Designing a Bespoke Product Customization Experience
Summary
Designing an intuitive product configurator to simplify appliance and furniture customization, reducing decision fatigue and enhancing the shopping experience. One configurator allowed users to customize refrigerator colors and visualize the design in a mock kitchen, while the other enabled users to interact with outdoor furniture sets in a virtual environment.
What is a product configurator?
A product configurator is an interactive tool that allows customers to personalize and customize a product to their specific preferences. By selecting different features, such as color, size, or components, users can visualize their choices in real-time, helping them make informed purchase decisions.
Team
Tamara Cody: UX Design Lead
Vickie Zhang: UX Consultant
Myself
My Role
Competitive Analysis
User Testing
Interaction Design
UI Design Refinement
Client
Consumer Electronics & Goods Retailer
Client Ask
"Design two product configurators that enable seamless customization for newly added products—a modular refrigerator with customizable colors and a configurable outdoor furniture set. The solution should integrate into the retailer’s existing e-commerce experience, enhancing user confidence and reducing decision fatigue through real-time previews and immersive visuals. Additionally, the project should showcase Accenture’s expertise in leveraging emerging technologies to drive digital innovation."
The Challenge
Shoppers often struggle with decision fatigue when customizing high-ticket home goods online, leading to hesitation in purchases. The goal was to create an intuitive, visually immersive product configurator experience that simplified customization and improved confidence in purchase decisions.
The Solution
Over 12 weeks, my team conducted stakeholder interviews, competitive research, and iterative prototype testing to design two interactive product configurators:
1. Refrigerator Customizer – Allowed users to personalize refrigerator colors and visualize their designs in a mock kitchen.
2. Outdoor Furniture Configurator – Enabled users to interact with modular outdoor furniture sets in a virtual environment.
Impact & Outcomes
I led the user testing initiative and analysis for this innovation-focused engagement, identifying key opportunities for AR/VR prototypes and workflow optimizations. My recommendations directly influenced the project’s direction, impressing the client and reinforcing Accenture’s reputation as an innovative partner. This work contributed to securing a contract renewal for another year.
Roadmap
Some highlights from the process included:
1. Understand Best Practices – Researched retail experiential competitors to identify best-in-class configuration experiences.
2. Prepare Feasible Mockups – Designed prototypes that realistically demonstrated different configurator capabilities.
3. Validate Feature Desirability – Conducted user testing to assess how well the prototypes supported purchase decisions.
Initial Concepts
Before I joined, the UX Consultant on my team had started initial UI concepts, referencing the retailer’s existing product pages. It is important to note that there was no existing product in the retailer's catalog that had customization UI. My role was to collaborate on a competitive analysis to inform the next iteration and refine the UI my teammate had initially created.
Competitive & Industry Analysis
The UX Consultant and I collaborated on a competitive analysis to identify best practices for product configuration experiences. Our goal was to gather insights that would inform the next iteration of our designs. The brands below exemplify standout approaches to user-driven customization in retail.
We conducted our research separately, combining our findings into a Figma file as seen in the images below. From here, we were able to meet and discuss our key findings.
Themes we found
Guidance
Provide a simple and clear set of steps with context to prevent overwhelming the user. Offer opportunities to get additional information and customer support.
- Throughout the step-by-step experience, users are given simple choices contextually without overwhelming them with too many choices at one time.
- Chat box that shows current availability of agents and allows users to submit a ticket about their product of interest.
- Checkout process lives in the same page and flow, enabling users to go back and edit their customized item without having to navigate away from the experience.
Immersion
Leverage interactivity to empower the user during the configuration process. Enable users to explore and view their customized creations in real-time.
- Planner tool enables users to customize systems and modular products with components listed individually in their shopping cart under one assembly experience.
- Design you room allows exploration of different products and their pre-set configurations, enabling users to favorite/purchase individual products as well as entire rooms.
- MR/VR experiences enable users to place products on various virtual showrooms on web or in their own space through the mobile app.
Personalization
Give customers the opportunity to explore, create, and compare their options. Instill a sense of confidence and ownership over their custom creation.
- Nike by You offers the choice of pre-set color ways along with full, in-depth customization of your choice with 3D configuration.
- Ability to create multiple customized designs with dynamically adapted 3D product images, enabling users to compare their custom creations.
- Ability to share your custom creation through a copied link at the end of the customization process.
- No visual representation of the shoes being worn, and you must be signed in as a Nike member to access customization functionalities and to purchase any customized item.
Applying best-in-class experience to our designs
Guide
- Advise users through their customization options
- Guide users to next steps
- Caution users against potential problems with their designs
Visualize
- Provide a visual representation of their choices – 360 views
- Integrate AR/MR experiences where appropriate
- Show the product in as many ways as is appropriate
Clarify
- Provide clarity and transparency on pricing differences due to customization
- Allow users to explore various configurations, compare details, and move forward with their preferred option
Confirm
- Reaffirm decisions throughout the customization and check out process
- Connect user experiences across platforms
Final Designs & Prototype
After conducting our competitive analysis, I collaborated with the UX Consultant to refine and enhance the UI, incorporating best practices we identified. My focus was on improving clarity, usability, and visual cohesion in the final screens. This resulted in the Bespoke refrigerator prototype and the outdoor furniture UI updates shown below. Unfortunately, I do not have access to the outdoor furniture prototype.
Bespoke Refrigerator Final Design
Outdoor Furniture Final Design
Prototyping & User Testing the Refrigerator Experience
User Testing Goals
I was in charge of the user testing. Our client wanted to support their customers in understanding the product configuration options available to them and make sure they could successfully select, order, and have the purchase fulfilled.
