SUSTNBL
End-to-end Product Design
Role
Team
Duration
Tools
Product Designer
Individual Project
Figma, FigJam Google Suite
June 2023 - Sep 2023
Platform
IOS
Client
BrainStation, Capstone
Overview
I believe Millennials and Gen Zers don't purchase sustainable clothing due to not knowing where to buy, nor what brands are sustainable. I will know I’m right when I see the following feedback from the market : 2/3 of my interview respondents confirm they don't know where to successfully purchase sustainable clothing.
For my Capstone at BrainStation I decided to choose textile waste as my problem space. The Capstone is our final project intended to showcase the skills we learned throughout the program. Here we did an end-to-end product design compiling from research till the end product, even including a marketing website for our solution.
Capstone
Hypothesis statement
Problem
Solution
Textile waste is directly responsible for a significant amount of global pollution. With just one pair of jeans consuming 2,000 gallons of water to be produced, we can get an insight on the effects of textile waste.
After conducting primary research, I was able to get an understanding on some of the behaviors, motivations. and pain points behind textile waste. With SUSTNBL, I wanted to concentrate on a seamless and simple experience for users to easily learn and source sustainably.
Now I will be showing you in detail my process and how I created SUSTNBL..
Secondary Research
During primary research, the focus is getting information directly from consumers. The method taken during this case study is interviews. Prior to interviewing, I made a participant criteria that directly reflects the secondary research.
There are 92 million tons of textile waste a year due to fashion manufacturing and clothing disposal, resulting in roughly 10% of all global carbon emissions and making the fashion industry the world's second largest offender in water and plastic pollution.
There are 92 million tons of textile waste per year.
The manufacturing and waste of textile contributes to 10% of of Global Carbon Emissions, about 4x more than the aviation industry's of 2.5%.
83%
73%
33%
of Gen-zers who were interviewed couldn’t name any brands that produced sustainable clothes.
of Millennials say that they are willing to pay more for sustainable brands.
of US consumers would buy all their clothing at a sustainable store if they knew where to find one.
Interview guide
Introduce yourself.
Ask them how they are doing.
Tell them the reason why they’re here.
Get consent to record, and let them know that their identity will remain anonymous.
What is your name?
Age?
What field do you work in?
How often do you go clothes shopping? (average per month)
How many pieces do you buy?
How do you shop? (online, in-person?)
Which method do you use more?
What are your thoughts on used clothing, i.e thrifting, upcycling?
What are some brands/stores you typically buy from?
What are your motivators when you go shopping for clothes?
Do you check the tags to see what materials it’s made of? (if so, what are the reasons)
What do you know about textile waste?
Do you own clothes you’ve never worn? If yes, why haven’t you worn them?
How often do you wear all the clothes you own?
Are there pieces you don’t really wear in comparison to others?
How do you get rid of clothing when you don’t want it anymore?
About how much clothes do you get rid of yearly?
Does textile waste affect the way you shop?
Do you know how to sustainably get rid of clothing?
Do you purchase sustainable clothing?
What brands sell sustainable clothing?
Is sustainable clothing accessible?
Do you have any concerns with textile waste?
Why do you think someone might not purchase sustainable clothing?
Ask if they have any questions for me or any additional questions.
Thank them for their time and remind them that their identity will remain anonymous.
I made an interview guide consisting of 24 questions, an opening, and closing. This consistency gives us higher accuracy when sourcing and synthesizing the information.
Themes
I converted the answers and turned them into data points while also including category (behavior, pain points, and motivations). Then I proceeded to use the affinity mapping process to synthesize all data points into themes. This is helpful to understand the problem at the core, and guide as the process continuous.
Key Themes/Insight Statement
Once I put all data points into themes, I identified 3 key themes. Primary research indicated that the most impactful theme is lack of knowledge, as interviewees struggle with an overall understanding on the topic. Having a key theme is important as it shows the major pain point felt, which helps us continue to empathize. This is an important piece into making the persona, the guide to the remainder of our process.
Shoppers tend to buy clothing monthly, but only wear the same few articles. They report to have clothing that they rarely wear.
Shoppers report that they don't know where to buy sustainable clothing, they don't know what brands are sustainable, and have little knowledge on the overall methods to source sustainable.
