2. The Problem:
The traditional model that women’s fashion follows for sizing and is broken. It’s
even more painfully apparent in ecommerce where stores have to offer their
customers free shipping both ways to sooth any fears about return issues.
As for sizing, it’s a system that it is nearly impossible to change because no
one wants to adopt it due to vanity and the mass profits available via fast
fashion. This has led to consumer frustration and even has social
repercussions*
The Solution:
Provide a system that assists consumers on finding clothing that fits,
specifically brands and cuts of brands that offer them alternate fits that will
suit their needs/wants, and remove the frustration from the average
shopping experience.
Mlle is a brand agnostic personal
shopping service for women (ages 23-35)
who have a hard time finding clothing.
Created to help create frustration free shopping
focusing on helping find exactly what they are
looking for and find the right fit.
4. Scenario
Michelle is plus sized, which despite an influx of options that have presented
themselves recently makes shopping incredibly difficult. Especially if she doesn’t
want to be limited to shopping at only certain stores and only for certain styles.
She has her own sense of fashion and often wants to find things that will fit that
versus what the fashion industry thinks she should be wearing. She is also
incredibly frustrated with the typical online shopping experience disappointing
because even when she finds things she likes, it isn’t available in her size, or she
recieves it and it doesn’t fit.
She finds the service MLLE via an advertisement on her facebook that appears
after she visits one of their partner sites on one of her usual frustrating attempts at
shopping.
She signs up, goes through the fashion finder quiz and lands on her homepage
where she finds a variety of suggestions that are just her size since MLLE locates
things that are just your taste, and just your size based on your Fashion Finder
results.
She clicks on a tunic top that awesomely resembles something she had tried on in
a store months ago and decides to give it a shot. While looking at the item details
she finds a necklace to go with it and adds that to her cart as well.
Michelle
Bank Teller
Age: 30
Occupation: Bank Teller
at Bank of America
Location: Riverside, CA
Gender: Female
Goals: Michelle has worn plus sized clothing
for a while now and find it’s frustrating to find
clothes that fit her, let alone flatter her figure.
That being said she takes her career
seriously and therefore tries to maintain a
professional wardrobe, which is easier said
that done.
While there are stores like Lane Bryant that
cater to her needs, she also wants to be able
to shop online and not get frustrated when
nothing is available in her size.
She hates seeing things that are cute on
websites and then clicking on them to realize
they just don’t come in her size.
6. Opportunities Identified:
In general both men and women seemed to find shopping frustrating.
However, for women it seemed to revolve more around finding items
that fit rather than men. Menʼs sizing also is much more standard than
womens.
From here I culled out about 20 people to interview further and
followed up with a follow up interview to confirm my hunches.
Method:
I posted a Google Survey on a variety of social media websites that catered to
a wide variety of audiences, not all affiliated with myself (Craigslist, SAIC
Linkedin alumni, Facebook, cross posted to acquaintances Facebooks,
Fitocracy). I also spoke to a few women on the Bart train who were kind enough
to lend me an ear, my fellow classmates, and pretty much anyone who would
listen.
From here I analyzed the data to see what my approach should be and
determine my target audience.
Findings:
Out of 62 people surveyed online, and 10 people surveyed in real life, 52 were
women, 42 were male. The ages were pretty well divided, the most lying in the
22-30 age group, although a significant amount were also over the age of 40.
Many, avoided shopping (24 out of 62), and if needed would go shopping once
a month.
Their clothing rarely fit right off the rack. And pants were by far the hardest thing
to locate.
Most men had no idea what body type they had, and the majority of people who
couldnʼt find pants identified as “curvy”.
Design Research
7. Typical User Journey: Buying Pants
User Department Store Department
Juniors, Womens, Mens, Childrens
Gather Pile of Possible
Fits Based on:
- Brand
-Size
-Employee assistance
(sometimes)
Fitting Room
Try on pants,
Purchase
Repeat until you find a fit or
run screaming in frustration.
Find mystical pair of
“Magic” Jeans
8. Custom Clothing
Pros
-Gets people to get their measurements,
can help size
correctly through that data
Cons
- Not easily accessible
- Have to order online, can’t try on
- If not online, have to go into the actual
store multiple times, seems time intensive
- Mostly men’s clothing
Examples: Bow & Drape, Eshakti, Blank
Label, Trumaker
Virtual Fitting Room
Pros
-Gets people to get their
measurements, can help size
correctly through that data
Cons
-Disconntected, inhuman
- Feels like “dress up” or a game
Examples: Fits.me, Styku
“Other” Ways of Sizing
Pros
- More standard
Cons
- Fashion retailers refuse to adopt widescale
Examples: Triofit, Levis CurveID, true&co
Body Scanning
Pros
-Gets people to get their measurements,
can help size correctly through that data
Cons
- Not easily accessible
Examples: Styky, Meality
Competitive Analysis
9.
10. High TechLow Tech
Hard Accessibility
Easily Accessible
Body scan
Virtual fitting room
Personal Shopping
Competitive Landscape
11. Sarah
Marketing Intern
Age: 23
Occupation: Marketing Intern at
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Gender: Female
Goals: Sarah is making the transition from
the student world to the real world. This
means she has to work on creating a
professional wardrobe. Unfortunately Sarah
hates shopping and has no idea where to
start.
Unfortunately for Sarah she’s also very
petite, which makes finding clothing
difficult. Pants rarely fit, and she often
doesn’t want to spend the money to get
things tailored always.
Sarah wants to be able to quickly find
clothing she can order offline without
having to spend a lot of time browsing and
guessing if the various brands will or will
not fit.
“I need clothes so I can look
professional, but I hate shopping and
don’t want to spend a lot of time
browsing stuff that doesn’t come in
my size, is too expensive, or just
won’t work.”
Persona 1
12. Christina
High School Teacher
Age: 28
Occupation: High School Teacher
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Gender: Female
Goals: Christina has an incredibly busy
lifestyle that keeps her on her toes. She
spends her days teaching first grade at the
local grade school, then to keep a good
work life balance she also participates in
crossfit at her local crossfit box.
She is always on the go, this means when it
comes to shopping she wants to spend the
least amount of time possible.
Unfortunately despite being in shape she
has large quads and this makes finding
pants incredibly hard. Most of the time she
will go to the mall,try things on, and walk
out empty handed.
She has tried shopping online before and
find that it’s even harder to guess her fit
that way, but she obviously needs to stay
well dressed for her job and doesn’t want
to sacrifice her physique.
“I just want less frustration
when it comes to finding
clothes that fit, I hate
spending lots of time at
the mall only to walk out
empty handed”
Persona 2
13. Michelle
Bank Teller
Age: 30
Occupation: Bank Teller at Bank of
America, Amateur Fashion Blogger
Location: Riverside, CA
Gender: Female
“Shopping sucks when you’re not
a size zero. I want clothes that
fit me without having to shop
at only “special” stores”
Goals: Michelle has worn plus sized clothing
for a while now and find it’s frustrating to find
clothes that fit her, let alone flatter her figure.
That being said she takes her career
seriously and therefore tries to maintain a
professional wardrobe, which is easier said
that done.
While there are stores like Lane Bryant that
cater to her needs, she also wants to be able
to shop online and not get frustrated when
nothing is available in her size.
She hates seeing things that are cute on
websites and then clicking on them to realize
they just don’t come in her size.
Persona 3
14. Scenario
Michelle is plus sized, which despite an influx of options that have presented
themselves recently makes shopping incredibly difficult. Especially if she doesn’t
want to be limited to shopping at only certain stores and only for certain styles.
She has her own sense of fashion and often wants to find things that will fit that
versus what the fashion industry thinks she should be wearing. She is also
incredibly frustrated with the typical online shopping experience disappointing
because even when she finds things she likes, it isn’t available in her size, or she
recieves it and it doesn’t fit.
She finds the service MLLE via an advertisement on her facebook that appears
after she visits one of their partner sites on one of her usual frustrating attempts at
shopping.
She signs up, goes through the fashion finder quiz and lands on her homepage
where she finds a variety of suggestions that are just her size since MLLE locates
things that are just your taste, and just your size based on your Fashion Finder
results.
She clicks on a tunic top that awesomely resembles something she had tried on in
a store months ago and decides to give it a shot. While looking at the item details
she finds a necklace to go with it and adds that to her cart as well.
Michelle
Bank Teller
Age: 30
Occupation: Bank Teller
at Bank of America
Location: Riverside, CA
Gender: Female
Goals: Michelle has worn plus sized clothing
for a while now and find it’s frustrating to find
clothes that fit her, let alone flatter her figure.
That being said she takes her career
seriously and therefore tries to maintain a
professional wardrobe, which is easier said
that done.
While there are stores like Lane Bryant that
cater to her needs, she also wants to be able
to shop online and not get frustrated when
nothing is available in her size.
She hates seeing things that are cute on
websites and then clicking on them to realize
they just don’t come in her size.
15. User Journey/Site Map Revisions
Method:
For this project, the system seemed like the most important part and the visual
design itself would come from that so I took my basic user flow I had
determined and began to break it down and create a more in-depth look into
how the site would work and the features needed.
Findings:
More complicated than the original flow, but I got the basic functionality down
and identified the key screens to address in the next stage of design.
Design Itteration 1
16. E-Commerce Analysis
Opportunities Identified:
Based on previous flow/site mapping I determined a pain point was
definitely existent when it came to finding something you liked, clicking
on it, and finding out there was nothing in your size much like points
brought up during my second round of user testing.
Restructuring was definitely something that most ecommerce sites had
not tried as they had many of the parts to my system but had not quite
connected the dots.
