Integrating Image Search for Zalando

UX | UI Designer, Timeline: 4 Weeks

Relocating to a new country presents numerous challenges, from navigating unfamiliar services to overcoming language barriers and social isolation. SettleSmart is a mobile application designed to bridge this gap by offering newcomers a structured and intuitive platform to connect with essential services and local communities. The app serves as a one-stop solution for finding home setup services, accessing childcare options, and integrating into local networks, ensuring a smoother transition.

The Background:

Newcomers often experience stress and uncertainty due to limited access to trusted information, difficulty navigating essential services, and a lack of social connections in their new environment. Many struggle with finding reliable service providers, setting up their home, and integrating into the local community, leading to frustration and isolation.

SettleSmart is a mobile app designed to simplify the relocation process by providing newcomers with structured guidance and access to essential services like home setup, childcare, and local networking. Many individuals struggle with settling into a new country due to unfamiliar processes, lack of reliable service providers, and social isolation. SettleSmart addresses these challenges by offering step-by-step assistance, curated service recommendations, and community connections, making integration smoother and less stressful.

Goal:

Problem Statement:

Impact:

SettleSmart simplifies the relocation process by providing newcomers with structured guidance, local service recommendations, and community support. The platform enhances home setup efficiency, improves access to trusted local providers, and fosters social connections through the Neighborhood Buddy Program. By reducing the challenges of navigating unfamiliar systems, SettleSmart ensures a smoother and more confident transition into a new environment.

Research:

Goals

The research focused on understanding the challenges newcomers face in setting up their homes, accessing essential services, and integrating into their communities. It explored gaps in existing solutions, identified barriers to finding reliable resources, and examined social challenges like isolation and cultural adaptation. The goal was to determine how a digital platform could streamline service access and community engagement, making relocation simpler and more supportive.

Methodologies

To gain a comprehensive understanding, I used both qualitative and quantitative research methods:

User Interviews – Conducted one-on-one remote interviews with newcomers to capture first-hand experiences, pain points, and expectations.

Surveys – Distributed online to reach a broader audience and identify common frustrations and service needs.

Competitive Analysis – Examined existing relocation and community integration platforms to identify best practices and gaps.

Affinity Mapping – Organized research findings into key themes to identify patterns in user needs and behaviors.

Usability Testing – Tested early design concepts to ensure the platform’s features align with real-world user needs.

To understand the challenges newcomers face while settling into a new country, I conducted interviews with individuals who recently relocated. The goal was to explore their difficulties in accessing essential services, integrating into the community, and adjusting to unfamiliar environments. The discussions revealed key pain points, such as language barriers, difficulty navigating local services, and the struggle to build social connections.

Key Themes Explored in the Interviews:

  • Settling Challenges: Participants found it overwhelming to manage daily life tasks, from setting up a home to arranging childcare and understanding bureaucratic processes.

  • Language and Cultural Barriers: Many struggled with accessing services due to limited local language proficiency, making tasks like banking, transport, and medical appointments difficult.

  • Community Integration Needs: Newcomers often felt isolated and sought ways to connect with local communities, highlighting the need for a buddy program to ease transitions.

  • Digital Reliance: Most relied on online resources like Facebook groups, YouTube videos, and expat forums for guidance, but often found information scattered and unreliable.

User Interviews:

"Finding reliable services without speaking the language was frustrating. I had to rely on friends and online groups, but information wasn’t always accurate."

"I wish there was a way to connect with someone locally who could guide me through the essentials—things that aren’t written in guidebooks."

SettleSmart operates in the relocation assistance and community integration space, competing with platforms that provide networking, local service discovery, and adaptation support for newcomers. The analysis covers direct competitors (offering relocation-focused services), secondary competitors (providing adjacent services like local networking), and indirect competitors (offering supplementary tools such as language learning).

Key areas of evaluation included:


  • How do other platforms facilitate newcomer integration, offer structured networking, and connect users with local communities?

    How do competitors assist with essential services like housing, banking, and childcare while ensuring accessibility for diverse user needs?

    Do these platforms provide step-by-step relocation guidance, and is their support intuitive?

    How do they address language barriers for newcomers in a foreign country where language is a challenge?

Competitive Analysis:

Key Research Insights & Data Points

Our research combined user interviews, surveys, and competitive analysis to identify key challenges newcomers face and how SettleSmart can address them effectively.

Newcomer Integration Challenges: Many participants struggled with finding reliable local information, understanding bureaucratic processes, and overcoming social isolation. Existing platforms provided fragmented solutions, but none offered a holistic, guided approach to settling in.

Essential Services Accessibility: Housing, banking, and childcare were the most critical pain points. Many users reported difficulty navigating local systems, language barriers, and a lack of trusted recommendations for essential services.

Need for Personalized, Step-by-Step Guidance: Participants emphasized the overwhelming nature of relocation and a strong preference for structured, step-by-step guidance rather than generic information. Many relied on social media groups, but trust in those sources was inconsistent.

Language Barriers as a Major Obstacle: Limited local language proficiency led to difficulties in communication, filling out official forms, and accessing services. Most existing platforms did not provide sufficient multilingual support or translation assistance.

Preference for Community-Driven Solutions: Users expressed interest in local buddy programs that could provide personalized advice and real-time support, reinforcing the need for peer-to-peer guidance and integration with local communities.

Define:

To synthesize research findings, we conducted affinity mapping, grouping user insights into key themes to identify common challenges and opportunities for SettleSmart. The mapping process highlighted motivations such as seeking better quality of life, career growth, and cultural exploration.

Opportunities identified through this process included enhanced language support, comprehensive online guides, and community integration programs to bridge the gap between newcomers and local support systems. The findings reinforced the need for a user-friendly platform that simplifies relocation, connects users with essential services, and fosters social belonging..

Structuring the Foundation for SettleSmart’s Newcomer Support

Key Findings from Affinity Mapping:

Language Barriers & Bureaucracy: Many users struggled with navigating services like banking, healthcare, and public transport due to complex processes in German and lack of multilingual support.

Essential Services & Housing: Finding reliable housing, childcare, and financial services was a significant pain point, with many relying on social media groups and personal connections for guidance.

Social Isolation & Community Integration: Newcomers expressed difficulty in building a local network, often feeling disconnected due to spouses' work schedules and cultural differences.

Guided Support & Structured Assistance: Users preferred step-by-step guidance over scattered information, seeking a centralized platform that simplifies essential tasks.

Trust & Peer Support: Many found relief through word-of-mouth recommendations and peer support, highlighting the importance of community-driven solutions like the buddy program.

These insights shaped the app’s structured onboarding, local service discovery, multilingual support, and personalized newcomer guides, ensuring SettleSmart provides a seamless, supportive relocation experience.

After synthesizing insights from affinity mapping and user interviews, I identified key patterns in the experiences of newcomers, particularly women, who often face significant challenges when adapting to a new country. Many arrive with their spouses or for work, only to struggle with language barriers, navigating essential services, and building a social network. Research highlighted that these challenges are especially pronounced among women, as they often take on responsibilities like managing the household, securing childcare, and integrating into a new cultural environment.

User Persona

Designing a smooth and intuitive shopping experience was key to ensuring that users could quickly find products without unnecessary filtering or endless scrolling. By integrating image search into key touchpoints, the feature enhances product discovery and decision-making within the Zalando app.

User Flows

Ria's Journey: Booking a Home Service
Ria, a working mother in Switzerland, needs help organizing her new home. She logs into SettleSmart and selects “Home Setup.” After browsing available services, she decides to hire a provider for home organization. She answers a few questions about her requirements and receives a list of recommended service providers. After selecting one, she fills in her details, schedules an appointment, and confirms the booking. With a clear confirmation message, she feels relieved, knowing the service is arranged, allowing her to focus on her family and work

Sofia's Journey: Creating an Account
Sofia, recently relocated to Berlin, wants to access SettleSmart’s community and essential services. She begins by clicking “Sign In” and is prompted to create an account. She enters her email, sets a password, and provides location details like country and zip code. After verifying her information, she selects preferences for services such as home setup, move preparation, and finding local resources. Once her account is confirmed, she gains access to SettleSmart’s tailored support, helping her navigate life in a new country.

