Project Discovery
Turns out, architectural siding is complex
It's not as simple as punching in a square footage and calling it a day. There are a myriad of conditions and hidden installation caveats that lurked beneath the surface. What happens where two wall meet? How are windows addressed? An architect could make an entire career out of details like this. So the question became: how do we create a scaleable user-friendly way to navigate these problems?
An early view of our flowmapp. Part of the discovery phase of the project.
A later view of the same flowmapp, planning out the actual screens to be designed.
Design & Prototyping
Attention to detail saves countless hours of dev time
The prototype of the Nichiha calculator is one of the most in-depth prototypes we've ever made at Venveo. With multiple branching paths, dependent steps and variable questions, it's a right spaghetti of interactions. The end result however, was well worth it. Because we used real copy, with real questions and real steps, the client was able to provide laser-focused feedback that would save us from endless wheel spinning once the tool was finally built.
A highly interactive prototype allowed for crystal clear client feedback and enhanced understanding among key stakeholders.
A view of the Invision prototype interactions as seen from Sketch.
Final Product
Nichiha is positioned as a market leader
The final product is something that is absolutely net-new in the fiber cement siding market. Within the first day of launch, positive feedback started rolling in from early users just praising the mere fact that a tool like this even exists. Never mind that the level of polish and functionality it provides will be hard for any competitor to top. Nichiha can now confidently provide a market-leading service that moves them ever closer to being easy to buy, and easy to sell.
The final developed product is a fully responsive dynamic app. Users simply answer a series of questions and get an accurate siding estimate broken down by product installation.
"That is one slick system.
I wish more suppliers were like you."
— George, Principle & General Contractor
One of our first organic users, speaking to Nichiha
One of our first organic users, speaking to Nichiha
"This is what you all helped bring together. Thank you for the long nights, endless threads, copious screenshots, and 'not sure if this is easy or not, but ...' emails from me. [...] Thanks for your diligence, communication, and execution!"
— Tim Siems, Nichiha
to Venveo team
to Venveo team
Results & Lessons learned
A good discovery pays dividends in clarity
Never did I think I'd have to be such an expert at siding estimation, but as the project went on I was able to act as a repository for the project vision and functionality. As we progressed, I was able to precariously balance ease-of-use with technical complexity. (There were even times where I reminded the client of some technical detail we'd previously discussed!) At the end of the day though, if we hadn't done our due dilligence up front we could have easily wound up with a sub-par end results for all parties involved.
For me the take-away was clear: the more technically complex the experience, the more insatiably knowledge-hungry you have to be for good results.
For me the take-away was clear: the more technically complex the experience, the more insatiably knowledge-hungry you have to be for good results.
