Happy Closet App
Project Overview
Primary Questions for my Design Strategy:
How do you design something to empower women to feel confident in their clothing choices?
What are the obstacles for these women?
What would need to happen for a solution to be usable?
Research Phase
Initial Inspiration:
It all started with a conversation with a group of women about a particular article I stumbled across (here). To simplify, women are still, despite being 2019, judged more harshly than men in appearance, behavior, and general being-hood. The conversation consisted of women from across several industries; real estate, aerospace engineering, IT, even a radio personality. It evolved from serious roots to a more interesting connection (and a brilliant reference to 1995’s “Clueless). All of these exceptionally intelligent and accomplished women felt a lack of confidence in their ability to successfully present themselves through what they wear. I may be unable to change the circumstances which causes this lack of confidence, but I knew instinctively that there was a solution to help. I decided to dig a little deeper, starting with “why is this so hard?”.
“The 5 Whys”
User Interviews
To understand the problems faced by the average woman, I needed to understand their mindset. I interviewed several women, ranging between the age of 26-34.
Conclusion of Findings:
Through the interviews, I discovered a couple of key findings:
These woman are typically in high responsibility positions.
Time is a valued commodity.
They have a strong sense of self and hate waste.
The type of woman interested in a closet organization is a type A personality and primarily analytical in nature. As a result, they tend to lack the knowledge to instinctively understand how to put outfits together, though they seem to have a working knowledge through general societal observation.
I narrowed down the main obstacles to the following:
Time - Any solution needs to work fast and flawless
Lack of Knowledge - Any solution needs to educate the user on how to style herself better
Journey Mapping
I worked with one of the subjects of the user interviews to get a high level idea of the pain points involved when styling an outfit.
User Persona
Ideation Phase
Early Concepts
My findings led me to the idea to create an app. Something that would be easily portable, searchable, and easy to operate. Below are quick study ideas of what the app could look like.
User Flow
Quick user flows were used to explore the possible ways to move through the app. Fleshing out the need user flows and happy path.
Lo-Fi Prototype
I used the Marvel app to quick work through the potential mechanics of the app. Click here or on the title below for a look!
Wireframes
Next, I started building wireframes of my low fidelity concepts.
Branding Concept
Given the age of the user falls squarely in Millennials, I chose to lean heavily into the inspiration and pulled inspiration from the wild colors and aesthetic of 90s favorites, Lisa Frank and the movie, Clueless.
Final Prototype
The above, leading to an in-depth prototype, found here for your review.