Making clothing accessible
PROJECT OVERVIEW
PROJECT OVERVIEW
There was no easy way to get quality clothing and find it fast.
Introducing: The only apparel app personalized to you. With AI, users find items they'll keep forever.
Free Fashion was a team practicum for my Human Interface Design course at California State University, Stanislaus. The topic was to design a product that would help reduce global pollution.
Won a design award and university grant for presenting to a panel of angel investors.
There was no easy way to get quality clothing and find it fast.
Introducing: The only apparel app personalized to you. With AI, users find items they'll keep forever.
Free Fashion was a team practicum for my Human Interface Design course at California State University, Stanislaus. The topic was to design a product that would help reduce global pollution.
Won a design award and university grant for presenting to a panel of angel investors.
MY ROLE
MY ROLE
UI Design
Motion Design
UI Design
Motion Design
TEAM
TEAM
UX Design
Marketing
Business Strategy
UX Design
Marketing
Business Strategy
DURATION
DURATION
Aug 2022 – Dec 2022
Aug 2022 – Dec 2022
Understanding why people have a hard time finding clothes they love
Understanding why people have a hard time finding clothes they love
USER PROBLEMS
USER PROBLEMS
I could never find clothes that fit me.
I don’t like any of the clothes I own.
I need new clothes for school but I can’t afford it.
I don’t have anywhere to get work clothes.
It’s easier to shop online because of my disability.
I don’t have any winter clothing.
It's embarrassing to wear the same outfit twice.
Fashion models look nothing like me.
I’m not going to waste my time going to the mall.
I miss going to the mall with my friends.
I just want my clothes to match my personal style.
Buying new clothes is bad for the environment.
"I could never find clothes that fit me."
"I don't like any of the clothes I own."
"I need new clothes for school but I can't afford it."
"It's easier to shop online because of my disability."
"I don't have anywhere to get work clothes."
"I don't have any winter clothing."
"It's embarrassing to wear the same outfit twice."
"Fashion models look nothing like me."
"I'm not going to waste my time going to the mall."
"I just want my clothes to match my personal style."
"I miss going to the mall with my friends."
"Buying new clothes is bad for the environment."
BUSINESS STRATEGY
BUSINESS STRATEGY
Overall, make finding quality apparel less annoying.
Personalized clothing recommendations to increase sales.
Use entertaining ads to increase engagement.
Side effect: solving global pollution.
Overall, make finding quality apparel less annoying.
Personalized clothing recommendations to increase sales.
Use entertaining ads to increase engagement.
Side effect: solving global pollution.
CONSTRAINTS
CONSTRAINTS
I applied realistic constraints to keep the project focused on solving user problems. For example, although it’s exciting to imagine a system that could search for anything and provide perfect results — vision and language models do not always accurately identify the size, color, or brand of clothing someone is wearing in user-generated content. To solve this constraint, I designed a user flow after recording a video where the user must confirm details of an item before putting it up for sale.
I applied realistic constraints to keep the project focused on solving user problems. For example, although it’s exciting to imagine a system that could search for anything and provide perfect results — vision and language models do not always accurately identify the size, color, or brand of clothing someone is wearing in user-generated content. To solve this constraint, I designed a user flow after recording a video where the user must confirm details of an item before putting it up for sale.
Understanding what features users will love
Understanding what features users will love
DESIGN OBJECTIVES
DESIGN OBJECTIVES
Focus on designing for the best user experience possible. User research was essential to ideate on important goals. For example, we researched to understand the most likely people to use the app would be fashion enthusiasts who were between 13–25.
Make it easy to buy and sell secondhand items.
Compete with Temu's gamification.
Make users want to come back.
Build and maintain a consistent design system.
Focus on designing for the best user experience possible. User research was essential to ideate on important goals. For example, we researched to understand the most likely people to use the app would be fashion enthusiasts who were between 13–25.
Make it easy to buy and sell secondhand items.
Compete with Temu's gamification.
Make users want to come back.
Build and maintain a consistent design system.
IDEAL SOLUTION
IDEAL SOLUTION
Free Fashion proposes using AI search, ML recommendations, and theme customization to make a delightful user experience. Along with many features consistent from major competitors.
Free Fashion proposes using AI search, ML recommendations, and theme customization to make a delightful user experience. Along with many features consistent from major competitors.
Competitive products best (and worst) features helped design a better thrift shop app
Competitive products best (and worst) features helped design a better thrift shop app
A unique selling point and engaging design is a requirement to attract new users to the shopping app instead of the many competitors users could choose from. The app adds high-retention features while using a design consistent with the most used and familiar apps in the world to make a great user experience.
Competitors
Competitors
Cost
Cost
$
$
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$$
$
$
$
$
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$$$
Primary Function
Primary Function
Apparel
Apparel
Apparel
Apparel
Entertainment
Entertainment
Shopping
Shopping
Apparel
Apparel
AI
Shopping
Marketplace
Easy
Checkout
Social
Features
Fast
Shipping
Strengths
Strengths
Best AI
Best prices
Local, faster shipping
Most features
Online thrifting
Good filters
Rare finds
Seller reviews
Online thrifting
Good filters
Rare finds
Seller reviews
Shop anything
Great filters
UGC reviews
Video editing
Shop anything
Great filters
UGC reviews
Video editing
Shop anything
Trustworthy
Incredibly cheap
Shop anything
Trustworthy
Incredibly cheap
Beautiful design
Best quality
Trustworthy
Beautiful design
Best quality
Trustworthy
Weaknesses
Weaknesses
Pricing is not transparent
Lack of seller verification
Pricing is not transparent
Lack of seller verification
No socializing
Many glitches
Difficult checkout
Bad AI
Slow loading
O.K. quality
Bad AI
Slow loading
O.K. quality
O.K. quality
Cluttered design
Slow loading
Very expensive
No UGC
Very expensive
No UGC
Wireframing with the team and users to test new product ideas
Wireframing with the team and users to test new product ideas
Collaborating on team mockups and user research helped ideate new features, user flows, and the design system i.e. using strategy to understand what people what they want to see.
