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A vibrant image split into three sections: on the left, a woman in a bright yellow cropped hoodie and sweatpants poses outdoors against a clear blue sky, exuding confidence and energy. In the center, a mobile app screen displays a virtual try-on feature for sneakers with a "Shop Now" button and Nike branding. On the right, another mobile app screen shows a carbon-saving report with the text "You have saved 300 kgs of CO2" and a pie chart highlighting that 80% of emissions come from production. At the bottom, the text reads, "Decarbonizing fashion, reversing the fast."

Click here to play video of prototype. A design thinking approach to reduce carbon emissions at an individual level.

TSAF: Minimizing online shopping emissions

A design thinking approach to reduce carbon emissions at an individual level. Explores the use of an AR based app that suggests matching clothes in the users closet to minimize additional shopping, thus reducing shipping.

Design Thinking
Prototyping
AR
Research
Fashion

STATUS

The team came up with the concept of an app to help people make informed shopping decisions, through AR and ML assisted recommendations.

DURATION

  • 3 months
  • Sep, 2022 - Dec, 2022

TEAM (x3)

  • Sumedh Supe, Product and UX
  • Shenshen Lei, UI and UX
  • Davy Guo, Product and Engineering
  • Brian Seong, Engineering

CONTRIBUTIONS: Product and UX

I helped manage the operation of the team. Ensured the team stayed on track to complete the design thinking process in time. I also led the user research and interview process, from gathering insights to creating recommendations.

FINAL OUTCOME

The image displays the development process of an app, with a hand-drawn flowchart on the left and a digital prototype on the right. The flowchart outlines the app’s structure, starting with a "Home page" leading to features such as an "E-closet" for storing clothing, an AR fitting room with filters for size and style, and a guide to measuring the body, along with a focus on user awareness. The right side showcases the app’s interactive prototype created in Figma, featuring connected frames illustrating functionalities like uploading clothes, creating a virtual closet, AR try-ons, and style recommendations. Navigation paths are visualized with arrows, and the interface includes design components like headers, scrollable images, and multiple flows. The image highlights the progression from concept to a functional digital prototype for a fashion-focused application.

A process based approach to solving a complex problem


The team undertook the design thinking process with the aim to reduce carbon emissions by an individual.

The team managed to focus on the shipping problem of fast fashion and created a Proof of Concept(POC) and tested it with the users to see it's viability.

AIM

To reduce carbon emissions at an individual level.

PROBLEM EXPLORATION

The inner fashionistas in us made us reflect upon ourselves and see if our fashion choices were sustainable. This made us realize that most of the fast fashion industry led to tremendous amounts of greenhouse gases. Thus we chose fast fashion and decided to look at solutions that can help us reduce emissions on an individual level.

A collage depicting the environmental and social impacts of fast fashion. The top-left shows a screenshot of a Daily Mail article headline about Shein's fast-fashion practices, emphasizing its use of algorithms to harvest user data and produce low-cost clothing. The top-right displays a massive landfill of discarded clothing, with a woman inspecting garments amidst the pile. The bottom-left showcases a brightly lit retail display with neatly arranged clothing, emphasizing the allure of fast fashion. The bottom-right features an online shopping interface, displaying models wearing trendy, affordable outfits.

Fast Fashion in the news and in the landfills, fast fashion in the brain and the manipulative sales

The first step after identifying the problem that we were going after, it was important to look at the stakeholders involved in the industry.

An image of a table listing groups associated with the fast fashion ecosystem and their respective interests. The table includes: Generation Z: Core consumer group of fast fashion brands. Fast fashion brands: Design and sell clothes, and create strategies to engage more customers. Offline store staff/other personnel: Sell clothes, arrange store layouts, process returns, and enhance the offline shopping experience. Thrift stores/Goodwill (non-profit): Generate revenue while getting rid of excess items. UX Designers and web designers: Curate online shopping experiences and design apps/websites for customers. Influencers: Earn through promotion for fashion brands. Logistics companies: Transport clothes, especially returned items. Online shopping platforms: Bridge fashion brands and customers, process orders and returns, and deliver items.

