mv,
© 2025
Designed in
and
built with
in Toronto,
Canada. 🇨🇦
Michael Violin,
a
product designer
product designer
music hobbyist
human
Designed in
and built with
in Toronto, Canada. 🇨🇦
mv,
© 2025
Streamlining the home renovation
customization experience
A first-of-its-kind digital home renovation platform, I collaborated with the team at Model Living to help design an easier web experience for both clients and project coordinators to manage their projects and the custom options available to choose from.
Project Type
Responsive
Web Design
Duration
3 weeks
Role
Product Designer
Tools
Project Summary
Remodelling the customer experience
Working in my first freelance role as a Product Designer on this project, my responsibilities ranged from research gathering and ideation to wireframing, prototyping, and developer handoff. I collaborated with and bounced ideas off of the company’s founders to brainstorm ideas to solve problems that benefit both the customer as well as the needs of the business.
The situation
Model Living tasked me with helping them analyze their end-to-end client relationship process as they go through their home renovations, to try and reduce friction and lag time and boost customer satisfaction.
I was contracted onto this project after it had already kicked off, working with some pre-existing preliminary research and ideation, as well as a design system that allowed me to work quickly and efficiently.
What went down
Operating on tight time constraints, I designed multiple variations of shop and product page flows for both desktop and mobile formats, where customers can sift through a catalogue of product options to be added to their respective renovation project. This solution eliminates the need for a very manual step in the flow which involved tedious poring over spreadsheets, allowing the customer a much easier way to feel out their project at a glance while also greatly minimizing contact with project coordinators unless required.
In the end...
While the final product never came to complete fruition as the business pivoted mid-implementation, the client was delighted with the end result and intended to move forward with my design. Read further to learn how it all came together!
The Challenge
Laying out the problem
As an online-based bespoke home renovation company, Model Living takes pride in their digital first approach and how easy it is to get started with outlining the needs of your project through building a profile on their website. From here, however, with so many moving parts, the process has potential to quickly devolve into a very manual and tedious for both the customer and project coordinators involved.
Here are some pretty glaring metrics that stood out to me, as reported to me by Model Living’s team:
80%
of projects in the past year
exceeded their estimated
timeline for completion
1 in 4
customers expressed
some level of confusion or
frustration along the way
26
The average count of total
correspondence between client
and coordinator (emails, calls, etc.)
With these stats in hand and Model Living’s endless desire to polish their process and boost satisfaction, I dove deeper into the customer experience as they make their way through customizing their project, in hopes of discovering pain points with room for design intervention.
Persona & Experience Map
Inspecting the experience as-is
Thanks to some very granular and organized anonymous customer data and qualitative feedback provided by Model Living, I outlined the persona(s) for my designs, John & Laura, to represent the user group that I aim to serve with my design. I also mapped out their current journey through the pre-construction phase of their renovations, which seemed to present a clear target point that could be alleviated.
With our user’s journey outlined and analyzed, we found a clearly defined point to be tackled in Model Living’s process. The question is how?
Operating on limited resources with a short turnaround time, I worked closely with their great team to dive into the define our main objective of —
User Stories & Flows
Hammering down the wants and needs
Zeroing in on product selection, my next step was to go deeper into the requirements and “wish list” of what both customers and project coordinators would like to achieve based on previous research conducted at Model Living. Organizing them into user stories to then be accounted for via user flows that show the potential path a user might follow in order to accomplish their goals allows me to further my clarity into how I approach my design solution.
User Stories
As a
homeowner renovating with Model Living
,
I want to...
• view available product options so that I can scan and compare options for my renovation
• see the different variations of a product so that I can decide which one may look best in my kitchen/bathroom
• filter through the available products so that I can more efficiently get to what I’m looking for
• select products that I would like for my project so that they can be ordered for my renovation
As a
Model Living project coordinator
,
I want to...
• inspect selections made by my client so that I can ensure their options are available for their renovation
• minimize back and forth contact with my client so that their project can move along more effectively
• approve client product selections asynchronously so that both of our time can be used more efficiently
I wrote a few more user stories to account for the perspective of the non-client potential user, so that I can encapsulate their wants and needs as well, in a separate task flow to follow.
