Designing a phone application for organising your wardrobe.
Personal UX concept project | 1 Week | Individual
I came across a shocking statistic of how much money the average Briton spends on clothes, with most of the items eventually being discarded and damaging our environment. There had to be a solution - Closet Doctor!
Software used: Balsamiq and Adobe Illustrator.
The current problem
On average, Britons spend over £1k on new clothes every year, but leave ⅓ of it hanging in the wardrobe. Fashion production is also a concern, making up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, with 85% of all textiles going to the dump each year. Persuading people to reduce the amount of clothes they buy can be challenging, as many decisions are emotionally-driven. Therefore, users need a way to manage their wardrobe as easily as possible in order to save money and help the environment.
Constraints
While a multitude of offline solutions could be a solution, such as physical wardrobe organisers, this challenge specifically called for a mobile application. With this constraint in mind, I needed to merge the physical and digital world to create a viable solution.
The research phase
I conducted my research in two parts:
Competitor Research x 3 Apps: Stylebook, YourCloset & Smart Closet
Five interviews with males and females to determine the main pain points faced by individuals when buying clothes and organising their wardrobes. Two males and three females were interviewed, between the ages of 27–35.
Competitor Research Example: Stylebook
I found a lot of the apps to have similar functions to Stylebook:
The user takes pictures of the exact items in their closet.
They edit the pictures themselves.
They have to organise the images themselves into categories/occasions.
The app generates bespoke looks.
They can schedule outfits/see stats/create packing lists/shop.
Qualitative Research: Core Findings
The general consensus of the interviewees indicated that they were only using up to 30% of their wardrobe on a weekly basis. They mainly only remember recently worn items and sometimes end up purchasing duplicates.
When getting dressed, they spend time deciding what to wear which they don’t particularly enjoy. The main frustration when buying clothes is not finding something that suits them or matches what they currently own, so when they do end up buying something, it sits in their closet. They are also busy individuals needing quick and effective results.
Questions asked from the interviews can be found in this google form
Key Quotes
Spends time deciding what to wear (4 respondents)
“I don’t usually feel frustrated when getting dressed, but it’s just another thing to think about. The dress code at work is super laid back so I spend a fair bit of time deciding what could look cool.”
Remembers recent items only (5 respondents)
“I own so much I definitely don’t remember half of my stuff and end up duplicating similar things.”
Needs to purchase appropriate items (4 respondents)
“[When buying clothes, I get frustrated by] not finding something that suits me or matches anything I own. I end up spending money on things I don’t wear.”
Ideating towards a solution: How might we…?
1) Design a solution that is quick and easy to use with the current technology available?
2) Design a solution that is accurate?
3) Design a solution that inspires the user to use their current wardrobe and encourages them to save money?
App features: user research informing the app build
The app will need to:
Inspire users to use all of their wardrobe, and if not, get rid of the items they don’t use.
Document their wardrobe quickly and effectively
Compare the item they want to buy with their current wardrobe and ensuring they don’t duplicate items.
After some ideation, I created a potential solution which enables people to create a clothing management system, leading to better organisation and higher personal savings - I called it Closet Doctor!
How will it work?
This mobile application has been designed for the money-conscious, organized user in mind.
For current clothes: It provides daily clothing suggestions based on the user’s current wardrobe and displays appropriate looks.
For new purchases: Its algorithm cross check’s the new clothing with the user’s current wardrobe to generate an output: Will it match anything in the user’s current wardrobe? Does the user own something similar? Will it be replacing anything?
What makes this app unique to others?
The ease of use and sleek user interface is unparalleled to other apps.
When adding clothes to the wardrobe, the user only needs to take photos of their items. They do not have to edit the pictures themselves, remove the background, nor categorise their items unless they wanted to — the app does this for the user.
Developing a storyboard to understand the user’s life around the problem
By creating the storyboard, I wanted to understand outcome-driven activities and the user’s life around the problem. It helped me pinpoint the stages at which the app would be used. Following the storyboard and the research undertaken, I was able to craft a persona to capture the type of person the app needed to be built for.
The persona I was designing for
Persona created from the research findings.
Building the app
By creating the storyboard and persona, I was able to figure out what functions the app would need, and therefore developed a rough app map of the core components. Sketching out the potential flows allowed me to correct any foreseeable roadblocks at the time. By going through multiple iterations of this process, I came across new problems each time. It demonstrated the extensive work involved in creating a logical flow that would form a loop. Ideally, I would have carried out an open card sorting exercise to inform the information architecture prior to creating the flow, however I was under a strict time constraint.
App map: rough user flows
Once I thought I was getting somewhere, I created a digital version so I could visualise the flow more clearly and logically. While doing so, I came across missing functions yet again!
App map: Version 1
This map duplicated the flows for ‘login’ and ‘create an account’.
There was also no ‘compare to wardrobe’ function after the user added more items to their wardrobe.
It needed re-working…
App map: Version 2
I created a separate user flow for those creating an account and those logging into a pre-existing account.
Any photo taken is now passed through the wardrobe checker.
But there were still problems…
After creating the initial sketches for the app, I realised that I needed to add more components to ‘the create an account’ flow which were missing from Version 2.
Additionally, after showing one of the research participants Version 2, ‘my saved items’ was also added, as the participant highlighted wanting to be able to see all saved items on the home screen, as well as ‘rarely used clothes/stats’. This highlighted the importance, in hindsight, of carrying out an open card sort beforehand.
App map: Version 3
When I finally thought I had nailed the flow, I sketched out a rough app design to visualise it.
Rough app design
Rough app design of the user flow and visual elements.
Of course, in doing so, I discovered more missing elements which truly shows how much of an iterative process design thinking is. I then went back and incorporated this into the Version 3 user journey: Under ‘create an account’, the ability for the user to edit their wardrobe while they are creating it.
Low fidelity: Create an account wireflow
I created the below designs using Balsamiq to follow the steps the user would take when they first opened the app to create an account.
Low fidelity: Main wireflow
The below depicts the main app flow after the user has created their account.
Overall, I was satisfied with the screens, although more work needed to be done to conduct usability tests. The ideal participants would be fashion bloggers and other fashion-obsessed individuals so they could test the app for any missing categories and functions. Due to time constraints, I did not conduct usability tests or build the hi-fidelity app - this would be the next stage in the process.
Measurement
After the final app build and review, the app will be launched and measured in the following ways, including any advertising efforts to measure the effectiveness.
Quantitative
App downloads (to see the initial uptake)
Daily active users (DAU)
Retention rate
Churn rate (uninstalls)
App open rate/sessions
User’s monetary savings over time
Qualitative
Customer satisfaction surveys
App ratings & reviews
Focus groups