Simplifying interior decoration with mixed reality

AR/VR Mobile Application — Berger

Case Study

Manufacturing

PiServe builds an MR-enabled mobile app, allowing Berger customers to preview the outcomes of paints, decor, and furniture arrangements in real-time

About the client

Berger Paints commenced its journey in India almost a century ago, putting innovation, customer focus, and responsible product design at the forefront. Over the years, the company has climbed up to be the second-largest paint manufacturer in the country, demonstrating robust growth and a track record of consistent performance. Berger Paints maintains an operational presence in more than four geographies as an international brand.

Abstract

Berger Paints have always strived to make interior decorations hassle-free for the customers. Therefore, it desired to offer its customers the convenience of previewing the paint color and furniture arrangements without ever lifting a paintbrush, saving time and money.

Accordingly, the company looked for an experienced Application Development partner that could deliver an MR-enabled mobile app for painting. It should be packed with the latest industry features and a rich UX allowing customers to quickly arrive at the right color combinations on the first attempt.

Business challenges

Berger Paints harbored a vision to differentiate itself by driving greater customer affinity for the brand. The company also desired to establish itself as an industry thought leader and a reliable source of information for customers searching for insights on home and interior decoration-related topics. While some services were available through its Berger Visualizer app, its features fell short on multiple counts compared to that of global competitors like Sherwin-Williams and Schöner Wohnen. Further, some capabilities like paint matching and wall visualization were absent in the current app.

To turn the tide, the company must seek unique expertise that can:

Execute a thorough assessment of the features available with the competitor mobile apps
Identify implementation best practices
Execute UI benchmarking and pinpoint opportunities for the Berger Paints app
Build a self-service app on such opportunities allowing the customers to choose the paint color and furniture/decor arrangements using Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality capabilities

Our approach

The PiServe consultants realized the client’s need to stand out in the highly competitive paint market. Instead of a run-of-the-mill implementation resulting in just another app, the PiServe team adopted a highly research-oriented and market-focussed approach, putting user experience at the center. As part of it we:

Conducted an in-depth competitor features analysis and correlated them with the ones currently available in the Berger Visualizer app to highlight gaps
Figured out the possible MR use cases for the app and zeroed in on implementation best practices like immersive learning, experience sharing, collaboration, agility, and contextualized support
Defined the usability guidelines
Conducted UI benchmarking and classified the function, customer benefits, and business opportunity for each of the app features like Digital Color Wall, Paint Matcher, Color Selector, and Paint Calculator

Based on the findings, we built a Minimum Viable Product for the app incorporating the market-leading features and cutting-edge Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), 360-degree Video, and Hologram capabilities.

MR-enabled application development to bring rich UX and exciting features into the Berger Visualizer app, making it a one-stop shop for the customers' renovation needs.

The result

The research-oriented approach adopted by the PiServe team not only gave Berger Paints a comprehensive understanding of its positioning vis a vis its competitors but also provided the answers to what the organization must do to cover grounds and make its mobile app the best in the market. The PiServe study equipped the client with:

The understanding of the market gaps that Berger Paints can fill to discover new revenue streams

The best practices inferred from within and across different industries like e-commerce and ride-hailing services on how to build a customer-centric mobile app

The complete stack of usability guidelines for the end-user and any person related to the app for deriving its benefits wholly

A total benchmarking of the UI defining the thresholds of a productive app interaction

A completely functional MVP with all the desired attributes and open to collaborative development and scaling as per the requirements of the customer

The future

The domain knowledge and the mobile app delivered by PiServe are expected to be pivotal to the Berger Paints marketing strategy. It will help the company effortlessly reach smartphone users in India and across the globe looking to renovate their premises. Capitalizing on the market-first features and outstanding services, Berger Paints will be the first choice for the clients regarding paint and furnishings.