The contemporary industry places significant emphasis on sustainability, upcycling and preserving tradition, creating widespread awareness about the environmental impact of manufacturing processes and encouraging individuals to be mindful of their consumption and its consequences.
This project is centered on a brand that repurposes used and vintage fabrics, preserving the tradition of quilting and stitching to create stylish clothing and fashion products.
Overview:
End-to-End Application (UX/UI Design)
Tools Used: Figma, Adobe Creative Suite
Time: 4 Weeks
IntroductionWhat is the problem?
As environmental awareness continues to grow, more and more people are seeking out ethical and sustainable brands for their lifestyle products. However, many individuals struggle to find convenient and accessible ways to contribute to the recycling and re-purposing of their used products.
Customers need a service that makes it easy for them to upcycle and transform their old clothing into new styles, or repurpose them into completely new products.
How can this be achieved through online platforms that simplify the process of ordering, sending old fabrics to the manufacturer, and receiving the desired customized product smoothly and hassle-free?
Goal
HMW
My goal is to develop an application aimed at facilitating the creation of custom upcycled products. The application will function as an online platform dedicated to the preservation and repurposing of aging textiles and garments by working on how that can be done through online platforms that simplify the process of ordering, sending old fabrics to the manufacturer, and receiving the desired customized product smoothly and hassle-free.
How can we enhance website navigation and accessibility for seamless ordering of personalized upcycled products?
How can we incorporate artificial intelligence to improve the process of selecting, filtering, ordering, checking out, and delivery, ensuring that users can effortlessly purchase personalized recycled products?
"I'm looking to improve the user experience of an E-Commerce app to make it easier for users to navigate and find personalized upcycled products because there are brands offering sustainable clothing options but it's challenging for users to find personalized upcycled products within the app.”
POV Statement
Research
In this initial design stage, I started with competitive analysis and user interviews to gather information and data about the existing similar brands and users’ needs followed by affinity mapping to organize and group the similar points.
Competitive Analysis
Summary
Similar Capabilities
What do all the companies have in common?
Eco-friendly, sustainable, repurposing and upcycling.
The cost is too high and durability questions.
Key Learnings
What can we learn from this process?
We need to think about the durability of the product.
Need an end-to-end app with smooth navigation for users.
Product variety and sizing guidelines (AI implementation).
Promoting customer acceptance and getting out of the misconceptions of durability and quality providing awareness.
Opportunities
Where can we progress or create value?
Work on the cost of production so that the pricing gets more affordable
Being creative and designing innovative products out of old and antique fabrics.
Bespoke designs as required by the customers.
Lack of an app, the brand only has responsive website.
Help in logistics to receive the old fabrics from the users.
I conducted the interviews with 5 participants from backgrounds who are:
· Individuals knowledgeable about upcycling and sustainable design.
· Individuals interested in purchasing sustainable products and passionate about recycling and preservation.
· Online shoppers looking for custom-made clothing and other textile items.
· Those who enjoy revitalizing antiques and vintage products with a modern flair.
A few important points that came out from the interviews are:
They are aware of sustainable products and are interested in buying repurposed products but are looking for a better place to shop.
They sometimes avoid shopping for repurposed products because of hygiene concerns, durability, and affordability concerns.
Fewer brands coming up with this idea result in fewer options to compare.
Most participants don’t know how to repurpose their old fabrics or where to donate them.
Places they prefer to buy recycled products: Thrift stores, Etsy, craft fairs.
Need proper research as some brands may falsely claim to produce sustainable products and overcharge.
User Interviews
DefineIn my next step, I began collecting and analyzing the information from the empathize stage to pinpoint and define the fundamental issue.
Project Goals
Putting all the above pain points and challenges altogether the key features to be worked upon are :
A landing page with search options and product categorization.
Easy navigation with a navigation menu-Logo-Sign in/account creation-shop-saved search-add to Wishlist options.
A form for information input.
Proper display of the product with details.
A virtual chat box.
One can opt for a parcel bag or box for orders above a certain price to send materials for recycling or production, or else they will receive a barcode to send them once ordered.
Donation option.
Contact and Awareness programs or events related to recycled and sustainable products.
AI Recommendation for outfit styling
Design In this section, I will start by creating the initial structure of the app. This will involve beginning with hand sketches, then developing mid-fidelity wireframes, and finally creating high-fidelity wireframes.
Wireframing
Low Fidelity Wireframing
I followed the crazy 8 method to sketch one idea in each square with a timer for one minute per square. This process helped me to think faster and come out with interesting solutions.
Mid Fidelity Wireframing
Dashboard
Provides statement of what the brand is about with a next button.
Home
The homepage is where the user directly moves into the shopping section with various categories.
Product Detail
The product detail page can lead the customer to the customization page if selected and it has the details of the product and provides awareness of the recycled material’s durability and value.
Product Search
A product catalog with a filter and customize option and write-up to break the monotony of the page.
Customize
Provides option to select size, quantity and design change . It also provides parcel option to send old fabrics if one wishes to recycle their old products.
Mid Fidelity Prototype Testing
I conducted rapid mid-fidelity user testing to evaluate the app's usability, understand how accessible the user interface is, and gather feedback on users' experience with the screens and shopping procedures. I assessed how easy it was for them to find the customization form and steps. Additionally, I encouraged participants to provide suggestions and recommendations for improving the navigation and usability of the interface.
This test helped me to focus on the best features preferred by the users.
Things to change:
-Change the tag line on your dash board.
Add the donating fabric option on the dashboard to make it clear what is this App about.
-Add the estimated delivery date option.
-Add speech to text technology and a chat box.
-Correct the alignment and off centred navigation icons .
Inspiration
The visuals depict recycled products in vibrant and soothing natural colors.
The mood board expresses both the modern touch and the organic rustic feel.
High Fidelity Wireframing
Dashboard
Dashboard
Product Search
Homepage
Customization
Prototyping , Testing and Iterations
1)
1) Initially the dashboard page didnot have a back and next option, changed the skip button to back and next.
2)
2) The customizing option was confusing for some users. As per their suggestion, the customization page was split into two pages. The first page allows adding elements, while the second page has a pop-up box for adding old fabric.
3)
3) Added few more options for customization or elimination option.
4)
4) Users needed an explanation about how the old fabric is going to be repurposed into the selected product?
-Added the additional page that describes how the old fabric is treated along with parcel
receiving option.
Final Design- MOKOSH End-to-End App Design
Summary:
This project mainly focuses on end-to-end app design development for a brand that reuses used and vintage fabrics to create stylish clothing and fashion products by customizing according to the user’s choice of selection.
My Challenges:
Developing the entire flow for the End-to-End App was quite challenging because it required simplicity while providing all the key features in one App.
-I learned how to identify users' problems and develop an app that serves as an online platform providing customizing options in an easy input form instead of making the process more complex.
-I have developed an efficient process for creating customized recycled products to meet users' needs in a caring and empathetic manner. This involves providing simple forms with icons, managing logistics for sending and receiving parcels, and promoting the sale of recycled products through information dissemination.
The final design prototype of the app for selecting a recycled quilted jacket.
All . Mokosh . Vanilla Bites . Thrive . Move