StyleCo's AR Fashion App
StyleCo is an established international fashion company with a portfolio of well-known clothing brands. Historically the company has relied on physical stores in shopping malls for most of its sales (its first North American mall store opened in 1980 and was a staple in malls in Europe and South America by the late 1980s). The company wants to expand its online shopping experience with an augmented reality fitting room. StyleCo management believes an AR product will cater to fashion-forward customers seeking a unique and personalized shopping experience. They want to know what features would make the app successful as well as if AR is a viable solution.
My Role
UX Researcher
UX Designer
Tools Used
Figma
Miro
PixelCut AI
Type of Work
Generative research
Thematic analysis
Wireframing
Prototyping
Timeline
Aug. - Dec. 2023
Research Goal
The goal of the research is to find out what shoppers like and dislike about their current shopping experience and whether shoppers will want to use AR technology to enhance their shopping experience.
Research Plan
We recruited participants who shop online, are fashion-forward, have various body types, and have a device compatible with AR.
Throughout the research, I hoped to gather:
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What the participant likes and dislikes about their current shopping experience both in store and online
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What tools they use to shop
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What they do when they are frustrated with their shopping experience
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The participant’s interest in using augmented reality (AR) technology
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Whether the customer sees value in AR and its potential applications
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Insight on how customers imagine these technologies being utilized
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Emerging trends that could be considered (besides AR)
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If they don’t use innovative technologies, why not (ex: the technology has a steep learning curve, deemed unnecessary to complete the purchase, etc.)
My Research
I interviewed 1 participant and surveyed 4 more via Google Forms due to convenience for the participants. My data concluded:
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Participants shop online at least bi-weekly for convenience
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They return clothes that don't fit
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They shop via Android
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They've heard of AR but are unsure about using it
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Product visualization would be the main factor to compel them to try AR in a shopping app.
Next Steps
The next steps for StyleCo would be to user test future designs and iterations of the designs as AR evolves.
Thematic Analysis
Organizing
We began our thematic analysis by color coordinating the student’s name who we observed and wrote down an observation from that student’s data. For example, students who made observations on Ronell's data used a gold sticky note.
At least 13 observations were made for each member’s data.
Grouping
We grouped items together based on similarities and categories. Our categories were: demographics, interest in innovative tech, devices, consumer loyalty, try-on, shopping preferences, support, challenges, convenience, customer satisfaction, shopping frequency, and concerns about AR.
Focus Questions
We used our groups to come up with two focus questions:
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“What innovative technologies are fashion forward customers interested in exploring during a shopping experience? What is their interest in using AR technology?”
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“What do fashion-forward customers perceive as strengths and weaknesses of their current shopping experience?”
Based on our focus question 1 and votes, we determined that our top 3 priorities were: interest in innovative tech, preferences, and concerns about AR.
Based on our focus question 2 and votes, we determined that our top 3 priorities were: challenges, why shop in-person/customer satisfaction, and preferences.
Research Deliverable
The design team is looking to assess the likely suitability of AR on mobile devices to improve upon the current user experience, so to help them in this quest, I created a Jobs to be Done (JTBD) framework. I chose a JTBD because there is no industry standard regarding the use of AR in fashion retail and according to the Nielson Norman Group, “the JTBD framework suggests that innovation and good design come from assessing the customers’ real needs, and creating a solution that is unencumbered by the existing products that fulfill those needs” (NNGroup). Due to the JTBD framework that I created, the designers will know what the users truly need so that they can create a product that solves the user’s problem based on functional and emotional success criteria. For example, the designers can take into account that the users would like diverse and inclusive models in their decision-making.
Wireframes and Low-Fidelity Prototypes
Sketches
This image details the initial sketches for the splash (left, with a carousel of clothing item emojis), home (middle), and product details (right) pages. I wanted to use a UI model that is familiar to most people by researching top online shopping brands and apps and implementing some of the design practices into StyleCo's app.
Low-Fi Design Version 1
I started building the design in Figma for the first version. I decided to scrap the splash page, as that's not a core page that users will spend time on. So, I fleshed out the design for the home (left), item detail (upper middle), discover (right), and AR view (lower middle) pages.
Low-Fi Design Version 2
I decided to combine some elements of the initial sketch and version 1 to implement into the new (and current) version.
Constraints
During the creation of the usability test plan, we were made aware of 3 constraints.
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Convenience Sample and Size:
Those recruited and interviewed may not reflect the overall population. -
Time Limit:
Due to the class being generative research focused, it left little time for design and feedback. -
Data Collection Method:
Surveys did not allow me to ask follow-up questions or for clarification beyond what the participant initially answered.
Final Prototype
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Research Questions
My team and I went through three drafts of questions. The ones that were approved were:
1a. “What innovative technologies are fashion forward customers interested in exploring during a shopping experience?”
1b. “What is their interest in using AR technology?”
2. “What do fashion forward customers perceive as strengths and weaknesses of their current shopping experiences?”
These questions were approved because research question 1a and 1b focuses on the participants experience with technology and research question 2 focuses on their experience with shopping. All these questions could be answered through generative research and was supported by the research goal. These were approved by our professor, and we were given the clear to proceed with our data collection.