As a
new visitor to Model Living’s website
,
I want to...
• view available product options so that I can get a glimpse of what the company has to offer
• see the different variations of a product so that I can get inspired for ideas/themes/motifs for my kitchen/bathroom
• see the benefits of renovating with Model Living so that I might be inclined to hire them for my next project
• purchase individual products directly so that I can easily buy and receive the items that I like
Proposed User Flow
Visual Ideation & Design
Blueprinting the solution, and giving it a coat of paint
With a much clearer idea of how our customers will interact with the product, I started mocking up designs for both desktop and mobile viewports to build a cohesive, responsive experience across different devices that they may use when revisiting Model Living to manage their renovation. Drawing inspiration from brands that our target users know and love as well as other furniture / decor retailers with useful and familiar functionality, I strived to design a shop interface that is not only intuitive and ultimately useful and effective, but also a pleasant, inviting experience that leaves them delighted to interact with.
User Interface Inspiration
Here are some of the following apps and websites I took inspiration from for relevant UI elements that could be applied to my design:
From Sketches to Hi-Fi
Using these familiar design conventions, I got out as many ideas as I could on paper for potential layouts of the base pages needed to build out the shop and the add-to-project functionality. From here, leveraging and adding to Model Living's robust design system, I worked these sketches directly into hi-fi wireframes and prototypes that could be much easier visualized and digested when presented to the team, which were then tested and iterated upon via feedback from all facets of the company.
Case study actively in progress… Follow along!
Streamlining the home renovation
customization experience
A first-of-its-kind digital home renovation platform, I collaborated with the team at Model Living to help design an easier web experience for both clients and project coordinators to manage their projects and the custom options available to choose from.
Project Type
Responsive
Web Design
Duration
3 weeks
Role
Product Designer
Tools
Project Summary
Remodelling the customer experience
Working in my first freelance role as a Product Designer on this project, my responsibilities ranged from research gathering and ideation to wireframing, prototyping, and developer handoff. I collaborated with and bounced ideas off of the company’s founders to brainstorm ideas to solve problems that benefit both the customer as well as the needs of the business.
The situation
Model Living tasked me with helping them analyze their end-to-end client relationship process as they go through their home renovations, to try and reduce friction and lag time and boost customer satisfaction.
I was contracted onto this project after it had already kicked off, working with some pre-existing preliminary research and ideation, as well as a design system that allowed me to work quickly and efficiently.
What went down
Operating on tight time constraints, I designed multiple variations of shop and product page flows for both desktop and mobile formats, where customers can sift through a catalogue of product options to be added to their respective renovation project. This solution eliminates the need for a very manual step in the flow which involved tedious poring over spreadsheets, allowing the customer a much easier way to feel out their project at a glance while also greatly minimizing contact with project coordinators unless required.
In the end...
While the final product never came to complete fruition as the business pivoted mid-implementation, the client was delighted with the end result and intended to move forward with my design. Read further to learn how it all came together!
The Challenge
Laying out the problem
As an online-based bespoke home renovation company, Model Living takes pride in their digital first approach and how easy it is to get started with outlining the needs of your project through building a profile on their website. From here, however, with so many moving parts, the process has potential to quickly devolve into a very manual and tedious for both the customer and project coordinators involved.
Here are some pretty glaring metrics that stood out to me, as reported to me by Model Living’s team:
80%
of projects in the past year
exceeded their estimated
timeline for completion
1 in 4
customers expressed
some level of confusion or
frustration along the way
26
The average count of total
correspondence between client
and coordinator (emails, calls, etc.)
With these stats in hand and Model Living’s endless desire to polish their process and boost satisfaction, I dove deeper into the customer experience as they make their way through customizing their project, in hopes of discovering pain points with room for design intervention.
Persona & Experience Map
Inspecting the experience as-is
Thanks to some very granular and organized anonymous customer data and qualitative feedback provided by Model Living, I outlined the persona(s) for my designs, John & Laura, to represent the user group that I aim to serve with my design. I also mapped out their current journey through the pre-construction phase of their renovations, which seemed to present a clear target point that could be alleviated.
