The Closet Crew
Project Overview:
Research human behavior in diverse ecosystems to develop practical, sustainable solutions.
Year
2023 (SCAD)
Category
Service Design
Type of Work
Design Research,
UX&UI,
Behaviour Change,
Design for Impact,
Social Media Mktg &
Experience Design
Problem Statement:
Improper purchasing, usage, and disposal habits drive the prevalent issue of under-utilized clothing in American households. Research indicates nearly 30% of closet items remain unworn for over a year, fueled by e-commerce, fast fashion, and attachment issues. Without interventions, this trend will worsen environmental and social impacts.
My Role:
UX Researcher and Designer
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Focused qualitative and quantitative research on household actions, acknowledging their significant impact.
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Designed a mobile app as a virtual closet for logging items, capturing OOTD images, offering styling tips, facilitating barter, and suggesting sustainable disposal methods.
Design Process:
Methods used:
Secondary Research, Survey, In-depth Interviews, Cultural Probe, Affinitization, How Might We, Behavioral Mapping, Wireframes, Prototyping, Usability Testing
The Solution:
Secondary Research:
Primary Research:
Research Goal:
The goal of the primary research is to investigate the underlying factors, behaviors, and challenges associated with the accumulation of unworn and underutilized clothes in American households, in order to develop effective strategies and interventions that promote responsible clothing consumption and minimize clothing waste.
Employed behavioral mapping to dissect current behavior into sub-steps, outlining ideal behavior, barriers, and opportunities for improvement.
User Persona:
Mobile App: Closet Master
What does it do:
How:
Closet Master is virtual closet inventory that enables users to:
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create a log of all the clothing and fashion accessories they own capture OOTDs
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provides styling tips using the inventory
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encourages barter systems with friends and family provides recommendations on achieving a longer lifecycle of clothing with suitable means of disposal
The mobile app employs object recognition, deep learning and artificial intelligence to create an enhanced and interactive experience.
Behavior change tools:
Three horizon model:
Takeways:
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Moving forward, we remain optimistic and purposeful in our journey.
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Equipped with a deeper grasp of human behavior and carefully developed design interventions, we aim to advance sustainable and mindful clothing practices.
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Lessons gleaned from user testing and continuous refinement drive our evolution, aligning with diverse audience needs and aspirations.
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Committed to fostering positive change and embracing innovation, we anticipate our combined efforts will significantly influence a more conscious and sustainable approach to clothing consumption in the future.
Click here to view the process book: