A Virtual world for apparel shopping- Perso
Shoppers don’t have any virtual platform where they can feel the clothes and beautifying products virtually.
Solution
Features:
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The mobile app will contain information about every product along with reviews
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It will also use augmented reality to impose clothes and beautifying products on user
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It will also record your face details which will be used to make payment through facial recognition
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The user holds mobile in a designated spot in front of the body scan so that the mobile application can augment clothing onto the user directly
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It also uses facial recognition to log the user in the mobile application
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The user can now browse the catalog and see reviews by other users
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Select items to try on virtually
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User can try the various items at the same time
The Project: Virtual Shopping Experience
Users: Shoppers who can't visit the Physical Store, Fashion bloggers
My Role: User Research, Ideation, Prototyping, Information architect, Product Designer
Exploring Problem Space
Whenever we go apparel shopping alone or with someone, there are a few inconveniences we face like lack of information on the product, having to carry a lot of items to the trial room, or having to make multiple trips to the trial room. We realized that the retail shopping experience has a lot of space for improvement toward being user-centric and efficient. So our customer segment here is the shoppers who can't visit the physical store. Perso is an application that allows users to try different clothes virtually on a mobile application. The main aim of this application was to make personalized recommendations, tips, and purchases through the app. The makeup feature allows users to upload selfies and on that photo, users can try different beautifying and cosmetic products without visiting the physical store.
The Process
I believe design is an iterative process. Here I approached the final solution by iteratively performing group discussions and brainstorming sessions in collaboration with other team members. After having low and high fidelity versions I performed a series of pilot and usability testing using standard testing practices.
Research
Synthesize
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Observation
Contextual Inquiry
Literature Review
Affinity Diagram
Journey Mapping
Persona
Brainstorming
Sketches
Down selection
User flow
Storyboard
Wireframes
High Fidelity Prototype
Experience Prototype
User testing
Design iteration
Primary and Secondary Research
Primary Research — Observation & Contextual Inquiry
To analyze the current scenario of retail shopping experience in physical stores I performed observations and contextual inquiry in shopping malls with 27 participants to get in-depth information about their pain points and experience in general.
Secondary Research — Literature Review
To understand the current state of technology and service available to work with, I started my process of gathering information from various sources to get familiar with the context.
Research Insights
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Irrespective of the kind of shopper the participant was, they all seem to be attracted to the online store with discount and sale boards
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A range of activities that a shopper could do is influenced by the arrangement of the garment sections and ease of navigation within the store
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For most of the participants, the lack of information about the product seems to be an inconvenience while looking for clothes. The lack of staff to help with the questions was a concern
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The lack of trial rooms causes long queues. Multiple trips to the trial room due to incorrect size or style of the garment, which adds to the time taken in the queue at the checkout counter.
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A common concern among participants was the inability to check the reviews of the products in the physical stores and the limitations of the product brands
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I realized that it’s now time for retailers to bring the online and in-store shopping experiences together. We should create seamless experiences that connect touchpoints between desktop, mobile, and in-store engagements.
Affinity Diagram
Problem Synthesis
After gathering insights from contextual inquiry and secondary research we needed to make sense of all the information we gathered. We started by creating personas and customer journey maps to map various pain points that were gathered in various stages of the retail shopping experience.
Primary Persona
Customer journey map
Pain Points
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Prioritizing Pain Points
As I found a lot of pain points in my research, I now cross-referenced the pain points with the user statements to prioritize the problems. So that I could concentrate on the most important problems given the limited time frame I had.
Therefore the most important pain points were:
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Trying multiple brands together is not possible
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For buying cosmetic or beautifying products users need to go to the physical store
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A platform for upcoming fashion designers
Ideating the Solution
I started the ideation phase by brainstorming for various solutions that could fit in at different stages of the retail shopping experience. The initial ideas were represented in the form of rough sketches.
Sketching Ideas
Idea #1 — Mixed Reality Experience
Having a Microsoft Hololens headset for every shopper. So in this way, the shopper will be able to move around the store in a normal fashion but whatever he sees will be augmented by the Hololens. For example, providing additional information about the garment, giving directions to a particular product the customer wants, etc.
Pros
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Providing a surreal experience to the customer
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Easy of navigation
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Quick access to additional information like reviews
Cons
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Buying Hololens headset to everyone will increase the operating costs drastically
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Does not exactly address the issue of virtual shopping experience
Idea #2 — Mobile application
Having a mobile application where users can tryouts various clothes virtually and see reviews by other fashion designers and users. Along with this, the application also allows users to upload selfies where they can try beautifying or cosmetic products virtually.
