Fashion Funds

Fashion Funds was a solo UX project which I completed over 10 weeks.

The problem focused on buying and selling used fashion for social benefit. The solution concept was an online thrift store, however rather than sell clothing for money the "Sellers" create a fundraising profile and donate the money to a charity of their choice. One-on-one interviews during research exposed that donors need a sense of community and causes close to the heart. Fashion Funds creates a new way to give. By harnessing the power of the internet we can inspire through fashion and create a new way to give.

Problem Definition

It started with the Problem Statement of “Buying and selling used fashion for social benefit".

A Problem Hypothesis suggested that charity clothing stores provide a large community benefit. It’s social, it’s green, it raises much
needed funds. How can we harness the power of the internet and inspire fundraising through used fashion?

Assumptions

Who, what, when, where, why, how?

Opportunities

The global goals for sustainable development.

Human Centered Design

Desirability, Viability, Feasibility.

Research

I began my research by validating my assumptions and understanding my users’ needs, behaviours and motivations. Insights within the context of clothing and charity would later form the basis of my design. I completed:

6 x One-on-one interviews

44 x Survey responses

6 x Competitor analysis

I used incentives and a discussion guide to conduct my interviews which were recorded and later transcribed using software InqScribe. I used tools such as conditional logic in my typeform survey, to eliminate unnecessary questions and recruit for future studies. Both qualitative and quantitative data was utilised. Competitors websites were reviewed using a heuristics comparison excel spreadsheet.

Synthesizing Research

Synthesizing the research involved data mining using post-it notes, with insights & verbatims from interview transcripts along with survey results and statistics. Sorting data into clusters allowed me to quickly identify groupings based on their natural relationships. Open sorting was used with unidentified categories to see what connections emerged.

Empathy Mapping

An empathy map allowed me to analyse my observations and draw out unexpected insights while building empathy with my users. The process helped me to consider how other people are thinking, feeling, saying and doing when they are placed in a specific situation.

Proto-Personas & Customer Journeys

Two fictional representations of people were created as the 'Buyer' and 'Seller'. These Proto-Personas were based off my research and represented a significant group of people with similar traits.

The below Customer Journey Maps show the relationship and experience a Buyer or Seller may have during the service process. It highlights their context and triggers, what they are thinking, saying, feeling and doing, touch points, pain points and the highs and lows of their interaction.

User Flows & Features

I then created user stories or Jobs To be Done following two simple User Flows. These were based on the customer journeys created earlier in the project. Under each JTBD I identified key features needed to complete each task. A matrix helped identify key features and Minimum Viable Product. 

Content Strategy & Navigation

An Optimal Sort with 30 cards with open sorting was used to generate ideas on how to structure and label website information. Various analysis tools including a similarity matrix showed card pairing based on algorithms of participant feedback.

How do people understand and conceptualize the information? Where do people expect to find information?

Sketches & POP App

Low fidelity wireframes were created using rough hand sketches to show key features, functionality, content, hierarchy, navigation and search functions. User testing of wireframes early on using POP App involved 5 participants trialing baseline tasks in person. Feedback was then utilised to further iterate on the design.   

Wireframes & Prototyping

High fidelity wireframes were  created using  Sketch App. Craft Plugin was used to link live wireframes to Invision creating easily updatable screens. My simulation of the final product showcases movement and created a rapid feedback loop for further testing.

View Prototype