StyleMe
revolutionize your personal style
Role
Primary UX / UI Designer
Logo Designer
Tools
Adobe XD, Balsamiq, Usability Hub, Procreate for iPad, Pencil and paper
Timeline
8 months
July 2020 to March 2021
Process
Research, user interviews, competitive analysis, sketching, prototyping, testing, and evaluation
As an Image Consultant and Wardrobe Stylist, I've been invited into countless closets and entrusted with reimagining and redesigning people's personal style.
The result?
Alignment on how you look on the outside and who you are on the inside.
true story
Years ago, I had a wardrobe client tell me, “I wish you lived in my closet. Maybe you could make an app, I would totally use that!” At the time I had no idea what that looked like, so I put it in my back pocket for future reference.
When I began UX design in 2020, her comment resurfaced and inspiration struck. Drawing from years of hands-on experience, I had a reservoir of resources to infuse into an app and the idea for StyleMe was born.
Problem Statement
Consumers need access to professional Stylists with a variety of personal style types to help with Style Cultivation, Wardrobe Curation and Personal Shopping, with ease of access through an app.
Particularly during Covid users need access to these resources from a safe distance.
problems
- Style cultivation. Users are at a loss for what their personal style is and would rather outsource it to a professional. They would like suggestions on how to keep their wardrobe current, what to purchase and get outfit ideas based on what they have in their closet.
- Clothing curation: What suits me? From personal coloring to personal style, users struggle with how to put looks together that feel in alignment with who they are intrinsically.
- What fits me? Since all bodies are unique, it’s difficult for users to find things that fit right off the rack. Users frequently report struggling to find things that look great on their body at the price they can afford.
- What to buy? In today’s economy of fast fashion, we have a crisis of buying disposable clothes and having entire wardrobes of things that don’t go together, resulting in a full closet with nothing to wear.
possible solutions
- Have a roster of Stylists with visual portfolios so users can hand select a Stylist whose style aligns with their aspirational style
- Have a look book where Stylist and user can share inspirational imagery to align on vision
- Have a virtual closet where Consumers can snap photos of their wardrobe and then get suggestions for outfit curation. The Stylist can also see what gaps exist in their present wardrobe and help advise on future shopping suggestions.
- Have a video portal where Consumer and Stylist chat real time — this could be useful for dressing room feedback, fit feedback, tutorials on accessorizing, and suggestions on how to tailor the garment to fit better
user research
I conducted user interviews to get a sense of the user's pain points and desires, in order to develop a style app that could solve for it.
Later I combed back through the interviews for key takeaways. These insights and themes would become the foundation for StyleMe.
insight
insight
how to wear it
People buy clothes but don’t necessarily know what to do with them or how to style them in a way that is engaging or inspiring.
solution
Once users upload photos of their closets, Stylists can create new outfit pairings for them. Also, we can teach style recipes using photos of inspiring outfits, and break down the elements that go into each outfit.
insight
wear what you have
People buy and own too many clothes that they don’t wear. Sometimes this is because they have lost or gained weight, because they forget about their clothes due to poor closet organization, or because of Covid.
solution
By having an outfit tracking system, the user can see what they wear most. By receiving a visualization or report of what they wear most, this will help to inform smarter shopping decisions in the future.
insight
hair and makeup
Users understand that their personal appearance and style includes skincare, hair and makeup. Since they don’t feel confident in their abilities to do their own hair or makeup so often skip this step altogether.
solution
This is an opportunity to include Stylists that are well versed in making recommendations for hair or makeup artists in the roster. Video consultations could include recommendations on developing a skincare or makeup routine, or advising on hairstyles based in their hair type and face shape.
user personas
From the user interviews, I synthesized two user personas that embody our target market, Natasha and Anthony. Natasha has a full closet of beautiful clothes who struggles to put outfits together. Anthony is recently divorced looking to attract a new partner. As a busy engineer he wants to outsource his style to a professional.
User flows were created for Natasha to help envision the process of finding outfit inspiration and outfit creation within the app.
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foundational design
Once this foundational work was done, I set to work designing. This started with sketching loose ideas in pencil, then creating wireframes and iterating on a low-fidelity prototype, culminating in a high-prototype made in Adobe XD.
pencil and paper sketches
Balsamiq low-fidelity prototype
Adobe XD high-fidelity prototype
usability testing
With a high fidelity prototype in hand, I conducted usability testing with 6 different participants to get a sense of the workability of the latest iteration.
With their insightful feedback, I began to fine tune the design.
usability test participants
usability test key takeaways
- Make the imagery more gender neutral to be more inclusive for men
- Explain what you would get for each Style Session, what they can expect to get out of it.
- Give an option to have a subscription offer, or to book a one-time style session
- Such a comprehensive and detailed intake form might be too detailed. It may make sense to have a shortened version as an onboarding, and then once you book a stylist, THEN ask for more detailed info that would include privacy details. It could be a barrier to entry that we want to prevent.
- When it comes to the images for the “what styles are you drawn to”, it’s hard to see the hearts. Consider a different way to highlight, like a box around it the border?
a/b test results
After designing two different onboarding screens, I conducted a simple a/b test with a handful of users across North America and Europe to gauge which aesthetic appealed to my target market. The copy was the same, the call to action buttons were the same — the only difference between the two was the image and the layout. Here’s what I found:
Version A won by ONE vote
themes that emerged that the users were drawn to:
- Cohesive color scheme
- It feels like how they would want their closet to look
- Open space with airy light
- Clean, simple design
- Warm, chic, organic, texture
- Easy to read text
- Space to imagine what new beginnings look like
- Minimalism
- An image that draws you into a scene
refining the design
From the very beginning, I had a clear idea of the aesthetic for StyleMe, having worked in fashion styling for many years and being involved in web design. While the bone structure hasn’t dramatically changed from one iteration to the next, the adjustments have been more subtle while fine-tuning the design.
before
Some feedback came up that it would streamline the user process for them to be able to get a visual sense of the Stylist’s aesthetic from the search results page, rather than having to click into each profile, saving them time and enabling them to find what they want faster.
after
Now from the Stylist Search Results page, the user can carousel through some sample images from each Stylist’s portfolio to allow the user to be drawn organically to each professional. Additionally, there is a filter feature that would allow users to filter for gender, age range, location, service offerings, etc.