Once the user flows were finalized, I translated them into low-fidelity wireframes, focusing on clarity, ease of navigation, and prioritization of essential actions. The wireframes were designed to provide a clear visual structure while keeping interactions minimal and intuitive.

The low-fidelity wireframes served as a foundation for usability testing, allowing for quick iterations based on early feedback before transitioning to higher fidelity designs.

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Low Fidelity Wireframes

Key insights from Usability Testing:

  • Account Creation Flow – Some users hesitated at the zip code verification step, indicating a need for clearer instructions or an auto-detect feature to simplify the process.

  • Service Booking Clarity – Participants appreciated the structured selection process for service providers but found some steps unnecessary, suggesting a need to reduce form fields for quicker booking.

  • Discoverability of Features – Users successfully navigated to essential services, but some expected more guidance within the onboarding process. A tooltip or brief introduction could enhance engagement.

  • Language Support Expectations – Some users assumed translation assistance would be included, reinforcing the importance of incorporating multilingual support for non-native speakers.

  • Confirmation and Feedback Loop – A few users wanted immediate confirmation after booking a service, suggesting a need for clearer real-time status updates and email notifications.

After refining the low and mid-fidelity wireframes based on usability insights, we moved to high-fidelity wireframes, ensuring a visually cohesive and intuitive experience. The final designs incorporated the selected UI kit, enhancing accessibility, readability, and brand consistency. Each screen was fine-tuned for clarity, making navigation seamless and user interactions effortless.

High Fidelity Wireframes

For the final iteration, I focused on refining the UI based on earlier insights, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience for newcomers. The design was polished with enhanced visual hierarchy, improved accessibility, and a more structured navigation flow. Key refinements included optimizing button placements, refining icon clarity, and ensuring that essential services like housing and buddy connections were easy to access. The color palette and typography were finalized to maintain consistency with the brand’s values of comfort, empathy, and reliability. This iteration marked the completion of SettleSmart’s design, ensuring a user-friendly platform for newcomers navigating life in a new country.

Final Iteration:

Conclusion:

Overall Thoughts

SettleSmart effectively simplifies the relocation process by providing structured support for newcomers, particularly women, in navigating essential services and integrating into their new communities. Through iterative design improvements, the platform became more intuitive, addressing key pain points such as language barriers, social isolation, and access to local services. The final iteration refined user interactions, ensuring a seamless and reassuring experience for users seeking assistance in settling down.

Future Enhancements

AI-Powered Assistance – Personalized recommendations for services based on user preferences and location.

Expanded Community Features – Enhancing the buddy program with real-time chat and mentorship opportunities.

Integrated Translation Support – Built-in translation tools to bridge language gaps in essential service interactions.

Smart Task Automation – Automating recurring tasks like appointment scheduling and home service reminders.

Final Reflection

This project reinforced the importance of designing solutions that address real-life challenges and improve accessibility. By focusing on the needs of newcomers, particularly women adapting to a foreign environment, I deepened my understanding of user-centric problem-solving. The experience strengthened my skills in UX research, iterative prototyping, and usability-driven design improvements. SettleSmart embodies how thoughtful digital solutions can empower individuals and ease significant life transitions.

The SettleSmart UI Kit reflects the brand’s core values—comfort, empathy, reliability, community, and accessibility. Color Palette 2 was chosen for its warm, inviting tones, ensuring a sense of ease and belonging. Poppins and Roboto were selected for clarity and readability. Custom icons and buttons maintain consistency and intuitive navigation. Accessibility tests confirmed WCAG compliance, making the design inclusive for all users

UI Kit