EZ Swim
Service Design using Augmented Reality
One of the biggest consumer swimming-pool retailers in Brazil asked CreativeBitBox to come up with a solution that could improve their customer experience and ultimately increase their revenue
Role
Product Designer
Year
2011
Initial Contact
The client approached us with a need to modernize their sales service. Their initial idea was to work towards the development of an app that could support their sales representatives on the field. Some sort of catalog that would allow them to access their product portfolio with good quality imagery as well as technical specifications.
Research
What did we learn from the Research?
After the first contact, I decided to research their business model. There seemed to be a more considerable challenge under the surface. At first glance, this project goal seemed to be oriented towards a digital product catalog application that would allow sales representatives to better display and sell company products. However, I felt that I needed to know more about how they actually conducted their sales.
To better understand the problem, I conducted some informal interviews with different sales representatives trying to map their workflow.
- How do customers first engage with the company?
- What is the process from the first contact to the final sale?
- What’s the conversion rate?
- What kind of activities takes place at each step?
- What activities do not add value to the process?
- What is the average customer satisfaction?
Customers’ first contact with the company usually happens through physical stores or online.
After that first contact, sales representatives would visit the customer’s house bringing with them a printed catalog.
Selling swimming pools is a difficult task. It is an expensive investment and most of their customers were not entirely sure if the pool would fit their needs such as the available space, materials, aesthetics, etc.
A lot of back and forth: to the store to look at the available options; to the house to take measurements and take care of the paperwork.
Reframing the Problem
One of our objectives was to maximize waste reduction. What could be done to reduce home and store visits while increasing customers’ confidence in their investment? How could we turn the tasks of buying and selling a swimming pool into an objective, appealing and satisfying experience?
Solution
At the time we were also researching and developing our own computer vision technologies and this project seemed like the perfect opportunity to apply it to solve our client’s business challenges as well as their customer’s experience.
We decided to propose a solution that integrated a digital catalog with an augmented reality (AR) environment.
How does it work?
- The sales rep. would arrive at the customer’s house and lay a marker on the ground where the customer planned to have the swimming pool installed.
- Run the app on a tablet
- Point the camera to the marker
- The app would recognize the marker and render a virtual representation of the swimming pool in real time.
- The customer could then walk around the simulation, evaluate and make a better-informed decision.
The Catalog
The first component of the solution was to develop a catalog that was simple to use, with high-quality product images, and access to manufacturers’ specifications. I developed different layouts and leveraged the brand colors to create a unified and coherent experience.
Augmented Reality
The Augmented Reality (AR) module was developed using Unity, OpenCV and delivered to iOS. I worked directly with the client and our developer to gather and convert all the 3D assets needed to support the experience.
It was a very interesting technical challenge. Despite not being the first time we were working with augmented reality the physical scale required by this project had us working together outdoors.
We developed a solid prototype as proof of concept with a fluid experience.
When the app recognizes the tracker placed on the ground it renders a 3D model superimposed to the camera image. This provides a useful preview of the product after the installation.
Conclusion
This was definitely a very exciting project in many ways. We worked in straight collaboration with the client to uncover workflow gaps and ways to improve their user experience. Brainstormed ways to fill in the gaps and reduce waste in their process.
We developed a prototype and proof of concept, which validated our technology capabilities.
The client was very satisfied with the result and the solution, however, due to a sudden internal reorganization and changes in their business direction this project didn’t get into production.