Table highlighting all the major stakeholders

The major stakeholders that helped influence fast fashion and in-turn were a consumer of fast fashion was the Generation Z.

PROCESS

☝ Disclaimer: Design Thinking is a messy process and not at all linear. You’ll be following the process in a linear way as you read this piece and with the final outcome at each stage. The original experience was more convoluted and involved a lot of reiterations and constant back and forth between different stages of the process.

The Design Thinking approach was introduced and utilized throughout the timeline of this project. It involved the following stages and we started right at the produce stage with a problem. The problem was Greenhouse gas reduction at an individual level.

An iterative design process flowchart on a light green background. The diagram consists of interconnected nodes representing stages in the process: 'Problem or Question,' 'Investigate,' 'Requirements,' 'Ideate,' 'Prototype,' 'Evaluate,' and 'Produce.' Arrows show a circular flow between these stages, emphasizing iteration and feedback loops between steps such as 'Evaluate' and 'Ideate' or 'Prototype' and 'Produce.'

Source: S. Zuberec Techin 521

DESIGN QUESTION

With all that information, and through numerous iterations, this was the problem statement we set to solve.

"How do we reduce the impact of fast fashion on carbon emissions by helping Gen Z consumers avoid unnecessary purchases in online shopping?"

PRIMARY RESEARCH

We got up and took our fashionable goggles, and cleaned them up so that we could get some unbiased insights and could look for ourselves in the fast-fashion business.

We did fieldwork, went to Zara, H&M, GAP, and other fast fashion stores, and just observed people shop. We also observed participants (who had agreed to let us observe them) shop online to get to know their shopping patterns.

A retail clothing display showcasing neatly arranged garments. The rack features a range of outfits, including black and white tops, light blue shirts, dark blue dresses, and a prominent light blue double-breasted coat with a price tag. Below the clothing, black ankle boots are aligned on a well-lit shelf. The display is modern, with a sleek and minimalist design, situated near a shopping mall corridor.

Clothes and accessories paired up in the styles, suggest user to make additional purchases to look fashionable

Through our field observation on online shopping, we also found out that the barrier to purchasing was very minimal. All a person had to do to shop was

  • 1. Click a picture or any fashion product
  • 2. Search online using an app like Google Lens
  • 3. Find their listing on any fast fashion app
  • 4. Buy it
  • 5. Return it if not preferable

We had insights from the secondary research(down below) and then also proceed to conduct a survey. The survey was released the people of UW. The following insights were found.

  • - 79.4% of participants buy more than two pieces of clothing each time
  • - Purchasing online saves time and other resources
  • - Most return clothes because the size and style don't fit
  • - Online return rate is higher than offline return rate
An infographic showing survey results related to online shopping and clothing returns: Top-left bar chart: Reasons for purchasing online, based on 18 responses. Top reasons include 'Save time from transportation' (77.8%), 'Price is cheaper online' (55.6%), and 'More options online' (50%). Bottom-left bar chart: Reasons for returning clothes, based on 34 responses. The most common reason is 'The size or style does not fit' (85.3%), followed by 'Damaged or wrong product' (38.2%). Top-right pie chart: Percentage of clothes returned after purchasing online, based on 34 responses. Majority (52.9%) return 0-20% of items, followed by 21-40% (20.6%). Bottom-right pie chart: Percentage of clothes returned after purchasing in-store, based on 34 responses. A large majority (79.4%) return 0-20%, with 11.8% returning 21-40% of items.

Some insights from our survey

We realized that many people were buying a lot of clothes together at the same time and we used this major insight to design our solution.

We actually were not able to shadow any people who were shopping since we could not get permission to do so, maybe from the next time we could plan well in advance and request our classmates ahead and see if we could fit our observations with them.