Shoppers show concern on price for sustainable clothing. They believe its more expensive to buy from a sustainable clothing brand.
Wearing
Lack of Knowledge
Price
Persona
I converted the answers and turned them into data points while also including category (behavior, pain points, and motivations). Then I proceeded to use the affinity mapping process to synthesize all data points into themes. This is helpful to understand the problem at the core, and guide as the process continuous.
Experience map shows pain points and the opportunities of where improvements can be made.
Experience Map
HMW
How might we help educate Millennials and Gen-Zers on where to get sustainable clothing, so that they can minimize textile waste?
The how might we question helps reframe the insights and help during the ideation process by giving a point of reference to iterate ideas. In this case, I learned from the conducted primary research that the target audience lacks knowledge on where to source sustainably, so my statement reflects on that.
Task Selection
Using the HMW statement, my persona, and secondary research, I created some user stories exploring the kind of features that would be expected from the users. Doing so I made the user's task flow. Following the key theme of lack of knowledge along with research results of the age group preferring simplicity and ease, I made the task flow of a user (Aaliyah) who is looking for an easy way to buy a t-shirt.
UI Inspiration
PROTOTYPE
Wireframes
Sketches
I began gathering inspiration for my solution. I used Yelp and Google as my main motivators for my search page and store page, taking into account layout, functions, and other elements. I then sketched on my notepad a total of 20 screens. These sketches helped me have an idea of what was most useful for when I started my Lo Fi wireframes.
Prior to beginning the design, I chose the best sketches per screen and made Solution Sketches. These are the sketches I used as reference when I began the wireframe design.
PROTOTYPE REVISED
DESIGN PRIORITIZATION MATRIX
Wireframe refined
After conducting usability tests, I was able to get direct feedback and able to start making the necessary changes to improve the product quality.
I took the feedback and made the design prioritization matrix. This is a guide to methodically make improvements. Categorizing each pain point by user value and effort to correct, I chose to do the easier effort problems first to get them out of the way and then concentrate on the ones that would take longer to complete.
I made a significant amount of changes to the design directly reflecting the feedback.
MOODBOARD
After making the upgrades to my wireframe, It was time to move on to implementing color and making it into a Hi Fi prototype. Following the design process, I began by doing a more than a to b adjective comparison to help with the picture sourcing. I got together over 30 different pictures and iterated a few different options before ultimately choosing the one below. I then pulled colors with the dropper from each picture and developed my brand colors.
Typography & Brand Colors
For the typography, I made a chart of 9 different font combinations using FontJoy. After asking peers to vote for the font they thought was clearly legible while also contemplating the company brand, the majority voted for Nunito Sans/Rajdhani/Lato. Brand colors, was a bit difficult in the sense that my original choices failed accessibility testing. But after a few iterations I found a set of colors that still complemented the mood and vibe intended while passing the minimum required accessibility.
WORDMARK
On to the wordmark, I made a list of 20 different possible ones. Choosing these that were clear but unique enough to separate ourselves from other companies.
WIREFRAME UPDATES
As I started incorporating colors into my design, I ran another usability test with 5 individuals, and I got more feedback on how to improve the design. There were major issues with alignment and some accessibility.
Final Hi Fi Prototype
After having a solid Mid Fi, I was able to start importing images to bring my prototype to life. I carefully picked images that would match the brand and keep the experience simple and effective.
Marketing Website
As a way to promote my digital solution, I made a responsive website. Reason of that is to help spread the word of our mission, show off our features, and give users an easy avenue to join our community.
Impact of Product
If habits continue towards increasing sustainability, my product would thrive in helping giving a platform where they continue easily sourcing sustainable clothing, and further learning more about the effects of textile waste.
My product could also support the change going towards a greener environment. With my product, there could be an increase in sustainability.
SUSTNBL is aimed at making a positive impact through simplicity and education. Together as one, we can shape the world.
Key Learnings
Biggest lesson is the importance of research, secondary and primary. Following a solid framework as well. In order to make a user-centric product you need to be able to gather information at the human level and be able to connect the information directly to the design. Having a framework to follow while doing this keeps everything in order, and you are able to connect every step in the design.
Thank you for taking time to view my process for my capstone. This project helped me learn the entire process and I learned many valuable skills.
If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me.