Product Design/Research
Re-design Home Depot’s in-house brand.
HDX
“It takes only one bad experience, and I won’t buy anything from the brand anymore.”
Dakin Hargest, consumer
For people with little DIY experience, Home Depot is a maze.
While tackling a space improvement project, non-professionals like most of us, spend a lot of time to figure out what we need and where the appropriate products are. The staff in Home Depot are always swamped with consumers like us novices.
This inspired the re-design of HDX. In current market, there's a lack of methodical approaches to walk us through the DIY process, the very first time.
HDX is almost invisible
Does not provide confidence
These product testing didn’t go well..
The clutter shelf presence makes it hardly stand out among competitors and creates a poor impression.
When you ask people who shop there, only very few of them know about HDX and most of them need to be reminded of “Home Depot’s own brand.”
Being a fairly new brand in the market, HDX didn't do a good job to introduce themselves. Unclear instruction, generic packaging, and a huge product line with confusing/redundant usage. This is not a successful communication to build trust.
I bought several products from HDX to test them out. Here are 3 main problems:
1. The instruction is either vague or missing.
2. Unnecessary form/volume/add-ons.
3. The packaging is comparably wasteful.
Other than price, I can’t see any reason to purchase HDX products again. No wonder a customer told me she only bought consumables from HDX, never tools.
Instead of focusing on cost-down, there's an opportunity for a budget brand like HDX to develop an affordable product line that is clear, intuitive and instructional for novice DIYers.
Instruction that is color coded for DIYers to more easily find products throughout the store and provide guidance for using on the packaging.
Plumbing
Essential Tools
Doors/Window
Wall & Ceiling
Cleaning Supply
Visual Guidance
Nobody reads text-heavy instructions. Communicate visually, and only keep the text that is crucial.
Example of existing clog removal gel:
Thoughtful and Simple
Task analysis is essential. It’s important for HDX to run through each step of the process and aim to find a purposeful and easy-to-use solution.
The form not only follows function, it shows the function.
Example of existing clog removal gel:
As Little Waste As Possible
Being mindful of our environment, the re-design carefully arranges the packaging structure and the use of material.
The goal is to make sure the packaging could be minimized and recycled, while quality and price is not sacrificed.
Reduce material
Recyclable, easy to separate
Draw, Build, Test,