With our user’s journey outlined and analyzed, we found a clearly defined point to be tackled in Model Living’s process. The question is how?
Operating on limited resources with a short turnaround time, I worked closely with their great team to dive into the define our main objective of —
User Stories & Flows
Hammering down the wants and needs
Zeroing in on product selection, my next step was to go deeper into the requirements and “wish list” of what both customers and project coordinators would like to achieve based on previous research conducted at Model Living. Organizing them into user stories to then be accounted for via user flows that show the potential path a user might follow in order to accomplish their goals allows me to further my clarity into how I approach my design solution.
User Stories
As a
homeowner renovating with Model Living
,
I want to...
• view available product options so that I can scan and compare options for my renovation
• see the different variations of a product so that I can decide which one may look best in my kitchen/bathroom
• filter through the available products so that I can more efficiently get to what I’m looking for
• select products that I would like for my project so that they can be ordered for my renovation
As a
Model Living project coordinator
,
I want to...
• inspect selections made by my client so that I can ensure their options are available for their renovation
• minimize back and forth contact with my client so that their project can move along more effectively
• approve client product selections asynchronously so that both of our time can be used more efficiently
I wrote a few more user stories to account for the perspective of the non-client potential user, so that I can encapsulate their wants and needs as well, in a separate task flow to follow.
As a
new visitor to Model Living’s website
,
I want to...
• view available product options so that I can get a glimpse of what the company has to offer
• see the different variations of a product so that I can get inspired for ideas/themes/motifs for my kitchen/bathroom
• see the benefits of renovating with Model Living so that I might be inclined to hire them for my next project
• purchase individual products directly so that I can easily buy and receive the items that I like
Proposed User Flow
Visual Ideation & Design
Blueprinting the solution, and giving it a coat of paint
With a much clearer idea of how our customers will interact with the product, I started mocking up designs for both desktop and mobile viewports to build a cohesive, responsive experience across different devices that they may use when revisiting Model Living to manage their renovation. Drawing inspiration from brands that our target users know and love as well as other furniture / decor retailers with useful and familiar functionality, I strived to design a shop interface that is not only intuitive and ultimately useful and effective, but also a pleasant, inviting experience that leaves them delighted to interact with.
User Interface Inspiration
Here are some of the following apps and websites I took inspiration from for relevant UI elements that could be applied to my design:
From Sketches to Hi-Fi
Using these familiar design conventions, I got out as many ideas as I could on paper for potential layouts of the base pages needed to build out the shop and the add-to-project functionality. From here, leveraging and adding to Model Living's robust design system, I worked these sketches directly into hi-fi wireframes and prototypes that could be much easier visualized and digested when presented to the team, which were then tested and iterated upon via feedback from all facets of the company.
Case study actively in progress… Follow along!
Streamlining the home renovation
customization experience
A first-of-its-kind digital home renovation platform, I collaborated with the team at Model Living to help design an easier web experience for both clients and project coordinators to manage their projects and the custom options available to choose from.
Project Type
Responsive
Web Design
Duration
3 weeks
Role
Product Designer
Tools
Project Summary
Remodelling the customer experience
Working in my first freelance role as a Product Designer on this project, my responsibilities ranged from research gathering and ideation to wireframing, prototyping, and developer handoff. I collaborated with and bounced ideas off of the company’s founders to brainstorm ideas to solve problems that benefit both the customer as well as the needs of the business.
The situation
Model Living tasked me with helping them analyze their end-to-end client relationship process as they go through their home renovations, to try and reduce friction and lag time and boost customer satisfaction.
I was contracted onto this project after it had already kicked off, working with some pre-existing preliminary research and ideation, as well as a design system that allowed me to work quickly and efficiently.
What went down
Operating on tight time constraints, I designed multiple variations of shop and product page flows for both desktop and mobile formats, where customers can sift through a catalogue of product options to be added to their respective renovation project. This solution eliminates the need for a very manual step in the flow which involved tedious poring over spreadsheets, allowing the customer a much easier way to feel out their project at a glance while also greatly minimizing contact with project coordinators unless required.
