Casa Palette | Karan Portfolio

UX / UI Design · Self-Initiated · 4 Weeks

Casa
Palette

Reimagining the home décor shopping experience — from overwhelm to confident, personalised discovery.

Figma · FigJam · Useberry

6 Weeks

TIMELINE

5 Users Interviewed

5 Platforms Audited

87%

Predicted Style Match Score

How might we help home décor shoppers find products that match their existing space?

02 Research & Discovery

5/5 participants successfully completed a product search and checkout flow without assistance. 3/5 noted the filter system was the most helpful feature. Homepage simplification in the second iteration reduced time-to-first-click from an average of 12 seconds to 6 seconds.

Competitive Audit

Company	✓	✗
West Elm	Editorial quality	Poor personalisation
CB2	Beautiful photography	Weak search & filter
Article	Room visualisation	Not discoverable
Wayfair	Powerful filtering	Cognitively overwhelming — 30+ options
IKEA	Room visualisation available	Buried 3+ clicks deep

METHOD

5 user interviews + industry secondary research + competitive audit of 5 platforms

"None of the audited platforms offered style-based onboarding to personalise the browsing experience from first visit."

I know what I like when I see it, but I can't describe my style and I have no idea what will actually look good together.

Martin, 31 — First-Time Homeowner · Primary Persona

03 Define & Ideate

Design Principles

1 Reduce choice overload

Progressive disclosure over overwhelming catalogues

2 Reduce choice overload

Show items in real rooms, not just on white backgrounds

3 Reduce choice overload

Anticipate doubt and address it in the product page

4 Reduce choice overload

Not everyone knows what 'japandi' or 'coastal grandmother' means

Four key features designed to solve the research-validated pain points — each addressing a specific failure mode in current home décor e-commerce.

1

PERSONALISATION

Style Quiz Onboarding

A 5-question visual quiz — 'tap the room that feels most like you' — generates a personalised style profile and curates the homepage instantly.

3

DISCOVERY

Similar Room Builder

From any product page, explore other items purchased together in verified real customer rooms — social proof meets discovery.

2

VISUAL FILTERING

Room Context Filter

Toggle between white-background studio shots and real in-room photography at any point during browsing — without losing your place.

4

TRUST

Confidence Indicators

Product pages show a fit score, real-world dimension comparisons, and visible return policy — designed to eliminate pre-purchase doubt.

04 Design Process

User Flow

The primary purchase flow mapped as: Onboarding (style quiz) → Homepage (curated feed) → Category Browse → Product Detail → Cart → Checkout. Secondary flows: Wishlist, Room Board, and Order Tracking.

Casa Palette App

Wireframes — Low Fidelity

Three homepage layouts were explored — masonry grid, editorial, and hybrid. Informal user feedback strongly preferred the editorial layout, described as “more premium” and “less like scrolling forever.”

High-Fidelity UI

The final visual design uses warm neutrals — cream, terracotta, muted sage — that mirror the product palette itself. Typography combines a serif display for editorial headings with clean sans-serif for UI. Every product card shows both a white-background and in-room photo option.

05 Prototype & Testing

Participants

Tasks Tested

Iterations Made

Usability Testing

Unmoderated test via Useberry. Tasks: (1) complete the style quiz and reach the personalised homepage, (2) find a sofa under $1,200 in a minimalist style, (3) add an item to a Room Board.

Results

Style Quiz: 5/5 completed, average 90 seconds. All described it as "quick" and "fun"
Product search: 4/5 completed. 1 participant skipped the style filter and used search directly
Room Board: 3/5 completed without help. 2 were confused by the icon — expected a text label

Iterations Made

Added text label "Save to Room" alongside the bookmark icon on product pages
Made the style quiz skippable with a clear "Skip for now" link
Reduced quiz from 8 questions to 5 after participants showed fatigue at question 6

06 Outcomes & Reflections

Business Impact Hypothesis

The style quiz onboarding and in-room photography directly target the two leading causes of home décor returns. If implemented, a 15–20% reduction in return rate for quiz-onboarded users and a measurable increase in add-to-cart rate from product pages featuring in-room imagery is a reasonable hypothesis.

What I Learned

Personalisation only works if users trust the quiz — visual format (tapping room photos) was far more engaging than a text questionnaire would have been
Icon legibility matters enormously in e-commerce — established conventions should only be broken with a very strong reason
The competitive audit was the most valuable research activity — the gaps in existing products made the opportunity space immediately clear