Out-of-box experience design
Problem. Philips wanted to transform the out-of-box-experience (OOBE) of their high-end DVD home theater system from typically inelegant and mundane to exciting and appealing.
Approach. Starting from in-depth observation of users unpacking and setting up the Home Theater system at their homes, several key points were isolated where the user-experience broke down into a frustrating, confusing, and, at times, demotivating one. It became clear that the physical constraints of size and weight of the package, as well as the poor architecture of the setup procedure were the main factors involved. Hence, redesign efforts were targeted at improving the handling and portability of the package, as well as making the unpacking, setup and install process clear, well structured, seamless with an added element of surprise and excitement.
Results. The redesign successfully transformed the inelegant, awkward, and clumsy experience of unpacking the new home theatre system into an easy, thoughtful and surprising one. Participants strongly associated their new experience with their image of Philips and felt a personal connection with the brand. As participants put it:
"The way the box opens up, makes a real impression. Opening it like this makes me think, aah, the people of this company really thought of how I am going to use this product."
"There is a lot of effort put into the packaging. Normally you have the foam blocks, but this package is a real adventure. Taking the parts out of the box was fun, easy. The box is a sort of 'foudraal', some sort of nice jewellery. This is more than just a box."
Starting with the existing package, the first step was to investigate the problems faced by users in unpacking the system in their natural context.
The unpacking experience was evaluated with 8 users in their homes in a controlled setup. The results clearly indicated the negative points of the unpacking experience.
The results of the first evaluation described clearly the negative points of the OOBE. The design vision formulates the experience as it should ideally be for the users. The design concepts make the vision manifest.
The final concept was built as an experiential, full-scale prototype for evaluation. The prototype was evaluated with 8 users in controlled situations and the results were used to validate the design and draw redesign recommendations. The recommendations were incorporated into the final design of the package.