Smart Mirror- Shopping made Smarter
This project was undertaken by me as a part of my Prototyping for Interactive Systems class. The goal of doing this project was to get hands-on experience in the various prototyping techniques.
The Project: Redesigning Shopping Experience
Users: Shoppers who visit the Physical Store
My Role: UI-UX Designer, UX Researcher, Ideation, Prototyping, Information architect
Solution
Exploring Problem Space
Whenever we go apparel shopping alone or with someone, there are a few inconveniences we face like a 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 visit 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 we conducted observations and contextual inquiry in shopping malls with 12 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, we started our process of gathering information from various sources to get familiar with the context.
Research Insights
-
Irrespective of the kind of shopper the participant was, they all seem to be attracted to the store with discount and sale boards.
-
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.
-
For most of the participants, the lack of information about the product seems to be an inconvenience while looking for clothes. Lack of staff to help with the questions was a concern.
-
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.
-
A common concern from participants was the inability to check the reviews of the products in the physical stores.
-
We also 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.
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
.png)
Prioritizing Pain Points
As we found a lot of pain points in our research, we now cross-referenced the pain points with the user statements to prioritize the problems. So that we could concentrate on the most important problems given the limited time frame we had since it was a class project.
Therefore the most important pain points were:
-
Browsing the store was a time-consuming process
-
Making multiple trips to the trial room
-
Long checkout queues
Ideating the Solution
We started our 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 Store
Providing a Microsoft Hololens headset to every shopper that walks in the store. 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
-
Providing a surreal experience to the customer
-
Easy of navigation
-
Quick access to additional information like reviews
Cons
-
Providing Hololens headset to every will increase the operating costs drastically
-
Does not exactly address the issue of trail room visits and long checkout queues
Idea #2 — Smart Robot Assistant
Having mobile interactive bots in the store to help shoppers. The customers could browse the catalog on the bot screen, ask the bot to fetch clothes or chat with a representative for any other assistance.
Pros
-
Customer can browse the catalog on the robot screen
-
Ability to fetch clothing for the customer
-
Video chat with a representative
Cons
-
Can hinder the free movement of shoppers
-
Doesn’t address the issue of trail room visits completely
Idea#3 — Smart Trial Mirror
Installing smart mirrors instead of trial rooms. 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. Additionally, if the user signs up on the store’s app, facial recognition could be used to checkout directly from the mirror.
Pros
-
The shopper can try on any garment without going to the trial room
-
A quick, efficient alternative to trail room visits
-
Easy access to the catalog
-
Ability to checkout directly through the mirror
Cons
-
Lack of privacy while trying clothes through smart mirror virtually
Down Selection Process
We used the Desirability-Viability-Feasibility framework and Value Proposition Canvas to down-select our final solution.
All the 3 ideas were analyzed based on their pros and cons using the Desirability-Viability-Feasibility framework.
Smart Trial Mirror 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 Smart Trial Mirror as our solution as it best addresses all the major pain points.
Selected Solution
After the down-selection process, we decided to go with Smart Trial Mirror as our selected design solution. Here we added additional features to make the whole experience more engaging and appealing for the customer and also creating value for the store owner.
Features:
Mobile App
-
The store will have its own mobile app, which will contain information about the customer
-
It will also use augmented reality to scan clothes and gain additional information about them
-
It will also record your face details which will be used to make payment through facial recognition on the smart mirror at the store
Smart Trial Mirror
-
The user stands in a designated spot in front of the mirror for a body scan so that the mirror can augment clothing onto the user directly
-
It also uses facial recognition to log the user in the smart mirror
-
The user can now browse the catalog on the mirror
-
Select items to try on virtually
-
The user also has the option to try the actual garment by just pull down the curtains installed directly above the mirror
-
Also, buy the items directly from the mirror
-
It then redirects you to an auto-checkout line where your product will already be packed and ready to pick up
Auto-Delivery Counter
-
The user proceeds to the designated checkout line after making the payment
-
It uses facial recognition to unlock your package via a tablet
Task Flow
Storyboard
.png)
Wireframes
-
We start our prototyping with a paper given how disposable it is, it enabled us to perform quick modification and easy user testing of the preliminary concept for the service solution.
-
We had to design for 3 different experiences as our product involves a smart mirror, an accompanying mobile application, and a delivery counter.
Smart Mirror
Mobile App
Auto-Delivery Counter
User testing - Round 1
We conducted 3 think-aloud tests and 3 cognitive walkthroughs on the low-fidelity prototype to identify pain points and improve overall usability.
Key Findings
-
The icons in the smart mirror looked too cluttered and were confusing
-
The navigation on both the smart mirror and mobile app was also not very clear
-
The user wasn’t sure how to purchase an item through the mobile app
High Fidelity Prototype
-
After getting feedback from the user testing sessions, we discussed the corrections and improvements that can be made to the prototype for easing the user experience of all three form factors i.e. a smart mirror, mobile application, and the delivery counter.
-
Changes were made to the overall navigation of the smart mirror as well as the mobile application.
-
The process of scanning clothes was also modified in the smart mirror
Smart Mirror
Mobile App
Auto-Delivery counter
User Testing - Round 2
We performed 2 observations as well as role-played a typical shopper to identify the issues in our design from a user’s perspective.
Key Findings
-
The user liked the Mobile app design and navigation
-
Users had mixed responses when it came to the navigation and interaction with the smart mirror, some found it quite intuitive whereas others found it a little confusing
-
User liked the idea of payment through facial recognition which makes the process quite easy and quick
-
Some users had concern about virtual trying their garments in public
-
Users appreciated the delivery mechanism
Final Prototype
Future Recommendation
-
Adding the ability to share photos or short video clips with friends to get their opinion on the garment while trying it out in front of the mirror.
-
Ability to simultaneously see and compare trial videos of previously tried products. Extensive testing of physical prototypes specifically for ergonomics.
-
Research on the usability of the robot assistant to fetch items to try on in the trial room and deliver packed items to checkout kiosks.
-
Research more on alternative methods of input for the smart mirror to improve ease of use and learnability.
-
Finally, work on developing a functional physical prototype using Raspberry Pi and Airbar.
Reflections
Overall it was a really enriching experience for me as it was a very intense project to complete within 2 months. It also gave me a chance to hone my skills in various prototyping techniques:
Paper Prototype: This helped to do a quick modification to the interfaces based on user testing.
Hybrid Sketches: Helped us visualize the smart mirror in an in-store setting.
Storyboarding: Helped us know our users and keep in mind the context we are designing for.
Role-playing: Helped us figure out the user flow and identify pain points.
Wireframing: We used this method to identify users’ opinions on functionality, information architecture, and overall user experience.
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.
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.
UCOP