Collaborating on team mockups and user research helped ideate new features, user flows, and the design system i.e. using strategy to understand what people what they want to see.
Prototyping helped get feedback from stakeholders, leading to a better user experience
Prototyping helped get feedback from stakeholders, leading to a better user experience
For You: AI personalized suggestions from your interests.
For You: AI suggestions from your interests.
Discover: AI identifies what's in images to create better suggestions.
Discover: AI identifies what's in images.
Maps: Shop locally for faster shipping and better prices.
Maps: Shop locally for faster shipping and better prices.
Search: AI shows real-time trends to discover more, faster.
Search: AI shows real-time trends to discover more, faster.
Video Editor: AI edits videos automatically to sell items faster.
Video Editor: AI edits videos automatically to sell items faster.
Ads: AI personalized ads to make revenue for app and its sellers.
Ads: AI personalized ads to make revenue for app and its sellers.
Profile: Easy access to likes, watch history, and posts.
Profile: Easy access to likes, watch history, and posts.
Checkout: Easy checkout, use AI to discover similar items.
Checkout: Easy checkout, use AI to discover similar items.
Theme: Users can pick an accent color they love, then display it everywhere.
Conducting usability testing and validation to ensure quality assurance
Conducting usability testing and validation to ensure quality assurance
Conducted usability testing with over 40 people. Participants are given a series of tasks to complete within the app, such as browsing item filters, finding an item they like, adding items to their cart, and checking out. Participants are instructed to use the think-aloud protocol while completing the tasks. Using feedback, I iterated to design an accessible and more inclusive product. There are unnoticed user problems that can only be identified by observing or talking to your real users.
Conducted usability testing with over 40 people. Participants are given a series of tasks to complete within the app, such as browsing item filters, finding an item they like, adding items to their cart, and checking out. Participants are instructed to use the think-aloud protocol while completing the tasks. Using feedback, I iterated to design an accessible and more inclusive product. There are unnoticed user problems that can only be identified by observing or talking to your real users.
Accessibility helps give everyone equal opportunity to own clothes they'll love for life
Accessibility helps give everyone equal opportunity to own clothes they'll love for life
Ensuring the prototype was inclusive for users with various impairments and challenges required a precise and thoughtful approach.
Visual: I implemented high-contrast colors, ARIA labels, and tab index to buttons.
Motor: I designed larger touch targets and adequate spacing between elements.
Auditory: I planned for auto-generated captions and gen AI audio descriptions.
Cognitive: I incorporated low-saturation colors, autocompleted searches, an adjustable color theme, maintained a familiar layout and navigation, and added visual feedback to interactions.
Ensuring the prototype was inclusive for users with various impairments and challenges required a precise and thoughtful approach.
Visual: I implemented high-contrast colors, ARIA labels, and tab index to buttons.
Motor: I designed larger touch targets and adequate spacing between elements.
Auditory: I planned for auto-generated captions and gen AI audio descriptions.
Cognitive: I incorporated low-saturation colors, autocompleted searches, an adjustable color theme, maintained a familiar layout and navigation, and added visual feedback to interactions.
Results
Results
The product reached its goal of maximizing projected sales as a niche secondhand fashion marketplace. Tests show that users enjoy the search suggestions and find the product intuitive and accessible. I earned a university grant for presenting this app to a team of angel investors. This is my favorite project by far because of its innovative and practical solutions to reduce fashion pollution.
The product reached its goal of maximizing projected sales as a niche secondhand fashion marketplace. Tests show that users enjoy the search suggestions and find the product intuitive and accessible. I earned a university grant for presenting this app to a team of angel investors. This is my favorite project by far because of its innovative and practical solutions to reduce fashion pollution.
Challenges and insights
Challenges and insights
Throughout the Free Fashion product development, I encountered and overcame several obstacles, demonstrating my problem-solving skills and adaptability:
Design System: Developing a unique visual identity while maintaining familiarity was tricky. I iterated on brand colors and typography to strike a balance between novelty and usability.
Information Architecture: A lot of fast fashion apps like Temu and AliExpress are cluttered and overwhelming to users. I streamlined the interface, prioritizing key features and implementing an delightful design system to enhance user experience.
Timeline: There was a temptation to add too many features. I focused on core functionalities that could be realistically prototyped and tested within the project timeline.
Throughout the Free Fashion product development, I encountered and overcame several obstacles, demonstrating my problem-solving skills and adaptability:
Design System: Developing a unique visual identity while maintaining familiarity was tricky. I iterated on brand colors and typography to strike a balance between novelty and usability.
Information Architecture: A lot of fast fashion apps like Temu and AliExpress are cluttered and overwhelming to users. I streamlined the interface, prioritizing key features and implementing an delightful design system to enhance user experience.
Timeline: There was a temptation to add too many features. I focused on core functionalities that could be realistically prototyped and tested within the project timeline.
Free Fashion app
Prototype