The prototypes we created were tested to determine if the product configuration process provides the customer and employees with the information to make informed decisions to support the purchase process.
Guiding Questions
1. Do they have the information necessary to understand how to customize their order?
2. Do they understand how the product will fit in their space?
3. Is there any information missing which makes it difficult to decide to purchase?
Bespoke Refrigerator Prototype Findings
What we wanted to learn
- Do users understand the configuration process?
- Does seeing the appliance in a kitchen view help the user make decisions?
- Are there any concerns with configuration?
- Is there interest in seeing the appliance in an AR/VR view?
Prototype user testing key findings
What is most important when buying a fridge?
Product configurator functions
Configuring panels on the fridge
- Participants described the process as intuitive and easy
- Average ease of use rated at 4.6/5
Key findings and concerns
- Want to make sure they can see how their decisions impact the price
- Desire high quality, realistic images for both the kitchen space and the representation of the appliance in the space
- "I see a very boring flat picture of a refrigerator...It should be more vibrant..."
Visualization of the configured appliance
Product visuals and interest in AR/VR
- Visual gave participants confidence as everyone has a different kitchen aesthetic
- Participants had high desire to view in AR/VR view
Key findings and concerns
- Wanted bigger pictures to see the kitchen style previews more easily
Art/Imagery needs to be realistic to better inform decisions - Participants looked to specs first to figure out how well the new fridge would fit in their space
- Eyeball icon was difficult to notice for some participants
Prototyping & User Testing the Outdoor Furniture Experience
Guiding Questions
1. Do they have the information necessary to understand how to customize their order?
2. Do they understand how the product will fit in their space?
3. Is there any information missing which makes it difficult to decide to purchase?
What we wanted to learn
- Does seeing the furniture in a setting representing their patio help the user make decisions?
- Do users understand how to change the patio size/manipulate the individual pieces of furniture?
- Are there any concerns with adding/removing pieces of furniture or swapping sets?
- Is there interest in seeing the furniture in an AR/VR view?
Prototype User Testing Findings
Make it beautiful and fast
Balance high-quality visual assets with loading speed needs to ensure users don’t get frustrated.
Ease the learning curve
Offer a tutorial or animated indicators when introducing a new interaction paradigm such as moving and rotating products and the surface they are on.
Choose your words wisely
Clarify when a user is in the configuration phase and how to apply those changes and clearly differentiate between configuration and Add to Cart.
What's the bottom line
Show pricing changes on the screen whenever items are added or removed to a product. Provide a total on the PDP reflecting the added items.
Visualizing the patio furniture set
Does seeing the furniture in a patio setting help users make decisions?
- The virtual patio helps users to make more confident decision, as it prevents them from accidentally buying a set that does not fit their space
- This has the potential to save time, money, and effort for the customer and for company
Key findings
- 5/5 participants believe it is important to be able to see the furniture in a sample space
- Great, realistic visuals in a patio setting makes users want to buy the product more
“[…] This way you will be absolutely sure that this is the right thing for you and win win situation. Save time and money for us and for the company”
Interacting with the VR environment
Do users understand how to change the patio size and manipulate the individual pieces of furniture?
- Participants have little trouble understanding how to change the patio size and manipulate the furniture
Key findings
- There is value in having custom patio sizes to more accurately reflect different kinds of backyards
- Participants found it easy to drag and drop the furniture pieces
- 4/5 participants were unaware of rotating functionality – the participant who discovered the functionality had a very positive experience
- Visualizer needs to be adapted to different mobile screen sizes to reduce the need for vertical scrolling
Adding, removing, and swapping
Are there any concerns with adding or removing pieces of furniture? Of swapping sets?
- Participants had no concerns with adding or removing pieces of furniture or swapping sets
Key findings
- Participants found delight in adding multiple items to a set and then rearranging the furniture to their desired liking
- Participants found these tasks to be very easy – as long as they did not encounter any rendering issues
- Participants liked that they could adjust the size of the patio and the furniture would dynamically adapt – feels realistic
Expanding AR/VR opportunities
Is there interest in seeing the furniture in an AR/VR view?
- Participants found it important and valuable to see the furniture in their personal space
Key findings
- 5/5 participants are interested in being able to see the furniture set in their own space on the web
- 4/5 participants find it important and valuable to see the furniture in their personal space compared to a virtual one
- The one participant who found it less valuable came from a design background and feels confident in their ability to picture the furniture in their space
Next Steps
Recommendations for the user experience
Deep dive on target state journey maps to better understand checkout, fulfillment and return/exchange experiences
- Checkout of configured products including communication of availability, delivery and installation services.
- Fulfillment process concerns for warehouse, delivery, and installation teams.
- Returns and exchange process impacts caused by configured products.
Conduct customer user studies on key areas identified through this assessment
- Expanding customization of products.
- Integration of AR/VR capabilities across product lines.
- Terminology used across experience options and product lines.
Follow up on key findings from prototype usability testing
Expanding product configuration
- Participants expressed the desire to further customize the purchase of a refrigerator. A perception of full customization could be created by use of a guided flow.
- A guided flow could provide the customer with choices based on this prioritization on existing filtering options which would allow the user to select configurations without "building" an entirely unique refrigerator.
- Determining the feasibility of the guided flow from a technical perspective and confirming the benefit to the customer during the purchase decision process will require additional customer research.
"This initiative highlighted Accenture’s ability to think beyond immediate deliverables and propose solutions that align with our long-term vision. The findings and recommendations were instrumental in reinforcing the value of our partnership."
- Client Team Member
