Team Tsaf

Our team members are Brian Seong, Davy Guo, Layla Lei, Sumedh Supe. We collaborated on a design project focused on reducing waste in fast fashion consumption. I'm Layla, Shenshen Lei, and my role is Designer.

Brainstorm

We found that carbon emissions in the apparel industry are rarely mentioned, but the annual pollution caused by apparel production and consumption is actually very large. Through secondary research we found some shortcomings in the existing solution.

During this phase we did a lot of discussion and research to figure out the design question. A broad topic gave us a lot of room for thought and also made us feel confused; every step of a garment, from production, transportation, consumption, use, storage and disposal, is a point for in-depth study. But we need to think carefully about the topic, which will have a great impact on our later research.

We chose two of these points to write about in our research questions. the first is the purchase of clothing by consumers, and the second is the disposal and reuse of used clothing. At this stage we had some disagreements. One student thought it was more worthwhile to discuss the reuse of used clothing, while others felt it was more straightforward to start with consumption habits. Since we had four members, we decided to study the two topics separately and then decide the final direction based on the results of our research.

Field Study

In the field observation, we visit fast fashion stores and second-hand cloth store. We also observed some online shopping processes. There are many interesting and unexpected points

People's behavior differs greatly between online and offline shopping. Offline people are able to try on clothes directly and do not have to wait for delivery, while online shopping allows them to quickly find the clothes they want with the help of a search engine. But there is still a great deal of uncertainty for individuals. And with the small sample size we observed, there is no way to make generalized conclusions. But this also helps us to clarify the idea of the survey design afterwards.

Before the observation we did some survey recording exercises in class with videos. A video or a field scene contains a huge amount of information, and it is difficult for a person to get a lot of valid notes in one observation. This reminded me of a psychology experiment related to attention. Through this assignment, I found that I can now get the information I need in complex scenes more effectively. At the same time, I realized the importance of diversity because I found many details that I had not noticed before when I looked at the observation records of different group members.

Survey and Analysis

We created a survey with Google Form to validate our assumption and learned about our stack holder's requirements. I was responsible for writing part of the questions and creating the questionnaire.

As we expected most of consumers of fast fashion are Generation-Z, and they prefer to purchasing online because it saves time and traffic cost. Through participants' responses, we found that users are more likely to make additional purchases as well as returns in online shopping, because online shopping is more likely to buy clothes that are not the right size and style. It is at this step that we determine the final direction and the problems that need to be solved.

I realize that design is not an answer that can be obtained overnight or through pure imagination. We need to do a lot of research to find out the key.

(survey result analysis)

Prototype

Based survey and observations, we came up with some design requirements and scenarios that user may need our design solution. In this section I created the main feature pages and the entire prototype interaction logic.

Before starting drawing wireframes directly, it is important to clarify all the design requirements and plan the interaction flow of the wireframes. We have listed a lot of requirements, but it is impossible for the first prototype to complete every single requirement. And overly complex interactions may also lead to some functional confusion. We have added three main functional interactions in this prototype. We hope users can finish following tasks: upload their body data and try on clothes in the AR fitting room to figure out the right size clothes during online purchasing, get some matching recommendations based on their existing clothes.

Usability Test

We had 4 tests with different participants. It helps us to get users' expectations, difficulties, and suggestions on how to improve the application in future iterations in functionality, effectiveness, and raising awareness.

The process of collecting user feedback was most surprising and we gained a lot of fresh perspectives. In the test I was responsible for guiding the participants through the task, but avoiding giving direct hints. Although the interaction with some of the features in the test was not very smooth, all participants completed their tasks within the estimated time. Our prototype is purely digital. figma mobile application allows participants to be more immersive. I also went to test another group's prototype during the class. Their prototype was pure paper and they prepared a lot of photos to simulate the environment. I found the puzzle-like approach to testing to be very interesting. If we have the chance to continue this project in the future, I would like to try more testing methods!

Other reflections

In doing this design project, I not only learned about the design process and the various ways of research, but also gained a better understanding of design thinking. I used to think in a very limited way and lacked planning and preparation. Now I can analyze the problem from multiple perspectives and find out the deeper reasons hidden under the surface problems. In addition, I am more organized when analyzing problems.
Another point is about group work projects. Everyone has a different perspective, and I think my classmates often come up with a lot of amazing ideas, but more ideas are not better. We often need to make a lot of trade-offs, especially when there is no right answer to the question. I think I'm doing a much better job of coordinating and communicating when faced with conflicting opinions. We need to respect everyone's opinion, but we also need to adjust to the realities of the situation (e.g., limited time and resources). Group work in a design project requires a lot of effort from everyone. Fortunately, my group members were very conscientious about their tasks. This will help me a lot in my future work and study.