Background

I live in the middle of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country and there are less than five locally-owned hobby shops, and all are at least twenty minutes away by car.

Although I love spending time there, I need to make my trips to these shops count, and acquire everything for a project in as few trips as possible.

When I purchased my last Tamiya model kit, I knew that I’d need to acquire some new paints to finish it properly. I wouldn’t know what those paints were until I got the instruction manual out of the box and compared the list of required paints against my humble inventory of acrylics. I then took a picture of the instructions with my phone and used the Markup feature to highlight the paints I needed. That’s when I started thinking about how design could be used to improve this experience for myself and other hobbyists.

Observations

While a pandemic raged, some indoor hobbies, such as Gunpla, have thrived. Despite this trend, hobby stores that stock other model kits have become harder and harder to find. Local stores have been feeling the pinch from online retailers long before the pandemic.

However, hobby stores still serve a purpose as they stock higher numbers of high-quality kits that are produced in short runs and may have stopped production by the time that kit reaches the shelf. (Manufacturers such as Tamiya make a certain number of kits at one time to amortize the cost of production before moving on to other kits and re-tooling old ones).

Also, these shops serve as meeting spots for the hobby community to share their projects, exchange kits and materials, and hold events.

Objectives

To open up the construction of Tamiya model kits to more hobbyists by making it easier and more efficient to acquire necessary materials, while still allowing hobbyists to support local shops.

Value Proposition

If the process of acquiring paints is as straight forward as acquiring the kit itself, more people will stick with Tamiya products.

User Scenarios

There are at least three journeys an individual could take to acquire the necessary supplies to complete a kit.

Scenario 1 highlights an “old fashioned” path of finding a kit, buying it, and figuring out the paints needed later. This might not be an issue if you know you’ll be returning to your shop later, but does require extra time and traveling back and forth before you can start working on a kit.

Scenario 2 can occur when someone uses their device while at the shop to download the instructions ahead of time to see what paints are needed. This may be challenging for those who are less tech savvy, and still doesn’t allow someone to know which paints they may already have at home.

Scenario 3 can occur when someone already owns a kit, or adds one to their cart, then proceeds to download the instructions and add the required paints to their cart. This is doable but may require some browser power-usage.

Scenario 4 could occur by reducing the number of steps to acquire necessary supplies and accommodates purchasing them online or in a local hobby store. This journey can be reduced to a few core tasks:

Find your exact model kit.

View the required paints.

Purchase those paints that you don’t already have.

Information Architecture

I started sketching rough diagrams to organize the application. Views emerged for paints and models the user wants and doesn’t have (“Wishlist”), areas to view and manage paints the user already has (“Inventory”), as well as the accommodation of necessary utility pages (Login, Profile, etc.).

Wireframing

Wireframes were constructed based on rounds of sketches. The core feature of finding a model kit, either by text search, or by box art, was kept within thumb’s reach.

Visual Language

The application’s visual design takes on the challenge of translating Tamiya’s iconic brand and print design to the digital realm. Particular pages such as the product views have to be repeatable for the sake of development implementation, while maintaining the bold typography and imagery of their material counterparts. The application also borrows some existing styles from Tamiya’s current website.

Using the App

From the home screen, the search bar is within thumb’s reach. Get started by searching for your latest model kit, or browse kits by category.

Snap an image of the box (A) or use the text search to find your kit (B).

Add your kit to your inventory and view the paints you need (A). Add the paints you want to your wishlist (B).

Add paints from your wishlist to your inventory. You can go to your local hobby store or order them straight from the app.

Manage your inventory and make notes on paints.

Use the color picker by entering an RGB, CMYK, or Hex code to find the closest equivalent Tamiya color.