Pros
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Customer can browse the catalog on the separate screen
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Ability to fetch clothing for the customer
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Video chat with a representative
Cons
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Can hinder the free movement of shoppers
Idea#3 — Smart Trial Mirror
Installing smart mirrors. This mirror could help you browse the catalog and search for items and also lets you try garments by augmenting it on your reflection in the mirror.
Pros
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The shopper can try on any garment without going to the store
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A quick, efficient alternative to trail room visits
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Easy access to the catalog
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Ability to checkout directly through the mirror
Cons
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Installation cost
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Lack of privacy while trying clothes through smart mirror virtually
Down Selection Process
I used the Desirability-Viability-Feasibility framework and Value Proposition Canvas to down-select our final solution in collaboration with product managers and stakeholders.
All the 3 ideas were analyzed based on their pros and cons using the Desirability-Viability-Feasibility framework.
The mobile application was the one that faired well in all three parameters as compared to the other ideas.
Value Proposition Diagram
Also analyzing the Value Proposition Canvas for each idea it was very clear that we should pursue The mobile application experience as our solution as it best addresses all the major pain points.
Selected Solution
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After the down-selection process, we decided to go with Mobile Application Experience as our selected design solution. Here we added additional features to make the whole experience more engaging and appealing for the customer.
Features:
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The mobile app will contain information about every product along with reviews
-
It will also use augmented reality to impose clothes and beautifying products on the user
-
It will also record your face details which will be used to make payment through facial recognition
-
The user holds the mobile in a designated spot in front of the body scan so that the mobile application can augment clothing onto the user directly
-
It also uses facial recognition to log the user into the mobile application
-
The user can now browse the catalog and see reviews by other users
-
Select items to try on virtually
-
Users can try the various items at the same time
Task Flow
User Journey
Wireframes
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I started prototyping with a paper given how disposable it is, it enabled me to perform quick modification and easy user testing of the preliminary concept for the service solution.
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I had to design for different experiences as my product involves various screens.
User testing - Round 1
I performed 3 think-aloud tests and 3 cognitive walkthroughs on the low-fidelity prototype to identify pain points and improve overall usability.
Key Findings
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The user was looking for reviews on compare section
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The navigation within my looks was not very clear
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The user wasn’t sure how to purchase an item
High Fidelity Prototype
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After getting feedback from the user testing sessions, I discussed the corrections and improvements that can be made to the prototype for easing the user experience
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Changes were made to the overall navigation of the mobile application and within the look feature
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Compare feature was designed more precisely
Perso
User Testing - Round 2
I performed 5 observations as well as role-played a typical shopper to identify the issues in our design from a user’s perspective.
Key Findings
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The user liked the Mobile app design and navigation
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Some users were confused about the position of the mobile phone while trying on clothes virtually
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User liked the idea of payment through facial recognition which makes the process quite easy and quick
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Some users had concerns about virtual trying their garments
Final Prototype
Features:
-
The mobile app will contain information about every product along with reviews
-
It will also use augmented reality to impose clothes and beautifying products on the user
-
It will also record your face details which will be used to make payment through facial recognition
-
The user holds the mobile in a designated spot in front of the body scan so that the mobile application can augment clothing onto the user directly
-
It also uses facial recognition to log the user into the mobile application
-
The user can now browse the catalog and see reviews by other users
-
Select items to try on virtually
-
Users can try the various items at the same time
Future Recommendation
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Adding the ability to share photos or short video clips with friends to get their opinion on the garment while trying it out
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Ability to simultaneously see and compare trial videos of previously tried products. Extensive testing of physical prototypes specifically for ergonomics.
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Research more on alternative methods to interact with mobile while keeping it at someplace and trying clothes virtually
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Finally, work on developing a functional physical prototype using the latest technology
Reflections
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Overall it was a really enriching experience for me as it was a very intense project to complete within 3 months. It also gave me a chance to hone my skills in various prototyping techniques:
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Paper Prototype: This helped to do a quick modification to the interfaces based on user testing.
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Hybrid Sketches: Helped us visualize the smart mirror in an in-store setting.
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Storyboarding: Helped us know our users and keep in mind the context we are designing for.
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Role-playing: Helped us figure out the user flow and identify pain points.
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Wireframing: We used this method to identify users’ opinions on functionality, information architecture, and overall user experience.
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High-Fidelity Prototype: After making the required changes from wireframing user feedback, we used this method to obtain feedback on the usability and visual design of the product.
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Experience Prototyping: It helped to understand, explore, or communicate what it might be like to engage with the product, space, or system we are designing.
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