In the end...
While the final product never came to complete fruition as the business pivoted mid-implementation, the client was delighted with the end result and intended to move forward with my design. Read further to learn how it all came together!
The Challenge
Laying out the problem
As an online-based bespoke home renovation company, Model Living takes pride in their digital first approach and how easy it is to get started with outlining the needs of your project through building a profile on their website. From here, however, with so many moving parts, the process has potential to quickly devolve into a very manual and tedious for both the customer and project coordinators involved.
Here are some pretty glaring metrics that stood out to me, as reported to me by Model Living’s team:
80%
of projects in the past year
exceeded their estimated
timeline for completion
1 in 4
customers expressed
some level of confusion or
frustration along the way
26
The average count of total
correspondence between client
and coordinator (emails, calls, etc.)
With these stats in hand and Model Living’s endless desire to polish their process and boost satisfaction, I dove deeper into the customer experience as they make their way through customizing their project, in hopes of discovering pain points with room for design intervention.
Persona & Experience Map
Inspecting the experience as-is
Thanks to some very granular and organized anonymous customer data and qualitative feedback provided by Model Living, I outlined the persona(s) for my designs, John & Laura, to represent the user group that I aim to serve with my design. I also mapped out their current journey through the pre-construction phase of their renovations, which seemed to present a clear target point that could be alleviated.
With our user’s journey outlined and analyzed, we found a clearly defined point to be tackled in Model Living’s process. The question is how?
Operating on limited resources with a short turnaround time, I worked closely with their great team to dive into the define our main objective of —
User Stories & Flows
Hammering down the wants and needs
Zeroing in on product selection, my next step was to go deeper into the requirements and “wish list” of what both customers and project coordinators would like to achieve based on previous research conducted at Model Living. Organizing them into user stories to then be accounted for via user flows that show the potential path a user might follow in order to accomplish their goals allows me to further my clarity into how I approach my design solution.
User Stories
As a
homeowner renovating with Model Living
,
I want to...
• view available product options so that I can scan and compare options for my renovation
• see the different variations of a product so that I can decide which one may look best in my kitchen/bathroom
• filter through the available products so that I can more efficiently get to what I’m looking for
• select products that I would like for my project so that they can be ordered for my renovation
As a
Model Living project coordinator
,
I want to...
• inspect selections made by my client so that I can ensure their options are available for their renovation
• minimize back and forth contact with my client so that their project can move along more effectively
• approve client product selections asynchronously so that both of our time can be used more efficiently
I wrote a few more user stories to account for the perspective of the non-client potential user, so that I can encapsulate their wants and needs as well, in a separate task flow to follow.
As a
new visitor to Model Living’s website
,
I want to...
• view available product options so that I can get a glimpse of what the company has to offer
• see the different variations of a product so that I can get inspired for ideas/themes/motifs for my kitchen/bathroom
• see the benefits of renovating with Model Living so that I might be inclined to hire them for my next project
• purchase individual products directly so that I can easily buy and receive the items that I like
Proposed User Flow
Visual Ideation & Design
Blueprinting the solution, and giving it a coat of paint
With a much clearer idea of how our customers will interact with the product, I started mocking up designs for both desktop and mobile viewports to build a cohesive, responsive experience across different devices that they may use when revisiting Model Living to manage their renovation. Drawing inspiration from brands that our target users know and love as well as other furniture / decor retailers with useful and familiar functionality, I strived to design a shop interface that is not only intuitive and ultimately useful and effective, but also a pleasant, inviting experience that leaves them delighted to interact with.
User Interface Inspiration
Here are some of the following apps and websites I took inspiration from for relevant UI elements that could be applied to my design:
From Sketches to Hi-Fi
Using these familiar design conventions, I got out as many ideas as I could on paper for potential layouts of the base pages needed to build out the shop and the add-to-project functionality. From here, leveraging and adding to Model Living's robust design system, I worked these sketches directly into hi-fi wireframes and prototypes that could be much easier visualized and digested when presented to the team, which were then tested and iterated upon via feedback from all facets of the company.
Case study actively in progress… Follow along!