Loom

A Revolutionary Online Tailoring Service for Redesigning Memories

OVERVIEW

Ideated by five graduate students at University of Washington, LOOM is a service design project focus on online tailoring, and aims to provide value to customers by developing an improved clothing alteration service that helps people connect to sentimental items and express themselves. The goal of the product is expected to be beneficial to consumers, small business, as well as the environment.

DURATION

May 2022 - Jun 2022

5 weeks

TEAM

UX Designer x1

UX Researcher x2

Content Writer x1

Project Manager x1

MY ROLE

UX Designer

(Designed the Hi-Fi prototype independently)

METHODS

User Interview

User Persona

Journey Mapping

Service Blueprint

Experience Prototyping

Jump to Final Design

01/ OPPORTUNITY

BACKGROUND

Starting with a few statistics from Bloomberg.com:

Fashion accounts for up to 10% of global carbon dioxide output, even more than international flights and shipping combined
The U.S. throws away the equivalent of about 70 pairs of pants per person in waste from clothes and footwear each year
According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of clothing and footwear waste generated by Americans each year ballooned from around 1.4 million tons in 1960 to over 13 million tons in 2018. Around 70% of that clothing ended up in landfills, while only 13% was recycled into either new clothing or for other use

Many people have never used or seldom use tailoring or alteration services for clothing, even as the purchase of vintage, secondhand, peer-to-peer, and consignment clothing is growing and many want to hold on to items that are otherwise still good or sentimental. All the while, there is more demand than ever for clothing that fits different body types helping people achieve their goals of looking and feeling their best.

PROBLEM SPACE

Minimize costs both on individuals and on the environment, rejuvenate clothing that make people feel confident and comfortable, and provide new income/business opportunities for people who have clothing alteration skills or businesses.

Many people do not find the perfect fit in “off the rack” clothing, and others may wish to purchase something of higher quality that will last longer. People may not want to get rid of sentimental or otherwise nice clothing because of a broken zipper or a small hole. People may be interested in buying something used or vintage to get a good price on a high-quality piece of clothing, but it does not fit quite right, or they may want to upcycle something that has been in the closet for a long time. There are also people with the skills to provide services who may or may not have businesses (dry cleaners, home sewers, fashion design students, industrial sewers), while many may lack the skills or time to mend or alter their own.

Because these services are inaccessible to most, many people have to settle for not feeling the best they can in their clothes, getting rid of a piece of clothing that they can’t repair themselves, or passing up a pair of pants that they love, but they don’t fit quite right. Not being able to find something that fits you off the rack in a store, having to get rid of something you like because it needs to be repaired, or constantly having to shop for new clothes can cause frustration. Some may also want to be aware of their environmental impact through clothing.

By improving the experience of getting clothing altered or mended and making this type of service more accessible, there is an opportunity to help people feel and look good in whatever they want to wear. In addition, this will minimize costs both on individuals and on the environment, rejuvenate clothing that make people feel confident and comfortable, and provide new income/business opportunities for people who have clothing alteration skills or businesses.

02/ RESEARCH PHASE - NARROWING DOWN IDEAS

INTERVIEW

A tailoring service could offer more than just a physical alteration service - it could also be an emotional experience!

We conducted 10 interviews with potential users, we wanted to know:

When people need clothes alternations?
Why people choose/not choose clothes alternations?
How people find relevant services?
How people's experience with their clothes alternations?
How long it take for clothes alternations?
How much it cost for clothes alternations?

We had following findings from user interviews:

Many of our interviewees were interested in the service of getting clothes altered/ tailored but had several barriers to using these services including not knowing where to find the service, not understanding or knowing how the service is priced, and not having time to go to tailor (drop off and pick up).

People choose to alter their clothes for various reasons, including changes in body shape and aesthetics, special needs for important occasions such as attending weddings, the inability to find clothes that fit them well off the rack, environmentally conscious decisions to purchase second-hand items or mend older clothes, and the sentimental value of owning a piece of clothing that has either been given to them by their family or that is old and has sentimental value but no longer fits properly or needs to be repaired.

Our interviewees were especially interested in the emotional aspect of getting clothes mended or altered as well as the environmental impact of maintenance rather than continuously buying new clothes and discarding them.

We were touched and inspired by a quote from one of the interviewee:

"I still had the clothes but there was like this sentimental thing about having my mom fix the hole. Then I loved the piece even more and would wear it more and it was like, having a story. "

We realized that a tailoring service could offer more than just a physical alteration service - it could also be an emotional experience!

Base on the findings above, we concluded the goals for the product:

the do goals and be goals of the product

BRAINSTORM

Design to provide an improved clothing alteration service that helps people connect to sentimental items and express themselves better.

Initially, we brainstormed potential product solutions without first considering their feasibility. We totally wrote down 28 ideas.

We then clustered ideas into "what" and "how".

After each team member selected two ideas and presented them as possible scenarios, we narrowed down the options and decided to develop a product called LOOM. This product is designed to provide an improved clothing alteration service that helps people connect to sentimental items and express themselves better.

PERSONA

Using our values and key findings, we developed primary and secondary personas to define our target audience. Given the complexity of fashion design and the diversity of body shapes, we have decided to focus mainly on young women.

Primary Persona: Lexie is a young professional who deeply loves her family and had an affectionate relationship with her mother. Unfortunately, Lexie lost her mother a year ago, and she wants to do something special to honor her beloved mother's memory. She found some old clothes that belonged to her mother and would like to transform them into a new design that she can wear to always keep her mother close to her heart. In Lexie's case, she would prefer a high-touch, high-quality service to ensure that the final product is perfect.

Secondary Persona: Miley is a 25-year-old fashion editor who is passionate about the environment. They discovered some old clothes from their mother's closet that are in excellent condition. Miley loves the textile and fabric of the clothes, but unfortunately, they don't fit Miley's clothing size. Miley wonders if there are any places that can tailor and alter these old clothes and turn them into something new. In Miley's case, their main concern was finding a unique dress design in less time and for less money, and preferably without leaving their home.

SCENARIO

Based on our conception, here's how we envision the design scenario and how LOOM works.

CUSTOMER JOURNEY AND SERVICE BLUEPRINT

Based on previous research, we mapped up the customer journey and service blueprint as guides for designing prototypes.

03/ DESIGN PHASE - IMPROVING SOLUTION

INITIAL PROTOTYPE

The LOOM website is the bridge between the consumer and the business, serving as the hub that ties the whole service together. Before building the website, we need to identify the kind of information that the consumer wants to see, the necessary features for the service, and the flow of use on the website.

We first utilized site map as the tool to establish the website's information framework.

Started with wireframing, we confirmed the key screens of the interface, which are also the key steps for users experiencing the LOOM service.

We developed the semi-structured intake session script for the tailor based on the service process, with the expectation that the tailor can understand the consumer's needs by using these questions. We then created the first version of the prototype, which will undergo further evaluation and testing.

Structured intake session script

EVALUATION

We evaluated the initial prototype by role-playing prototype testing. We mocked up the whole service with tailor's script and the website prototype, and invited 3 users to play the customers who have old cloth that wants to be tailored. Tailor followed the semi-structured script to chat with the users via scheduled video meeting, encouraged users to display their clothes and share stories about them in the intake session. In addition, the tailor would also learn about the user's usual dressing style and preferences.

Role-playing was fun and inspiring. We heard users say:

"Feels professional, like someone knowledgable is asking me about my clothing"

"Something that I would use regularly if it was available"

We also got valuable feedback from users.

Something we did good:

The information pages about tailor on the website make the user feel the relationship building.
The chat feature is very useful to allow real-time communication between the customer and the tailor.
Questions that the tailor asked were helpful and worthwhile.

Something we can do better:

When doing the intake session, not only ask the user what to change, but also ask what to keep.
User may want to leave review for the service.
The price of the service is not clear.
More readable fonts for the website.

Overall,
80% (4/5) said they would like to try this service if it becomes available
100% (5/5) felt comfortable and warm throughout the entire service process

ITERATION

We organized the feedback from users by listing the the iterative changes, then iterated the prototype to the final version.

Iterative changes list

Final Prototype

FINAL DESIGN

The Landing Page

Displays the simple steps of using the Loom service at first glance.

The featured works showcase how our tailors help individuals redesign their old garments.

Users can also see how other people love their new piece by seeing the reviews at the bottom.

The Featured Works Page

Showcases how our tailors help individuals redesign their old garments, along with the inspiring stories behind each creation.

Users can also easily find out the tailor behind each art piece, which can assist them in selecting a tailor that matches their unique style.

The Tailor List Page

Features a search box and filters at the top.

Users can filter by availability, specialty, and expertise, and can also quickly select an expertise category directly under the search box.

Each tailor's name card showcases their years of experience, specialty, expertise, and design philosophy.

The Tailor Portfolio Page

Showcases the tailor's experience, previous works, and reviews from other clients.

Users have the option to chat with the tailor before booking an intake session by clicking the message icon on the top-right.

Users can also select the desired date and time to book a 1:1 intake session with the tailor.

Ready to redesign memory?
Book a intake session!

Simply follow the steps on the booking page to confirm the desired time slot and fill out the intake form.

Once completed, a confirmation email regarding instructions and tips for communicating with the tailor will be sent to the user's email.

Follow up at any time via My Loom

Users and tailor will meet on the virtual meeting for the intake session, and they can later on follow up the process via "My Loom", which allows users to update their information, communicate with the tailor through the online chat feature, confirm the design, make the payment, track the order, and leave reviews for the tailor.

HI-FI PROTOTYPE

04/ REFLECTION

What did I learn?

This was a research-design full process project completed in only 5 weeks. I was glad that my team members had good project management skills. We started the project with estimated completion times and deadlines for each step, so we didn't struggle too much with time requirements.

In designing a service, it's important to avoid targeting too broad of an audience at the beginning. Doing so can lead to imprecise and unfocused design direction, ultimately resulting in a less than ideal experience for all users. Instead, we focused on creating high-end tailoring services to niche groups, clearly defining our design scope and target users. This approach allowed us to produce outputs with improved efficiency and precision.

What can be better?

Due to time constraints, we were unable to conduct user research for the tailor side of the product beyond interviewing a single part-time tailor. Had we been able to interview and research more tailors and other workers in the alteration business, we could have gained valuable insights about the design for tailor side, and improve the product design and user experience.

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