Kekkonmi
An all in one product to help couples plan for their weddings and execute the plan by reducing the planning time, expenses and stress.
Product Experience
Problem Space
Problem Statement
How can we make it easier for newly engaged couples in Japan to plan for their dream wedding within their target timeline and budget, reducing the planning time, expenses and stress?
Problem Background
Weddings are a celebration of love, a joyous occasion we all enjoy, but the planning process is often overwhelming and difficult to manage. Especially for newly engaged couples under the age of 30 who are working with a relatively small budget of $25000 or less. Kekkonmi is a resource for anyone planning their dream wedding in Japan for the first time, with an efficient and cost-effective approach.
The main problem is that there are multiple tools that address different aspects of the wedding planning process, which means couples have to find and utilize multiple different tools. This adds to the complexity of the process, making wedding planning more difficult and time consuming, taking up to 6 months for almost 38% of couples but most importantly difficult to plan and manage the wedding planning process and do so within the budget they set.
Research Insights
User Pain Points
- Planning a great wedding within budget.
- Finding the ideal venue and all the services you need.
- Collaborating with partner managing and delegating tasks.
- Communicating with guests, or vendors
Supporting Data
According to a 2022 (12,000 couples surveyed) research conducted by The Knot Research and Insights team, couples' top challenges while planning for their big day were 47% planning with a budget, and 36% determining guest list. 73% of respondents relied on family/friends to help with the planning or on wedding planning websites.
In America alone there were 2.6M weddings in 2022, average of about 5000 weddings a day, there is a need for a solution that focuses on solving the core issues couples face during wedding planning.
In my own research I found that 47% of couples had a wedding budget of less than 25,000$, 50% of weddings planned managed to stay within budget but 42% reported feeling stressed during wedding planning. Although budget is important, ensuring guests enjoyed the wedding ranked 1st in their priorities.
Feedback
Participants expressed a need for a central all in one tool that would allow newly engaged couples to work on the most critical parts of their wedding planning. According to my research the key priorities for couples planning their weddings were 1. ensuring their guests went home happy and 2. Staying within budget. These priorities concurrently require the ability to identify venues, services, and for partners to collaborate and manage their time and budget efficiently.
Landing on the Solution
“Based on our target users’ pain points, we knew we wanted to work on the following features
- Budget monitoring dashboard: Couples to monitor, manage and adjust their wedding budget.
- Search functionality: Couples to find budget friendly venues/vendors/services for their wedding.
- Collaboration capabilities: Couples to communicate, collaborate with each other, vendors, family and friends with ease as well as delegating tasks or todos.
Explanation of Solution
Kekkonmi gives users the ability to review their preferences and options of venues/vendors and products available to them and set a budget, region and timeframe for planning. They can either choose a combination of services or receive recommendations for everything they need for their wedding, including venue, wedding dress, photographer, etc., all within their budget. They have the option to combine, add or remove different products or services. According to my research, couples planning their wedding also want to include their guests or family in the process. So the solution would allow them to share tasks, share progress, and get opinions or support from family or friends.
Kekkonmi offers a unique solution that enables smoother communication and collaboration in preparing and coordinating wedding planning, with a focus on maximizing the budget available to couples. This reduces stress and confusion during the planning process
User Flows/Mockups
Future Steps
In my research 68.4% of respondents did not have a specific tool they could recommend to help planning a wedding, 42 % reported feeling stressed during their wedding preparation.
By providing a singular solution that allows for smoother communication and collaboration in preparation and coordination of the wedding planning process with a focus on maximising whatever budget the couples have. This will reduce stress and ambiguity of the planning process and allow couples to have their dream weddings.
Images
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Fernandes Nyowani
Co.Lab was a very unique and exciting experience for me. Here are my learnings so far:
Problem space first: Yes, it's fun to come up with solutions and ideas for potential problems, but the key to building effective products or solutions is to focus not only on the problem space, but also on the user. By making sure you understand the problem and communicate clearly with the user, you can better prepare for the solution space.
Who is your customer: It is important to clearly define who your customer is. By clearly outlining the key differentiators of the customer, you can ensure that (i) the user's problem is accurately viewed from their perspective and (ii) the solution is accurately tailored to them.
Hindsight is 20/20:After conducting the initial research and user interviews, I realised how many questions I could or should have asked that would have provided better insight into the solution itself. I enjoyed learning what it means to truly understand user problems and let the problem and potential users guide me to a solution.
I am a Product Manager: Most importantly, I enjoyed every step of the process. This experience has shown me that I belong in product management and inspired me to push myself even harder to achieve my goal.
Designer Learnings:
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
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As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
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As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
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Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
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- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
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All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
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I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.