Our task for this project was to create a concept that would like Bolia's physical stores, their multitouch boards and their mobile application. Bolia is trying to create a new shopping experience for customers who visit their stores, called "showrooms" by creating a unique atmosphere with music and using the latest technologies. This is where the multitouch board comes into the picture and for those who don't know what it is, it's basically a large table surface with a touch screen in it.
We conducted Voxpop research to find out how people browser furniture, and found that most people like to visit furniture companies' websites on a desktop computer so that they can compare prices and images and that mobile devices didn't allow them to get a clear enough image of what they were buying. This told us that rather the new concept needs to focus on creating a unique experience for people who are interested in purchasing furniture from Bolia, products which come at quite a premium price so they are not for everyone and won't be compared to something like IKEA.
The main idea for our concept was to utilize the user's music taste to create a personalized catalog.
The main idea for our concept was to utilize the user's music taste to create a personalized catalog. The mobile application would analyze what music the users were listening to a create a personalized catalogue based on this so that the user would have a more focused experience. This would lead to fewer choices which would in the end help the user make decisions, as well as make them more likely to find something they'd like to purchase.
The multitouch board would allow users to play with a 3D model of a room that they selected with the furniture that they selected from the catalogue or scanning tags on items in the store. This would help them to visualize the products they are about to purchase in the space they imagine that they want them. In addition once a customer has connected their phone to the multitouch board, the music in the store could fade over to something closer to their taste in music. It's not a major feature but it's interesting if customers enter a store and then suddenly the store starts playing music that they like.
