Sparefoot
Design Sprint
01. About the Project
There are many reasons why someone would prompt to research and purchase a storage unit: selling a house, buying a house, extra storage, cleaning, etc. But what usually tends to be the biggest drive for people to purchase a unit? What do they get out of it? Are storage units something many people can afford or just a commodity for certain people? Who is purchasing storage units?
Objective: I was tasked by Sparefoot to perform a design sprint to research and investigate the answers to these questions, and more, in order to pinpoint people’s biggest pains and how to better accommodate their needs with storage units. For this particular project, I was asked to conduct new research and create updated and insightful user personas to aid in research and design efforts.
My role: UX designer/researcher (individual project)
Tools I used: Adobe XD, Miro, Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets, Sparefoot data, In-person Interviews, iPhone recordings
02. User Research
I began by conducting 5 user interviews in order to discover what the biggest pain points with self-storage are. I discovered that all of my interviewees said their biggest pain is the expense to have one and their biggest reason for renting was short-term spontaneous need for extra storage.
Affinity Diagram
I gathered the data and organized them into groups or themes based on their relationships with one another. This allows the data to be processed, sorted, and identified.
I was able to pick out their reasons for moving, what age group is now in the market for moving, what’s important to them, and pain points they’ve experienced with self-storage in the past.
Empathy Map
This empathy map allowed me to interpret and understand the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of my user. I was able to identify what they value, think, observe, and do when it comes to choosing self-storage.
The pains and gains were easily pinpointed and allowed the user to be represented.
03. User Persona
After gathering enough research, I was able to create a user to develop empathy towards a particular market of users using self-storage. Melissa helps indicate feelings and goals young adults have regarding moving. She fit into the millennial category, which is currently the generation that is rising in occupying most markets.
User Journey Map
This journey map shows the process and experience the user persona goes through when moving and renting moving necessities.
It helps indicate certain feelings and moods she experiences, as well as areas to better improve the experience of renting self-storage.
The Sparefoot Team
The Sparefoot team in action
The team at SpareFoot used our developed user personas in their ongoing research to update their user experience initiatives to provide a better service and experience for their users.
Meet the Personas!
After much work and deliberation, the Sparefoot team developed 8 new user personas using our submitted qualitative and quantitative data. Each persona represents a different target market in need of self-storage.
