Jeanius
Project: One week individual project to identify a problem within the topic of fashion and prototype a mobile app to solve it
Elements: User Research | Concept Development | Prototype Creation
Where: General Assembly User Experience Design Immersive
Summary
The Problem
The problem is two-fold: clothing sizes are not standardized and women’s bodies are not standardized.
This is a more pervasive problem than simple aesthetics. Research has shown that what you wear can actually affect your confidence [1]. Simply put: looking good can make you feel good.
Further, user interviews showed that when people can’t find clothes that fit they get frustrated and even disheartened.
The Process
The Solution
By comparing the user’s actual measurements with actual measurements of a large variety of jeans, the app can offer recommendations of jeans that will fit the user’s body type and tell her exactly what size to buy, alleviating the frustration and disheartenment of not being able to find the correct size.
Further with personalized recommendations, the user will find a pair of jeans that makes them look great and feel great.
The Product
Jeanius is an app to help women of all body types find off-the-shelf jeans that actually fit them.
Features:
Enter your measurements manually or by taking a picture of yourself with the app
Get jean recommendations based on actual measurements of the jeans
See and post review of suggested jeans
See pictures of other users wearing suggested jeans and post them of yourself
The Process
User Research
I prepared a list of about 15 questions to ask several people. In the first round of interviews I covered a variety of topics to identify many potential pain points.
I had a hunch that the sizing of clothes was a particular pain point. These interviews confirmed my hunch, so I did a second round of user interviews focusing on sizing.
Every single woman I spoke to, regardless of body type, identified finding clothes that fit as a pain point.
Ideating
My first idea was to create an app that would tell the user what size to buy in any store based on their measurements.
However, various sizing apps already exist partnered with various retailers. My app would offer information from a wider variety of stores not covered by current offerings. However, to accomplish this would require sizing information from each store. Obtaining accurate measurements on every single item of clothing in every single store would be very difficult.
The alternative would be to use sizing charts. Most stores provide these on their websites, however, they are often difficult to find. The app would pool this information in one place. However, sizing charts can be unreliable.
So how do I turn this into a workable app that provides reliable information?
After talking to some more people, and a little head scratching, I decided to limit the scope by focusing on one article of clothing. This would enable my app to use actual measurements making results reliable. I picked jeans because most people wear them and they are relatively standardized.
Story Boarding
This storyboard was inspired by something told to me in a user interview about how disheartening shopping trips can be when nothing fits.
User Flows
To flesh out how the app will actually work I created user flows for each of the major features. Below you can the the overall user flow.
Overall User Flow
Detail User Flow
Wire Flows
I sketched out screens for these user flows and put them up on the white board to refine the flow.
Paper Prototype
I then focused on the flow of entering measurements, getting recommendations and looking at the results to create a paper prototype. In this iteration, I cleaned up the design and made it more consistent. In particular, in my initial sketches the text entry fields were labelled in different ways.
User Testing
I used my paper prototype to test my app. To improve on this project I would perform more user testing. The testing I did do provided limited actionable feedback. As a result there was not that much change between iterations.
Paper prototype testing set up
The Product
Final Low-Fidelity Prototype
I re-sketched my screens with a sticky header including a back button for the final low-fidelity prototype.
Home Page
On the home page the user can choose whether she is new or she has an account.
How it Works Page
Selecting “I’m new” takes her to a page that explains how the app works.
Enter Measurement Screen
She can then choose if she wants to enter measurements manually or using the photo function.
Photo Measurement Explanation Screen
Selecting “Take my photo” takes her to a page that explains how the photo function works.
Photo Measurement Screen
For the app to be able to take measurements, the user must fit herself in the outline.
Because the phone will be on the floor, the app is voice activated. The user just has to say “NOW” for the app to take the photo.
Photo Measurement Screen
This process is repeated with the user facing to the side.
Height Entry Screen
The user must enter her height to give the app a point of reference.
Choose Jean Style Screen
Then she will be asked to choose a style. If she isn’t sure, she can ask the app to recommend something.
Results Screen
Once the user chooses a style she is taken to the results page.
Here she can create an account to save her measurements using the “save my info” button.
The results can be sorted and filtered.
The quick view of each result shows the brand and name of the jean, what size the user should buy, and a price range.
The user can get to a detailed page for each result by clicking on that result.
Result Detail Screen
On the detail page the user can see more information about the jean.
The app provides a list of external links where the user can buy the jeans.
The user can see reviews from other users as well as any photos they have posted of themselves wearing the jeans. Because other users will have a greater range of body types than fashion models, a user is more likely to see a photo of someone with a similar body type and can get better idea of what the jeans will actually look like on her.
If a user likes a particular pair of jeans, she can share them on social media, like them, or add them to a list.
Clickable Prototype
Finally, I used Marvel to create a clickable prototype.
[1] Pine K. Mind What You Wear: The Psychology of Fashion. Amazon Digital Services LLC, 2014