Overview
Wardrobe Wizard is a virtual closet service representing the user’s real clothes that features a virtual styling assistant to develop a user’s personal style. The application tracks a user’s wardrobe and outfit habits to make intelligent suggestions on potential outfits. Information on the user’s current wardrobe is fed in the system. Users can create an avatar to model outfit combinations without having to go into their closet and try on or remove clothing. The application also helps users plan outfits throughout the week and for special occasions.
My Role
I worked as a UX Researcher and UI/UX designer on this project. Some of my responsibilities included :
Planning, defining scope and strategy
Conducting user interviews and observations
Facilitate ideation and design decisions
Sketching, wireframing and prototyping
User testing and evaluation
Making changes after obtaining results from User testing
Process
Information Gathering - Analysis Phase
The design process started with the analysis phase which further had sub-activities such as contextual inquiry, contextual analysis for studying user behavior, from which gathered the system's needs. Where I extracted requirements from contextual data. The requirements included interaction design requirements, inputs driving the design process for me to determine the features, look, feel and behavior of the interaction design.
It also shows recommended organization based on the user profile as I want to encourage the user to join more organizations. This will ensure that there is no conflict of interest and increases the chances of students getting involved.
Target Audience - Personas And Scenarios
Analysis of the gathered information helped in identifying four personas of different segments of individuals who might use the application. I did place “Men” in a single category because I felt that segment would be less likely to use the application. However, more research needs to be done to accurately determine that decision. The other three categories are
1) Young Adults/Student,
2) Baby Boomer
3) Busy Parents of Young Children
Interviews and Observations
User Flow Diagram
Ideation And Sketching
Analyzed the data that was gathered from contextual inquiry and began to brainstorm with the peers and started the interaction phase with sketching so that it can be done and redone multiple numbers of times as required. I knew that it is easy to sketch ideas using pen and paper and validate them from test users before jumping into prototypes.
Design Implementation
I made the prototypes using a tool called Adobe XD. Once the user downloads the app, they will be directed to the login page. On this page, they will be required to fill out the necessary information to proceed. User’s will also have the option to create an account by signing up with Google. Once an account has been created, the user can upload their picture and customize their avatar.
Home Screen
Most of the times mobile users are very goal-oriented and super impatient. So, I wanted to avoid distracting users from their goals. That’s why, decided to keep the homepage and top landing pages simple and made sure that it have a clear call-to-action and a value proposition above the fold.
Prototype and Feature list
Customizing avatar is the next step, it is very important step as this will determine how each outfit looks on an individual. This is a one-time task for users to customize their avatar to resemble them in real life. Users will be able to add pictures, scan tags or search for their current wardrobe. This is an efficient way for users to update their wardrobe on the app. The app will be able to determine an appropriate outfit suggestion once the user filters out the following. The app will display various suggestions from the user’s wardrobe. Users will be able to swipe through these options.
Marketing Materials
Usability Testing
The purpose of this test plan was to observe the behaviors of a subsection of representative users while performing tasks for both desktop and mobile channels. I created mid-fidelity prototypes in Adobe XD and created four tasks to be observed. Which included the following tasks.
Findings
The data collected shows the users were mostly able to sign up and customize their avatar easily. Additionally, participants wanted to be able to customize the avatar more. The users who identified as men were not able to use the masculine avatar. One user wanted to play with customizing their avatar. Testers remarked that there was not an easy route to get to the customization by event type area. However, they found the process easy once they arrived.
Reflection and Learning
Working on this project gave me a very important experience that to make the design process a success it is essential to understand the user goals and use that understanding in the creation of a design solution. Asking real users helped in improving bits and pieces of the whole project. It is an iterative process. In the end I was able to build a product that is super easy to use and helpful.
