NATIVE APP DESIGN
AUTOMATIC FRAGRANCE
A redesign of the fragrance scheduling experience for Pura; a smart-home fragrance company. I worked with my product team to understand user needs and introduce helpful features in a simple and approachable interface.
CLIENT
Pura Scents
YEAR
2022
ROLE
User Research, UX Design
PROJECT GOAL
HELP USERS ENJOY FRAGRANCE MORE REGULARLY
With over 1 million fragrance diffusers actively being used by their customers, Pura is committed to their mission statement: "life is better when it smells good." But not all of their customers enjoy fragrance on a regular basis. I was tasked with researching why this was the case, and finding ways to help users have a more regular, more meaningful scenting experience.
USER RESEARCH
UNDERSTAND THE NEGATIVE SO YOU CAN MAKE IT A POSITIVE
In order to understand how I could make Pura's scenting experience better, I needed to understand where it could be improved. To do this, I conducted a series of user surveys and interviews to ask customers specifically what they did not like about their experience with Pura. Here are a few of the issues customers helped me identify:
PAIN POINT
NOBODY LIKES SCHEDULES
The existing scheduling experience was confusing and cumbersome for most users. Several customers had tried to set up or edit a schedule, but it took so long that they gave up partway through and never used the feature again. It seemed to be an overwhelming task to create a fragrance schedule that could match up with their complex lives.
PAIN POINT
TOO MANY OPTIONS
One of the most interesting things I found during user research was the variation in schedule settings between users. Most users had a very clear goal in mind when setting up a schedule, but the schedules they created to meet those goals were radically different. After a few follow up questions, it became clear that each user had their own ideas about which settings mattered most and how to use them to get their desired fragrance experience.
PAIN POINT
LIFE ISN'T PREDICTABLE
Many of Pura's customers simply don't have a consistent work or life pattern. So a scheduling feature wasn't a great solution for them to have a simple scenting experience. They needed fragrance controls with a bit more flexibility.
UX DESIGN AUDIT
IDENTIFY WAYS TO IMPROVE
Using the results from testing as a guide, I took time to look over the existing scheduling experience to identify specific areas of improvement. This included a usability audit, as well as analyzing the overall user flow to ensure it matched actual user needs and goals.
FEATURE UPGRADE
CLEARER CALENDAR VIEW
Users had a hard time interpreting the single-page calendar view. And there were some usability issues with the colors that corresponded to specific fragrances. I redesigned the calendar exprience to match common calendar app experiences so that they would be more approachable for users. I also created a simplified list view as a secondary way to manage schedules.
FEATURE UPGRADE
SIMPLIFIED SETUP
While testing the existing experience, I found that it took users a minimum of 16 clicks to create a single schedule event! I redesigned the setup page from a wall of controls, to a simple 4-step process. And, to save even more time, we now offer pre-built schedules to help users get the fragrance experience they're after, with just a single click.
NEW FEATURE
FRAGRANCE TIMER
While interviewing customers, we found many that had no interest in creating a fragrance schedule, because their life wasn't consistent enough to warrant it. To help them also have a great scenting experience, we created the fragrance timer. It allows users to manually scent their space without having to remember to turn off their diffuser when they're done.
FINAL DESIGN
SCENTING MADE EASY
After doing validation testing and working out little bugs in the designs, I worked with my product team to impement the new Automatic Scenting experience. Simple schedules and timer are now an integral part of Pura customers' fragrance experience, and we've seen a 47% increase in average diffusion time across all diffusers.
You can try out the prototype here.