SECONDARY RESEARCH

Through our secondary research, we went on to create a map of the entire fast fashion cycle. We identified the major actions that released greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gas emissions were majorly in shipping and the convenience provided by online stores to return items for free. The process of even making clothes is very resource-intensive, requiring lots of water and raw material. Recycling material on the other hand also requires a lot of processing and thus releases greenhouse gases.

REQUIREMENTS

Handwritten notes and a mind map titled 'Fashion Lifecycle Map' divided into sections for online and offline shopping behaviors. The online section outlines steps like browsing fashion, taking screenshots, buying multiple items, returning those that don't fit, and keeping the rest. The offline section describes going to stores, looking at styles, trying clothes, and dealing with old clothing through recycling, donating, or throwing them away. Additional notes explore questions like 'What happens to old clothing that hasn’t been sold?' and hypotheses about shopping behaviors, such as whether people buy more online or offline, return a lot of items, or measure the time they spend. Arrows and annotations connect these ideas, suggesting pathways for further investigation.

Fashion lifecycle map

After getting our insights from the primary and secondary research, we created a fashion lifecycle map and identified all the places that led to major carbon emissions. This helped us prioritize requirements for our solution. Since our major aim was to reduce carbon emissions by individuals this helped make many of our decisions and trade-offs.

By this time we already had a basic idea of our solution, an app that can help people style themselves with their existing clothing closet, so that they do not have to buy more clothing.

The following requirements for the app were identified across the three sectors, Design, Technology and Business.

Prioritized Design Requirements Design Requirements

  • - Reduce return rate (Highest priority because achievable through reduction in over-purchasing and impacts doubly by adding emissions due to shipping)
  • - Make People feel good and confident (Hard to achieve but they key driver of fast fashion)
  • - Incentivize People monetarily
  • - Incentivize People with time (Both required for changing behavior, people buy fast fashion because it saves time and money both)
  • - Allow people to check quality of clothes at their homes(Key driver of offline world where returns are much less, if we can bring it to online, less return trips possible)
  • - Allow for viewing more options even offline(another perk of online shopping… allowing people to save offline while having access to online stuff should make it easier for people to be less wasteful)

Tech Requirements

  • - Study UX of sites (Required for any technological solution to be created for online purchasing)
  • - Get knowledge of users existing fashion inventory(To build data of pre-exisitng fashion pieces they have to help suggest if they would be over-purchasing)
  • - Monitor online store carts of people(to see if they are over purchasing)
  • - Monitor web page non intrusively (So as to give the same feel to the user without affecting their privacy)
  • - Using existing image search capabilities for offline shopping(image search is fundamental in some instances

Business Requirements

  • - The rate of cloth return versus no return after online purchases in general.
  • - The material choice of shipping packages, their costs, and their carbon footprint.
  • - Removal of free shipping/taxation on shipping to combat effects from shipping
  • - Getting a partner from the high quality/sustainable fashion industry(to create competition and to get support to make the solution viable)
  • - Getting brands/online sellers to partner to ensure fewer returns(Hardest to do not sure of finding a middle ground for both parties)

From these requirements core tasks were identified,

  • - I want to know the size and whether the clothes would fit me before I buy.
  • - I want to manage my closet and not regret buying something.
  • - I want to know the environmental cost of making an order or return.
  • - I want to have more buying options than brand new clothes.
  • - I want to save money by buying more affordable clothes.
  • - I want to save time by shopping and returning clothes.
An infographic showcasing six key motivations for shopping, each represented by an icon and a label. From top-left to bottom-right: A tape measure labeled 'Perfect Size' symbolizes the importance of fit. A sad cartoon figure labeled 'No Regrets' indicates avoiding buyer’s remorse. Two green leaves labeled 'Environmentally conscious' highlight eco-friendly concerns. A set of sliders labeled 'Need more options' represents variety in choices. A piggy bank with coins labeled 'Save Money' emphasizes affordability. A hand pointing to a clock labeled 'Save Time' underscores convenience.

Core tasks identified

IDEATION

We already had a rough idea of what our solution would look like after generating insights from our research.

We proceeded to go ahead and identify core features of our app. We had brainstorming sessions, that identified core features using the core tasks.