Method:
Instead of jumping off the deep end and trying to re-invent the wheel I delved
through several e-commerce sites and tried to pick out the convention that were
consistent and therefore familiar to the user, as well as identify points that I
could enrich the pre-existing system.
I also used some inspiration from dating websites to try and develop my
method in which I discovered data about the user in terms of matching them
with clothing as well as search functions.
Findings:
Most ecommerce sites functioned in very similar ways, therefore interface
placement was easier to figure out. Also drew from some very specific sites in
terms of inspiration for flows that worked nicely.
17. Opportunities Identified:
Refined navigation, figured out what should be in the navigation and
what needs to be cut out, identified areas to be simplified (home page,
search function, more filters, image upload).
Method:
Using findings from user research, the competitive analysis, user flows, and
personas/user scenarios I created the rough prototype using Axure. This served
as the platform for initial user testing of the initial interface and design.
I then dragged my laptop to the gym and interviewed people (mainly the girls
who worked at the front desk, and a couple people stretching/not working out)
on their thoughts of how it worked and if it made sense to them.
Findings:
Most people felt that it was pretty spot on, I go told that there were some
features that seemed un-needed, so I evaluated and itterated for the next
version.
Design Itteration 1.5 - Wireframes
19. Opportunities Identified:
Continue to refine and itterate. More user testing, want to run
silverback test to make sure things are clickable. Also want to refine
and further simplify the system.
Method:
Using findings from user research, the competitive analysis, user flows, and
personas/user scenarios I created the rough prototype using Axure. This served
as the platform for initial user testing of the initial interface and design.
I then dragged my laptop to the gym and interviewed people (mainly the girls
who worked at the front desk, and a couple people stretching/not working out)
on their thoughts of how it worked and if it made sense to them.
Findings:
Few tweaks and overall the system seems to be working,.
Design Itteration 2 - Prototype
21. User Roles
Customer
Enters information and provides
data to be matched with clothing.
Reviews clothing recieved and
enriches system.
Retailor
Enters sizing information and provides
data to match customer with clothing.
Recieves information about customer’s
needs helping to provide better
products, and increase sales to
possibly un-tapped markets.
MLLE Customer Service
Monitors reviews, helps guarantee
customer satisfaction and act as a
liason in case any issues arise.
22. Business Model Canvas:
Key Partners:
Customers with body types that
are not average
Distributors
Retailers
Key Activities:
Ability to make suggestions,
colection of meta data provided
by user and retailers.
Good customer relationship that
leads them to trust us with their
info, and believe that our
knowledge will help end their
problems.
Key Resources:
Database of accurate data to
draw from via both customer and
retailers.
Customer relationship that
encourages them to participate
and give feedback
Value Proposition:
As a neutral partner we offer the
customer a variety of pricing
options.
Save the customer money and
time (shipping, returns)
Save the customer the time and
frustration of trying things on in
the store.
Offer retailers the ability to reach
a wider range of people, and help
them sell to shoppers that are
likely to abandon their purchase
due to frustration.
Customer
Relationships:
Personal assistance
Customer Participation
Give-take relationship based on
helping us help you better.
Channels:
Advertisements/ Reviews
Retail partner refferals
Direct site visits (google)
Customer Segments:
Customer: clothes that fit, save
time, money, frustration
Retailers: less returns, more
purchases, influencing sales
Cost Structure:
Generate revenue from percentage of sale from brands who participate, advertising, and
per click redirection to retailer websites.
Revenue Streams:
Items people buy that actually fit
Saving time; going to store gathering items
Saving frustration, easy to navigate, don’t feel “defective”.
23. Site Map
Landing Page Log InCreate Account
Personality Profile
Pants Profile
Shirt Profile
Shoe Profile
Personal HomeEdit Profile Lust List Shopping Bag Purchase History
ReviewsCheck OutSearch
Browse
View Item
View Item
Check Out
24. Screen Flow - First Time User
LANDING PAGE
CREATE ACCOUNT
STYLE PROFILE
SURVEY
PANTS SURVEY
TOPS & JACKET
SURVEY
SHOE
SURVEY
FINISH/REDIRECT
25. Screen Flow - Second Visit
LANDING PAGE
SIGN IN
PERSONAL HOMEPAGE
27. Screen Flow - Purchase
ITEM VIEW
OR LUST LIST
HOME WITH
NOTIFICATION
SHOPPING BAG CHECKOUT
SHIPPING INFO
CHECKOUT
BILLING INFO
CHECKOUT
REVIEW/CONFIRM
28. Screen Flow - Add to Lust List
ITEM VIEW
LUST LIST VIEW
W/ ADDED ITEM
29. Screen Flow - Write Review
PURCHASE HISTORY
ITEM REVIEW THANK FOR REVIEW
POP UP/REDIRECT HOME
