the company has been staying ahead of the curve by focusing on reducing the stress of customers when it comes to finding the things they need. 
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The Project
‍With keeping customer needs in mind, our team of three was tasked with researching possible improvements Home Depot could offer their mainstream audience, the do-it-yourselfers, on their mobile app. Since the start of the pandemic, the big box store has seen a rise and change in how customers are purchasing materials. In February of 2022, “The Home Depot has been a clear pandemic winner, thanks to Americans taking on do-it-yourself projects and re-decorating their homes,” reported Melissa Repko from CNBC. After compiling a list of questions and dividing up tasks, we asked users about their experiences with DIY projects and Home Depot.

The Problem
‍The majority of users noted they don’t have a typical way to track their DIY projects and if they did they would create an excel sheet, keep a list in their head or verbally shared it with others. A few standout quotes from interviewees:

Other areas of concern from users were: losing motivation, not having the correct materials needed, wanting DIY inspiration and DIY learning opportunities for projects users might not be familiar with.

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The Task
User research suggests that Home Depot users want a tool to help them brainstorm, plan, track, and even document their DIY projects from start to finish. Brainstorming ways to keep these DIY-ers inspired and motivated to finish and track their projects is no easy task. Setting users' wants aside for a second, we had to ask ourselves what would Home Depot get out of this? 
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‍The Value
‍By offering users the support through the WHOLE DIY project, Home Depot is meeting and re-instilling their mission statement to user’s evolving new needs. In 2019, a great example is, where 50% of orders for the year were online to pick up at the store. Thanks to the pandemic, the main audience’s wants have changed. Gone are the days where people hop in the car, drive to the store to wander aisles, to get inspired to do their next big project; users open their phones first.
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The why
‍Home Depot’s audience needs evolved over time. If Home Depot wants to stay in touch with users and create more trust in their customers, then they will need to start thinking about their users' future needs. What better way to help users, then in their home? People have been stuck inside their homes surrounded by all their unfinished, not started, wanted to re-do home improvement projects. They have to look at these projects Every. Single. Day. If the Home Depot app offered a way to motivate, inspire, purchase and track these projects in one place, they would be giving a helping hand to their customers.   
  

‍The process
‍The two top items we wanted to focus on solving; user motivation and project tracking. Adding a gaming aspect wasn’t our first thought for this project. So first, we asked ourselves how we might motivate users to track their project progress?Looking at other apps and websites, we searched for companies that offered users a “project” mindset, such as: Skillshare, Audible, and My Fitness Tracker. These companies created a way for the user to start something, see how their journey is progressing and a reward for finishing the journey with them. The rewards came in the form of badges, certificates and new skills to show off.

Low-fi Prototype:

Mid-fi Prototype:

High-fi Prototype: