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Simple staging to sell a house


Staging a house: 15 home staging tips from real estate experts

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(Image credit: Future / Richard Powers)

Staging a house prior to selling it is one of the best investments you can make to ensure it gets a quick offer and achieves the highest sale value. Research has shown that a staged homes sells three times faster than a non-staged home – and 70% of real estate agents stated that home staging increased the offer value on a house by up to 10%.

Homes & Gardens caught up with experts in the field, Anne Carr of Los Angeles-based Anne Carr Design and Alex Willcocks, managing director of London-based Burbeck Interiors, to discuss the features home buyers want, the benefits of home staging – and how to do it.

Staging a house – top 15 home staging tips

'Staging is really important for two reasons,' says Anne Carr. 'Most people cannot see beyond what is in front of them. They get caught up in past perceptions, so you need to show them what is possible. 

'Sometimes rooms are awkward and you need to show people how a space can be best utilized. The second reason is that the person may not be very good with space planning. Rooms tend to feel a lot smaller without furniture, so how we place furniture gives buyers a sample of what is possible.'

No matter your budget these golden home staging tips are sure to have an impact.

1. Declutter your home

(Image credit: Farrow & Ball)

Decluttering is the first job you should tackle when home staging. Clutter is distracting for buyers – their eyes will be drawn to your belongings and not the rooms. The rooms themselves will look smaller and untidy if cluttered, too.

'Nearly all of us have too much ‘stuff’, which has been accumulated over years if not decades. Decluttering each room is an excellent investment of your time,' continues Alex Willcocks. 'It's important potential buyers can envisage themselves living in the property, for that to happen it has to feel like you don’t.

'Try to free up as much surface space as you can on shelves, coffee tables and especially in the kitchen. Wicker or rope baskets are excellent for throwing items in that you need but don’t necessarily want to see. Storage units and containers are another great option should you require more space.'

2. Invest in storage – but don't overload it

(Image credit: Jan Baldwin / Future)

Now you've decluttered you can clearly see where there might be a need for extra storage to make rooms feel really neat and organized. Ideally, you should ensure your storage units, hidden behind doors or otherwise (remembering that buyers will open cupboard doors), shouldn't be overloaded. 

When staging a house, you want buyers to think your home can cope with their belongings because your storage is ample, not under pressure.

3. Clean, clean, clean

A clean home will feel well-cared for, which is important for most buyers – even renovators don't want to buy somewhere that gives the impression of being neglected. Plus, a clean, aired home will feel fresh and welcoming – this will help buyers envisage themselves living in your home. 

'If you do nothing else, make sure your home is clean, clutter and odor-free (you may be used to your pets’ pong but buyers won’t be!), and that there are no "yet to be finished" DIY jobs as they’ll give the impression that your house will need a lot of maintenance,' advises Alex Willcocks.

4. Tackle home staging must-do DIY jobs

(Image credit: Anna Stathaki / Future)

Just as a property needs to be clean to feel well maintained, a home also needs obvious maintenance tasks ticked off in order to secure an offer fast. So, make a list as you assess what needs doing to stage your house: fix that dripping faucet, mend the guttering, fill holes and cracks in walls, repair that door... anything that looks broken or doesn't work can put buyers off.

5. Refresh rooms with light reflecting colors

(Image credit: James Merrell / Future)

It's well worth reconsidering, for example, living room color schemes.

'A fresh coat of paint makes a huge amount of difference. It brightens a room, it can make it look bigger and, it gives an overall appearance of a well-kept home,' advises Anne Carr of Los Angeles-based Anne Carr Design. 

And while you may love bright or dark colors or bold wallpapers, it's often best to stick to what's safe to secure a sale when staging a house. That needn't mean white, neutrals, naturals and pastels can all create a space-enhancing feel buyers will love.

6. Renovate your kitchen and bathroom

Interior design / Tom Howley

(Image credit: Paul Raeside)

Staging a kitchen may be more than just decluttering and cleaning – if yours is holding back your chances of getting an offer, you may need to consider a remodel, the cost of which, done wisely, can be recouped when you sell. 

'A new kitchen has the most impact on a new buyer. It demonstrates to buyers that the house has been updated. You always recoup your investment from upgrading kitchens and baths,' continues Anne Carr.

This may not mean remodelling – painting kitchen cabinets can make a world of difference.

'Bathrooms and landscaping are important, too,' advises Anne Carr. 'Redoing floors is worth it if you are staying in the home, but not needed for a sale. Built-in cabinetry is another one.'

7. Rework room layouts

(Image credit: Curated Nest/Kyle J Caldwell)

Staging a house might involve reworking rooms' layouts. This is particularly important when staging a living room – especially if it is an open-plan room that doubles up as a kitchen diner, in which case you may need to investigate new living room layout ideas.

'I arrange the room to look its best – not for practicality's sake,' says Anne Carr. 'For example, sometimes a table may be too close to a cabinet for proper opening and closing, and that's because we are just after a balanced look, instead of necessarily trying to be practical. 

'The same goes for television placement. Some brokers get hung up on whether the TV placement is viewable from different furnishings. I say it doesn't matter for selling purposes, because no one is watching TV while viewing the home!'

8. Remember accessories when staging a house

(Image credit: Future / Jonathan Gooch)

Staging a house isn't just about adding new pieces to your home – you may also need to get rid of some well-loved furnishings, too.

'Get rid of all stained rugs and furniture. It gives an overall bad feeling to prospective buyers. It makes a home look beaten up. If you can’t replace it, you can buy inexpensive sisal rugs and place them on top of the existing rug, advises Anne Carr. 

'It is not as pricey as people believe to reupholster furniture and it can make a huge difference. If you like the shape of a piece, reupholstering can really revive it. You just have to choose a moderately priced fabric. 

'New, fresh looking furniture will elevate the entire room. If you cannot redo the kitchen, and your kitchen is dated, painting the cabinet fronts can give a kitchen a huge facelift without a big investment.

'Colorful throw pillows that work together also give a home a look of well-balanced look as well as matching throw blankets. 

'Accessories make a big difference, too. Consider placing a coffee table book with a candle or an interesting decorative piece.'

'Making small changes to a room can often have a big impact on its ambiance. I would recommend always replacing bed linen and towels with new crisp white replacements,' advises Alex Willcocks. 'The same rule applies to bath and hand towels. Scented oil diffusers and candles are always a good idea to create a warm welcoming environment.'

9. Stage a house for comfort

(Image credit: Alicia Taylor)

'Comfort is much more important because people are staying in their homes for long periods of time,' says Anne Carr. 'We are getting requests for large comfortable sectionals for long Netflix watching with the entire family. 

'Unlike the early 2000s where everyone wanted open concept living, clients are realizing that they need privacy and quiet to work or go to online learning. Many clients are changing room formats so that every family member has an office.

'I think buyers like to see up-to-date furnishings that don't look too cold. There was a trend a while back for everything to be white, but it also has to make people feel like their lifestyle could fit in with this on a daily basis, so it's important not to give any space an impersonal, hotel look. '

10. Add pops of color for personality

(Image credit: Farrow & Ball)

'People do like to see a pop of color in pillows or in an occasional chair,' continues Anne Carr. 'When home staging, we also like to add an element of surprise through art with color. The psychology of color says that the majority of people gravitate towards things that are blue. In more modern homes, we will use a neutral palette with more black than we would in a farmhouse style of architecture.

'In Southern California the look doesn't really change that much in different seasons, however we do tend to use more subdued colors in fall and winter. We may add a chunky throw and more organic materials to add texture to the design. Summertime is always a happy time, so we try to throw in some bright colors in our design, especially in the outdoors.

11. Make a good first impression by staging your front yard

(Image credit: Dan Duchars)

'This timeless expression is applicable to selling your home,' says Alex Willcocks, managing director of London-based Burbeck Interiors. 'A buyer's decision making process doesn’t start once they are in the property, it started 100 meters before that. As such any remedial work or improvement that can be made to the entrance of the property will pay dividends.

'This can be as simple as weeding the path leading to the front door to a new coat of paint on the door itself or investing in some lovely front yard flower bed ideas. Try and clean any windows you can, especially the one at the front of the property. As summer continues new flowers or a hanging basket can give a positive impression, their aroma can also create a good first impression. '

12. Use real plants in home staging

(Image credit: Mark Bolton)

Using house plants in staging a house can be effective.

'We like to use real plants if it's possible for us to maintain them on a weekly basis,' says Anne Carr. 'Again, it feels less like a hotel to buyers and more like a place they can see themselves living. We rarely use faux flowers, unless they are really high quality and difficult to decipher from the real ones.'

13. Don't forget to stage the back yard

(Image credit: Emme Lee)

'If you are lucky enough to have any outside space, you really need to maximize this as much as possible,' continues Alex Willcocks. 'It doesn’t matter if it's 6ft by 6ft or 300ft long, you need to get this to do the selling. 

'Just like with the front of the property, assess what needs to be done to make it as presentable as you can. Treat it as an extra room and home stage it accordingly. Start by measuring your outdoor area and deciding what type of furniture will best suit your needs and lifestyle – a bistro two-seater table and chairs is perfect for romantic al fresco dining on a city balcony, whereas a large sofa set is a good choice for a sociable family household – all these backyard ideas will help. '

14. What not to use in home staging

'I try not to use metallic accents. I feel it is a dated look and can cheapen a room,' concludes Anne Carr.

'I would always advise homeowners to go out when buyers are due to visit – let your realtor show them the property,' says Homes & Gardens Editor in Chief. 'In my own experience, they will feel more relaxed, be more likely to spend more time looking around, imagining themselves living there, and the house will feel less like yours, and more like – potentially – theirs. For this reason, too, de-personalizing is a must. Family portraits should be put away for now and those on the wall replaced with more neutral art.'

15. Stage a house to suit its age and style

Staging an older home is the same as staging a modern one except that any home will look best if the interior complements the home's age, architecture and style. Having a cohesive look that runs throughout an entire home can make it look bigger, too.

Why use home staging to sell a house?

Staging a house is one of the easiest and best ways to add value. Home staging incorporates a vast array of different services, from basic decluttering to a complete interior makeover. These, you can tackle yourself, perhaps with the advice of your realtor, although professional home stagers will make the process smoother, quicker and, potentially, more successful. 

Prices for home staging can vary depending on the scope of the work that needs to be undertaken, however there is a lot you can do to increase the marketability of your property – and this is what we're looking into here.

Who pays for the staging of a house?

Homeowners pay for the staging of a house since it is in their interest to gain a quicker offer, sale and, hopefully, a higher price. 

How do I stage my home myself?

To stage your home yourself, follow these simple steps:

Thanks to Burbeck Interiors and Anne Carr Design

Jennifer is the Digital Editor at Homes & Gardens. Having worked in the interiors industry for a number of years, spanning many publications, she now hones her digital prowess on the 'best interiors website' in the world. Multi-skilled, Jennifer has worked in PR and marketing, and the occasional dabble in the social media, commercial and e-commerce space. Over the years, she has written about every area of the home, from compiling design houses from some of the best interior designers in the world to sourcing celebrity homes, reviewing appliances and even the odd news story or two.

Home Staging Tips & Checklist

From Spotlight: Best Pro Secrets for Buying & Selling

Their agent won’t have to say, “Picture this. ” Buyers will see your home at its best.

Image: CreativaStudio/Getty

Staging your house can make you money. Twenty-three percent of sellers’ agents reported that a well-staged environment increases the dollar value buyers are willing to offer, according to the National Association of REALTORS® "2021 Profile of Home Staging."

Impact of House Staging on Price and Time on Market

Staging a house – where you decorate your house to entice buyers to bite – helps sell homes from three to 30 times faster than unstaged houses, according to a 2022 survey by the International Association of Home Staging Professionals. The same survey found staged homes sold for up to 20% more than the competition.

This article is packed with DIY tips for staging your home. But if you hire a professional home stager to help buyers fall in love with your house, the money is usually well spent. Spending around 1% of a home’s sale price to hire a pro to stage it resulted in a 7% return on investment, according to a 2021 survey by the Real Estate Staging Association. Professionally staged homes sold for an average of $40,000 over list price in 2021, RESA says.

Professional staging costs vary depending on the region. Home sellers pay from $650 to $2,700 in home staging costs, according to HomeAdvisor. The size of your home and the scope of the project affect the cost, too. If your house is in good shape and your furniture fashionable, you may just need to pay a pro to rearrange the layout and declutter. If the house is empty or your furniture is stuck in 1982, a professional stager will recommend you rent furniture.

The cost of staging a home for two or three months usually costs about 0.75% of a home's list price, according to Bankrate. With the median U.S. home price around $375,000, expect to pay $2,800 for professional staging.

Even in a seller’s market staging can help your home sell faster and for top dollar.

Just take this real world tale of two condo listings from Terrylynn Fisher, a REALTOR® with Dudum Real Estate Group in Walnut Creek, Calif. , who also stages. Both units were in the same complex. One hadn't been staged or updated since it was built; the other was staged and had been slightly refreshed (a little paint here and there and one redone bath). Otherwise, both units were the same size and layout. The staged condo sold for about $30,000 more than the unstaged unit, she says. “People couldn't believe it was the same model."

Before your eyes turn into dollar signs, keep in mind staging isn't guaranteed to get you more money. But it's an important marketing tool to help you compete at the right price, which means you can sell faster.

Related: Why Spending Money on Fancy Bath Salts Can Help Sell Your House

Helping buyers fall in love with your property takes more than running the vacuum and fluffing the pillows: It's all about decluttering, repairing, updating, and depersonalizing, say real estate agents and stagers.

Home Staging Tips for Every Room

With help from Fisher and other sources, we've compiled the ultimate home staging checklist.

Jump to a specific room or area of the house:

Living Room | Kitchen | Bedrooms | Dining Room | Bathroom | Walls, Windows & More | Throughout the House | Exterior | For Pet Owners | Day of Showing

Living Room

Embrace symmetry when staging your living room. Coordinated sets, like these pillows, are pleasing to a buyer's eye. Image: Fluff Designs

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Kitchen

Image: Wendy F Johnson, Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer

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Bedrooms

Image: Fluff Designs

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Dining Room

Help buyers imagine hosting a dinner party in their new dining room by setting out attractive place settings. Image: East Coast Creative

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Bathroom

Image: Stirling Home Studio

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Walls, Windows, and More

Image: Laura Schuchart of The Soulful House

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Throughout the House

Image: Liz Foreman for HouseLogic

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Exterior

Image: Liz Foreman for HouseLogic

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For Pet Owners

Image: Ellen Mertens

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Day of Showing

Image: Oliveshadow/Shutterstock

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More in Buy & Sell

Article 21. Requirements for documents submitted for state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights \ ConsultantPlus

Article 21. Requirements for documents submitted for state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights

Prospects and risks arbitration disputes and disputes in a court of general jurisdiction. Situations related to Art. 21

Arbitration disputes.

- The applicant does not agree with the refusal to register real estate for cadastral registration

- The applicant does not agree with the refusal to remove real estate (an object recorded as such) from the cadastral register

- The applicant does not agree with the refusal to register the right of economic management, operational management, permanent (unlimited) use real estate registration authority to register a lease concluded for a period of at least one year

- The landlord wants to oblige the real estate registration authority to renew the registration of a lease agreement concluded for a period of at least one year

See all situations related to art. 21

Disputes in a court of general jurisdiction:

- The buyer wants to invalidate Rosreestr's refusal to register the transfer of ownership of real estate

cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights must comply with the requirements established by the legislation of the Russian Federation and reflect the information necessary for state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights to real estate in the Unified State Register of Real Estate. The specified documents must contain a description of the immovable property and, unless otherwise provided by this Federal Law, the type of right to be registered, in the cases established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, must be notarized, certified with seals, must have the proper signatures of the parties or officials determined by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

2. The texts of documents submitted for state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights in the form of documents on paper must be written legibly, the names of legal entities - without abbreviations, indicating their locations. Surnames, first names and, if there is a patronymic of individuals, addresses of their places of residence must be written in full.

3. Documents required for state registration of rights in the form of documents on paper, expressing the content of the transaction, which is the basis for state registration of the existence, occurrence, termination, transfer, restriction of rights and encumbrance of real estate, as well as other necessary for the implementation of the state cadastral accounting and (or) state registration of rights, documents in the form of documents on paper (with the exception of acts of state authorities, acts of local governments, as well as judicial acts establishing rights to real estate) are submitted in the original copy. Such documents with a mark on their transfer to the form of an electronic image of the document (except as otherwise established by law) are returned to the applicant after the completion of the procedure for the implementation of state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights, along with other documents to be issued.

(Part 3 as amended by Federal Law No. 120-FZ of April 30, 2021)

(see the text in the previous edition)

rights in the form of electronic documents signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature of a cadastral engineer.

5. Necessary for the implementation of state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights, copies of acts of state authorities, acts of local governments in the form of documents on paper, as well as judicial acts that established rights to real estate, in the form of documents on paper The carrier is presented in one copy, which, after the state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights, is returned to the applicant.

(as amended by Federal Laws No. 120-FZ of April 30, 2021, No. 408-FZ of December 6, 2021)

(see the text in the previous version)

registration of rights in the form of a document on paper is submitted in a single original copy.

7. In case of submission for state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights of documents in the form of electronic documents, electronic images of documents, such documents are submitted:

1) in the form of electronic documents, if this Federal Law provides that such documents, when presented in the form of documents on paper, must be presented in the original, including if such documents express the content of a notarized transaction, except for the cases provided for part 11 of this article;

(as amended by Federal Laws No. 338-FZ of 03.08.2018, No. 120-FZ of 30.04.2021)

(see the text in the previous edition)

2) in the form of electronic documents or electronic images of documents (including acts of public authorities, acts of local governments, as well as judicial acts establishing rights to real estate).

(as amended by Federal Law No. 120-FZ of April 30, 2021)

(see the text in the previous edition)

electronic documents must comply with the requirements established by the legislation of the Russian Federation and signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature of authorized persons, parties to the agreement or officials determined by the legislation of the Russian Federation in cases established by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

9. Documents required for state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights and presented in the form of electronic images of documents must be signed by an enhanced qualified electronic signature of the persons who signed such documents on paper, or persons who, in accordance with regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation are authorized to certify copies of such documents in the form of documents on paper.

10. The generated set of documents required for state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights and submitted in the form of electronic documents, electronic images of documents must be signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature of the applicant.

number of the electronic image of the document. When a notary submits an application for state cadastral registration and (or) state registration in the form of an electronic document, the notarized documents attached to it are submitted to the registration authority in the form:

(as amended by the Federal Law of December 27, 2019 N 480-FZ)

(see the text in the previous edition)

Article or in accordance with Article 103.8 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Notaries dated February 11, 1993 N 4462-1, or an electronic document certified by a notary, signed by a simple electronic signature of the person who applied for the notarial act, and an enhanced qualified electronic signature of the notary in the manner , provided for in Article 44.2 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Notaries dated February 11, 1993 years N 4462-1;

(as amended by the Federal Law of December 27, 2019 N 480-FZ)

(see the text in the previous edition)

) specified documents. Certification of the equivalence of such an electronic image made by a notary is not required for a paper document;

3) an electronic image of the document on the basis of which the right to the real estate object arose, signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature of a notary, in the case provided for by paragraph 3 of Article 69of this federal law. Certification of the equivalence of such an electronic image made by a notary is not required for a paper document.

(Clause 3 was introduced by Federal Law No. 480-FZ of December 27, 2019)

(Part 11 as amended by Federal Law No. 338-FZ of August 3, 2018)

(see the text in the previous edition)

12 Electronic images of documents required for state cadastral registration and (or) state registration of rights, certified by an enhanced qualified electronic signature of an authorized official of a credit institution, may be submitted to the rights registration authority using information technologies for the interaction of the credit institution with the rights registration authority in accordance with with Article 18 of this Federal Law in the event that the fact of publication (acceptance), authenticity and reliability of such documents (including the information contained in them) can be verified by the rights registration authority. Electronic images of documents submitted to the rights registration authority in accordance with this part are verified by the rights registration authority using state information systems, a unified notary information system.

(Part 12 was introduced by Federal Law No. 120-FZ of April 30, 2021)

Do you have prototypes on Figma? Exploring a simpler approach for creating and testing interactive prototypes — Design on vc.ru

I develop UX solutions on Fastuna and regularly observe how product teams spend time and energy on creating detailed prototypes that ultimately do not solve the problem. I will show with examples why I hate tests on Figma. I will offer an alternative approach based on the questionnaire constructor, I will tell you about the case of testing the Yami Yami food delivery application.

942 views

The material will be useful for those who work with interface prototypes: designers, product managers, researchers. The article was created based on the performance at Product Camp 2022. By the way, the next camp is in April 2023.

🚨 Context and terms

Interface prototype (from other Greek πρῶτος "first" + τύπος "imprint, imprint"): fast, rough implementation of the future interface. We're talking about interactive GUI prototypes here , which simulate the operation of a digital product or its individual functions.

Prototypes are used when launching a new product, adding features, changing product navigation. Prototypes give an idea of ​​what the product will look like and key user scenarios. And all this before the start of expensive development.

🎮 Interactive

It's better to poke once than to read a hundred articles on VC. Next, I will show the results of tests on the online panel. Before reading, try to complete the same task yourself.

Here is a link to the test. The prototype was created to test the navigation of the mobile application, so it will only open on the smartphone. If you are reading from a computer, then do not be lazy and send yourself a link to your phone. So it will be more interesting. I'll make desktop prototypes next time.

A link to the test results will be given at the end of the article. It will be interesting to compare the results of readers and people from the online panel.

🧐 What is the problem with complex prototypes

On the one hand, the closer the prototype is to the final product, the closer the test results are to reality. On the other hand, the more complex the prototype, the more resources it requires to create, and the fewer people will open it 💔.

Moderated usability tests are common in UX, a form of face-to-face interviews. Suitable for searching for insights, interface inconveniences, detailed study of user behavior patterns. The presence of a moderator allows you to work with interactive prototypes of different levels of development. The moderator smooths out the limitations of the prototype and makes the user more comfortable. The stability of work is important here, but does not apply to critical parameters.

How do people feel when they get on a complex prototype.

The stable operation of the prototype is a critical parameter in the quantitative testing of interface hypotheses. In such tests, there is no moderator, and people are left alone with the materials, which is why the results directly depend on how the prototype is opened. In the article, we will focus on testing hypotheses by quantitative methods. Next, I'll move on to the actual thesis.

For 10-30% of people, the prototype in Figma and analogues does not open 😫

Weak discoverability reduces the accuracy of the test, and often makes the results of such studies completely useless.

Few respondents will wait more than 10-40 seconds before loading a prototype.

Problems with starting causes irritation and distrust in people. If you are testing prototypes on users of your product, it may reduce the loyalty of some of them.

Either your application does not work, or, on the contrary, your application has been technically downloaded into my computer in the form of some kind of virus, and you yourself are scammers.

Woman, 34

Typical open responses when testing heavy interactive prototypes.

There are other problems. If you are testing a prototype created in Figma and its peers, pay special attention to preparation. Otherwise, there is a risk of being left without data. Soon I will publish an article where I will talk about what needs to be considered before the test.

For example, this is what happens if you leave the service interface in the prototype. You are more likely to get an experience with Figma, not content.

🔨 Alternative test tools

There is good news. Not everyone will believe in it, but I will try to convey it.

Complex interactive prototypes are not always needed. It also happens that prototypes are not needed at all.

Focusing on the task is a guarantee that you will use your time and energy to the best advantage. Suppose the task is to check the ease of navigation. The use of a full-fledged interactive prototype here is one of the solutions, but it is resource-intensive in terms of creation and testing. It is faster and easier to solve the problem with the first click test. For First Click, images are enough: a layout or even a sketch.

The first click test works even with long linear scenarios. We load screens sequentially. Heat maps will show where deviation from the ideal scenario occurs.

The need for an interactive prototype arises when there are several equivalent user scenarios in an interface. Here, the first click test is no longer enough, because our task is to understand exactly how people navigate through the non-linear interface and where they encounter difficulties. But making a monstrous prototype is not necessary here either. In conversations, product team researchers and designers often described a typical prototype to me as "3-4 screens and 2-3 scenarios." It resembles a questionnaire with filters.

A simple prototype is similar in structure to a questionnaire with filters.

If you choose option A, then we show question 2. If option B, then question 3, etc. In the prototype, the same thing, only here the screen areas are the answer options. I translated this idea into a technical task. The document was marinated in the backlog for only six months, and by December 2022 I received a working version of product . The screens switched with a delay, but everything worked surprisingly stable. Further, using the example of a case, I will tell you where this approach is applicable.

🥡 Yami app testing Yami

I've already publicly tested the annoying interfaces of Tinkoff, IPhone, Spotify. This time I settled on the Yami Yami food delivery app, which tormented me in 2020-21.

Context: There are two ordering scenarios in the application. The 1st scenario is a quick addition to the cart from the catalog via “+”.

Screen recording. 1st scenario. Two clicks to go to checkout.

The 2nd scenario includes a transition to the product card. An important feature: in both scenarios, for checkout, you need to go to the basket, which (!) Is clickable only from the catalog.

Screen recording. 2nd scenario. Four clicks to go to checkout.

Hypothesis 1: Most new users don't understand how to proceed to checkout.

Hypothesis 2: Users who go to the product card experience more difficulty placing an order.

To create a prototype, I take 4 images, go to the Fastuna Prototype test solution and build a prototype that mimics both scenarios.

How I love the prototype screens, here they are in layouts from left to right Screen 1, Screen 3, Screen 4, Screen 2 - aka Screen 5.

The whole setup took about 5 minutes. I cut the video and sped it up 4 times.

🔬

prototype test results

Sample: Men, Women, 18-44 years old, Smartphone, Cities 1m+, 100 people per prototype

Task: Choose an XL salmon poke and proceed to checkout.

Link to full report

Screen 1. Scenario fork: 64% go to the product card(1) and 33% click on “+”(2)

Screen 2. According to the short first scenario, 33% went. But only 15% clicked on the cart, completing the task in a minimum of 2 clicks.

The greatest difficulties arise for those who place an order through the product card. 18% of people gave up on Screen 3. Only 27 out of 79 people clicked correctly and progressed further in the scenario.

Live speech of people is sometimes more useful than statistics.

It was unclear where to click. Why are you inventing something that has long been invented?

Male, 30

It is not clear how to pay after choosing a dish. It would be nice to add "back to menu" and "go to design"

Female, 18

Result: Only 33% were able to complete the order. On average, users made 5 clicks on areas during the test. 15% completed the task in 2 clicks. 8% required 4-5 clicks. 10% made more than 5 clicks to complete the task. 67% of people did not complete the task at all.

(!) Disclaimer: simple prototypes are not susceptible to swipe. In reality, a larger number of people would have coped with the task. But in a graphical interface, convenient button orientation is never superfluous.

Conclusions: The hypotheses were confirmed. Most users don't understand how to proceed to checkout because they don't notice the cart button. It is necessary to make it more noticeable: highlight it with color or duplicate it from below. It is important to reduce the number of steps for a scenario that includes a transition to a product card.

🎉 Bonus: new design. What changed?

While writing the text, Yami Yami changed the interface. The cart was moved to the bottom of the screen, and the second scenario was reduced to 3 clicks: when adding a product, the application automatically returns the user to the catalog. I will not flatter myself with the illusion that my September performance at the Product Camp reached the team. Most likely, I'm not the only one who was uncomfortable with the old interface.

It would be foolish not to do a comparison test. From 3 images I made a 4-screen prototype.

You already miss them. Here they are from left to right: Screen 1, Screen 3, Screen 2 - aka Screen 4.

🧪 New interface test

Sample identical: Men, Women, 18-44, Smartphone, Cities 1m+, 100 people per prototype

Task: Choose one salmon poke and proceed to checkout

Link to report

With the new interface, the percentage of successful passages from 33% increased to 80% 📈

In 2 clicks, the task was completed by the same 14%. The reduction in steps has paid off: in 3-4 clicks, 45% of people have already completed the task.

I note that the Yami Yami team approached the solution of the problem radically: they moved the basket down, leaving an empty space on top. This caused confusion among some respondents.

The checkout button at the end was handy. But at the same time, she seemed to be out of place, I would rather be waiting somewhere in the corner or on top

Man, 24

The test showed that the interface has become more convenient. From the recommendations: I would duplicate the basket on top. You should also pay attention to the quick add to order button. In the second test, even fewer people clicked on it. There is an assumption that with the loss of the “+” and “-” designations, the function of the button has ceased to be clear. I would ask people about the purpose of the buttons, whether they understand what it is and what effect it has.

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