The Home Depot: Redesigning Online Appointment Scheduling
Role: Analyst · Timeline: 3 months · Outcome: 14 of 19 participants preferred the new design; implemented on HVAC and Window pages
Project Context
When scheduling an in-home consultation, users rely on calendar components within service lead forms to select a convenient day and time. Through behavioral analysis, I found that the scheduling step in the HVAC and Window Installation lead forms was a major drop-off point. Only 50% of users who reached the calendar step moved forward, compared with about 80% at previous steps. To explore potential improvements, I led a usability testing test, supported by the Research team, focused on three calendar component variations: two customer-facing and one associate-facing.
The goal was to evaluate which design offered the clearest and most efficient scheduling experience, while identifying usability issues that impact task completion.
My Role
I led this project from identifying the problem through final recommendations, with guidance and regular feedback from the research team. My responsibilities included:
Drafting the research plan and usability test guide
Gathering and reviewing existing form and calendar research
Writing participant scenarios that mirrored real-world task completion
Designing and prototyping Calendar A in Figma for desktop and mobile views, a hybrid of the current HVAC Installation service page and the associate-facing calendar step
Moderated live usability testing sessions
Synthesizing participant feedback using affinity mapping in Miro
Presenting findings and recommendations to stakeholders
Research Testing Plan
Research Goals
Understand how participants interact with three calendar variations
Identify pain points, friction, and usability issues in the calendar step
Determine which variation performs best in usability, engagement, and task success
Methodology
Moderated usability testing with 19 participants (10 desktop, 9 mobile)
Participants scheduled an in-home consultation through embedded lead forms
Counterbalancing was used to minimize order bias
Sessions were conducted through UserTesting.com and lasted 30 minutes each
Participants
All 19 participants completed the task, and feedback patterns were consistent across desktop and mobile users
Calendar A on mobile. Date selection: visitors browse months with previous and next buttons. Time selection: picking a day shows a list of available times. Your appointment: the chosen date and time appear in a summary box before submitting.
Calendar B, the HVAC multi-step form in the page's hero banner. Date and time are chosen on separate views, with unavailable dates and times visually distinct.
Calendar C, the Windows multi-step form. Users choose a month, day, and time of day, then scroll horizontally to pick a specific time.
Tools and Platforms
The project leveraged several key tools and platforms:
Figma: I designed and prototyped Calendar A for desktop and mobile
Live pages: Calendar B & Calendar C were tested on existing service pages
Usertesting.com: Used to run moderated sessions and capture real-time feedback on all three variations
Miro: Used to build affinity maps that organized participant feedback into clear, actionable insights
PowerPoint: Used to create the findings presentation for stakeholders
What I Learned
After testing the three variants, I synthesized participant feedback using affinity mapping and identified key insights:
Calendar A (Windows: Associate-Facing Hybrid)
What Worked Well:
Participants found the calendar easy to use, with minimal clicks
The one-page form layout made the experience quick and simple
“Your appointment” confirmation before submission reassured users
“It was seamless… very simple, short, sweet and to the point.” – Participant 1
Pain Points:
Tooltip “Your Store Consultant’s Availability” caused confusion
“Is this important? Should I be paying attention?” – Participant 9
Calendar B (HVAC: Multi-Step Form)
What Worked Well:
The calendar was clear, and unavailable dates and times were visually distinct
Pain Points:
Participants disliked having date and time split into separate views
The form placement in the hero banner felt too small and hard to focus on
The notes field lacked helpful placeholder text
“I don’t like how small it is... I’d prefer it fill the entire page.” – Participant 17
Calendar C (Windows: Multi-Step Form)
What Worked Well:
Users liked the flexibility of choosing month, day, and time
Participants appreciated that the confirmation page synced with calendar apps like Google, Outlook, and Apple.
Pain Points:
The “Time of Day” step felt vague and unnecessary
Excessive horizontal scrolling made time selection frustrating
Splitting contact information across two steps created confusion
“I don’t love time of day... I like to know exactly when they’re showing up.” – Participant 11
Key Takeaways
14 of 19 participants preferred Calendar A for its clarity, speed, and simplicity
The one-page flow consistently led to better usability and higher satisfaction
Recommendations
Roll out Calendar A across service pages for a consistent experience
Remove unclear tooltips like “Your Store Consultant’s Availability”
Add calendar sync to all confirmation pages
Consider moving from embedded hero banner forms to iframe forms for better visibility
Validate Calendar A through an A/B test on HVAC and Window Installation pages before scaling
Key Takeaways & Recommendations
Outcome & Business Impact
In my findings presentation, I showed stakeholders that the multi-step calendar flows were creating friction, from split date and time views to vague steps and excessive scrolling. Based on these findings, I recommended adopting Calendar A. The team added it to the A/B testing roadmap, and later implemented its layout and functionality on the HVAC and Window Installation service pages.
By adopting a simpler scheduling experience, The Home Depot aims to:
Reduce drop-off at the scheduling step, which my behavioral analysis identified as a problem area
Increase completed consultation requests by making scheduling faster and clearer on desktop and mobile
Create consistency across service pages with a shared calendar pattern
The study also gave the team a shared reference point for future calendar decisions across service categories, replacing debate over which pattern was clearer with participant evidence.