DESIGN SPRINT CASE

Haute Hygge
Communicating the competitive advantage

July 2020

Haute Hygge’s mission is to enable preloved furniture to be reloved. Each item they sell has its unique story and a soul which is one of their main value propositions. As the industry is competitive, standing out and reaching customers is especially important. During the sprint, one of the main questions we explored was communicating Haute Hygge’s unique value proposition and in which ways they could differ from the competition.

The challenge

Since Haute Hygge needs to stand out amongst the competitors, together it was decided to focus on the challenge of how to communicate the background of each item and Haute Hygge’s story. 

The process

Together with Haute Hygges’ team, we ran a 5-day remote Design Sprint via Miro Online Whiteboard for Visual Collaboration. We started off by mapping the problem and getting background information from the industry. In this sprint, the central role was on the experts who provided an insightful overview of the furniture market and the main challenges. After defining the long-term goal, threats, and focus points, we started creating the solutions. As mentioned, the main attention was on delivering the unique story of each item and Haute Hygge.

The team came up with an e-commerce solution where every piece was uniquely showcased. By the end of the second day, we had formed a detailed storyboard of the solution which then was built into a prototype. Last but not least, we conducted five user tests to validate the ideas that Haute Hygges’ team came up with. Alongside testing the prototype, we were able to do some further customer research that gave additional insights about customers’ expectations and habits when it comes to purchasing furniture.

The conclusions

As a result of the tests, we got confirmation of the extra value of enhancing and showcasing the story behind an item in a quirky way. The testers enjoyed the stories but brought out that it’s just an extra value. Additionally, they stressed the importance of very clearly communicating the product details such as measurements, materials etc. and delivery options. The importance of high-quality visuals became evident as well and the pricing of items received positive feedback as being seen reasonable by all testers. We suggested Haute Hygge to keep building their webshop with this feedback in mind.

The deliverables

During the design sprint, Studio Leek team delivered a high-fidelity prototype of an e-commerce solution highlighting the competitive advantages of Haute Hygges’ business. The prototype was validated during five interviews with potential customers and the results delivered in a detailed user feedback analysis report. We concluded the sprint with an extensive Design Sprint report with process description, main outcomes, and suggestions for the next steps. 

Feedback from Haute Hygge

"As a small company in the very early stages of our journey, the Design Sprint experience with Studio Leek opened our eyes to some important discussions we still needed to have, as well as helped us see some facts from different angles than we had done before.

The experts involved in the process gave a lot of relevant input and the facilitators were well prepared, professional, friendly and accomodating. We received a big amount of useful feedback and material we can keep on working with in the future as well as a final report with the most relevant findings and suggestions that we can refer back to as we go along.

It was a really great experience and no matter if the business is completely new or already well established - we can recommend the sprint to anyone looking for a boost!"

- Maarja Prii, Haute Hygge

instagram.com/haute.hygge

facebook.com/Hautehygge