Conscious Closet - An App
My Capstone Project at Brandeis University
Problem: Build an app that motivates and engages people to reduce clothing waste
Deliverables: User Research Report. Empathy Map. Wireframe. High Fidelity Prototype.
The Problem
Post-consumer textile waste
The fast fashion industry is responsible for ~10% of annual global emissions and tons of clothing goes to waste every year (GASP, 2020)
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 17 million tons of textile waste ended up in landfills in 2018
The amount of clothing Americans throw away each year has doubled in the last 20 years (Brown, 2021)
Yet, our closets are full of clothes we never wear. In fact, 83% of consumers buy clothes that they never wear (Wolstenholme, 2018)
Goals
Dig deeper into the psychological influences on consumer clothing shopping behavior to better understand how I can motivate and engage people to do something about this problem
Find opportunities to create a solution to the problem
Research Methodologies
Target Population
Any gender
Ages 25-54 years
Online Surveys
16 responses
Quantitative and qualitative data with multiple choice and open-ended questions
Field Studies
Interviewed 2 participants as they went through their closet
Qualitative data with open-ended questions
Competitive Analysis
Reviewed 3 companies & their websites/apps working to reduce clothing waste
Analyzed the purpose, strengths, and weaknesses of each
Synthesis & Analysis
The most frustrating part of styling clothing is not knowing which clothes from one’s closet will go well together.
Indicated by 6 out of 16 survey respondents
Personal fashion style was rated a 3.7 out of 5 on level of importance
Average score from 16 (total) survey respondents
The biggest reasons people don’t buy thrifted clothes are:
They prefer online shopping
It takes too long to sort through the items
The clothes are thought to be used and dirty
The biggest challenges to shopping from eco-friendly, sustainable clothing brands are:
They’re more expensive
Not knowing what stores are sustainable to begin with
Few stores have sustainable clothing
The most common frustrations with getting rid of clothes are:
Not having the time or forgetting to donate them
A lack of donation centers close by/having to seek them out
The Trendy Shopper
An Empathy Map outlining the thoughts, words, actions, and feelings of my key persona. Below include this key persona’s pain points, tasks/jobs to be done, and goals. This map served as a reference for the creation of Conscious Closet.
The App Concept
A virtual closet that provides clothing recommendations
The user catalogs their own clothing items into the app by taking photos and uploading them
The app will provide recommendations on what to wear, based on the user’s personal style
Recommendations include clothing from the user’s closet, previously owned or used clothing, and clothes from eco-friendly, sustainable brands
The app provides hassle-free donation pick up services, and in return the app can resell these items for discounted prices to users
User Needs and How They’re Met
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Not knowing how to style one's clothing to fit their style
The app provides recommendations on what to wear, including clothing from the user’s wardrobe, previously owned or used clothing, and clothing from sustainable brands.
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Not having the time or knowing where to go to donate clothes
The app provides donation pickup services through which the company will pick up the user’s unwanted clothes. The company can then resell any donated clothes that are in good condition to users on the app.
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Thrifting clothes takes too long and the clothes are dirty
The company sorts through donated clothes from users, then cleans and resells the ones in good condition. The app recommends the second hand items that match with the user’s style/wardrobe so they don’t have to sort through racks of clothes.
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Not knowing what clothing brands are eco-friendly to begin with
The app also provides recommendations for what clothes from sustainable, eco-friendly brands will go well with clothes from the user’s closet. The user learns what brands are eco-friendly and has access to buying from them through the app.
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Personal fashion style is important to users
Built-in likes and views algorithm that allows for more curated recommendations based on the user’s style preferences.
Storyboards
User Flows
The above flows illustrate the paths users will take to (1) find a clothing item from their own closet that matches with another specific item from their closet, and (2) find a new item from an eco-friendly brand that matches with the specific item from their closet.
Low Fidelity Prototype
User Testing
Low Fidelity Prototype
One round of testing
Task driven tests assessing navigation, findability, and UX
Two users: one female 30 years old and one male 27 years old
Mid-High Fidelity Prototype
One round of testing
Task driven tests assessing navigation, findability, and UX
Two users: one male 28 years old and one female 28 years old
Final Prototype
Key Changes After Testing
Changed placement and size of “+” buttons to not pull attention away from clothing items.
Renamed “Random Outfit Generator” button and prototyped it to stay sticky to just above the bottom nav so users won’t miss it.
Outfit recommendations are listed on the same page as the closet item details to reduce clicks. Recommendations are provided in the form of compilations and categorized lists based on what items the user might need next.
Item details refined by user testing.
Added quick “add to cart” buttons under each item users can purchase.
Added links to view more of each item category.
Key Changes After Testing
Ability to “Save Outfit” to library or favorite (“heart”) the individual item.
User can swipe through images of the outfit & the individual item.
Item details added (hidden by default).
Continued outfit recommendations to complete the outfit built into the same screen as the outfit. Outfit compilations feature all of the items chosen by the user so far so they can better visualize how the items will look together.
Categorized lists of items needed to complete the outfit.
Once an outfit it saved, users are given the option to continue building their outfit or go to their outfit library.
Key Changes After Testing
User can swipe through images of the outfit & the individual item.
Info tooltip where information about the item’s brand, what makes them eco-friendly, and their website link can be found.
Added the product description.
User can add the item to their bag or go straight to checkout with it.
Outfit recommendations to complete the outfit continue below the product.
“Item added to bag” confirmation modal includes calls to action for completing the rest of the outfit or going to the shopping cart.