A collage featuring colorful sticky notes with ideas about online shopping improvements, such as using AR to try on clothes, managing closets, and tips for clothing sizes. The notes discuss features like virtual wardrobe organization, environmentally friendly shopping, and saving time during returns.

Our brainstorming session insights

A group of four individuals collaborating at a workspace with laptops and notebooks on a wooden table. The group includes two individuals standing and discussing a document, while two others are seated and engaged in the conversation. The workspace has technical equipment and screens visible in the background. Sumedh is seated in the bottom left.

All the teammates brainstorming together

We also used tools like Scenarios and Sketching to see how our prototype user cycle would look like.

Hand-drawn storyboards depicting a customer's experience with online shopping. The panels show scenarios like receiving and trying clothes, returning unsuitable items, and managing the wardrobe through a mobile app. Annotations provide explanations of the depicted actions and processes.

Our sketches for the concepts

PROTOTYPING AND EVALUATIONS

With the final design of the solution in mind, we created a Figma prototype. The reason for using Figma was that it was intuitive and could be adjusted to the users phones.

The image displays the development process of an app, with a hand-drawn flowchart on the left and a digital prototype on the right. The flowchart outlines the app’s structure, starting with a "Home page" leading to features such as an "E-closet" for storing clothing, an AR fitting room with filters for size and style, and a guide to measuring the body, along with a focus on user awareness. The right side showcases the app’s interactive prototype created in Figma, featuring connected frames illustrating functionalities like uploading clothes, creating a virtual closet, AR try-ons, and style recommendations. Navigation paths are visualized with arrows, and the interface includes design components like headers, scrollable images, and multiple flows. The image highlights the progression from concept to a functional digital prototype for a fashion-focused application.

Prototype generation process

Prototype in Action

Hand-drawn storyboards depicting a customer's experience with online shopping. The panels show scenarios like receiving and trying clothes, returning unsuitable items, and managing the wardrobe through a mobile app. Annotations provide explanations of the depicted actions and processes.

Evaluation of the prototype

The prototype was tested with a few users, on their phones. Their feedback was valuable to improve the product. We wanted to understand users' expectations, difficulties, and suggestions on how to improve the application in future iterations in functionality, effectiveness, and raising awareness.

The major improvements suggested by the users as well as realized by the team during the testing were:

  • - Customize the layout for better familiarity with similarities to stickers in the app like Instagram and Snapchat
  • - Clarify the carbon emission calculation algorithm, make it more relatable, a normal human would not know what a kilogram of CO2 emissions are
  • - Add filters that indicate the environmental cost

TECHNIQUES USED

An iterative process of Design Thinking as a whole was used, additionally the following was used.

  • - Brainstorming
  • - Sketching
  • - Affinity Mapping
  • - Prototyping
  • - Surveying
  • - Evaluations
  • - Reflection

REFLECTIONS

The team as a whole was pretty functional, everyone had complementary skills that helped ease the pressure off everyone. Most of the meetings were after class and some remote. Working on documentation remotely allowed us to be flexible. Everyone somehow worked at different timings to cover the documentation and this helped clock in more hours and complete requirements within the required time frame. This was also a lesson that one must trust the teammates for a project to achieve something significant.

The hardest phase of the project had to be finding out the right problem to tackle, because everyone had different opinions and since we had divided the secondary research to cover these parts, it was more difficult to focus on a single problem. We were focusing on the recycling part as well as the purchasing habits of the clothing lifecycle. After realizing that purchasing can affect recycling rates we decided to work on the purchasing aspect of the problem.

Initially, I had the feeling that the team was going no where with the work, but eventually following the process, doing our own back and forth(I was also surprised to see the amount of iterations used in the process) and proper value to reasoned arguments led us to achieve significant progress.

Design Thinking as a process was systematic yet a sort of process that can shake the ground beneath you because of the constant iterations and movements between different processes during the entire process. It was fun to know that you can start on any part of the process and yet be successful if you kept the user in mind.