Match Mode
overview
Match Mode is a mobile application for finding and comparing sustainable alternatives to conventional fashion using a visual search engine.
I applied the user centered design process for the conception and design. Match Mode was the final project for my UX bachelors degree.
role
UX design
timeline
February - August 2019
Problem
Finding sustainable and transparent alternatives to fast fashion is a huge challenge even for sustainably minded users.
Goal
Match Mode simplifies discovering sustainable alternatives to conventional fashion using an image based search engine.
User centered design process
01
Research
Literatur research
Fast fashion is a massive contributor to climate change.
51 % of women and 40 % of men in Germany feel guilty about buying clothes that are made under terrible working conditions and harm the environment.
Global fashion consumption is heavily influenced by social media. The most successful fashion brands on social media are fast fashion.
Benchmarking
Already existing platforms are limited to search engine of physical stores or in their filter and ranking options regarding sustainability.
Stakeholder
Distribution and sales of the fashion industry, software developer and app user are the primary stakeholders.
The needs and requirements of these stakeholders were important to consider during user testing.
02
Definition
Target Group
Match Mode is a B2C business model. Therefore the behavior and influence of consumers primarily defined the target group.
The motive, place and frequency of purchases were especially in focus. The target group is hypothetical at this point since no data was collected at the beginning.
Target group definition
● LOHAS
● grew up shopping online
● primarily female
● mobile shopper
personas
primary persona
Elsa is the primary persona for Match Mode because of her high fashion consumption. She only recently started to realize its negative effects.
She has found it difficult to buy sustainable fashion, as she is active on social media and likes to be inspired by influencers. Elsa wants to continue having fun consuming fashion without finding out about several certificates and company philosophies.
secondary personas
03
Design
Wording
In order to determine the emotional characteristics of the application, I collected keywords that reflect beliefs and the positioning of the product. I used the wording as a base for the mood board.
Mood board
The user testing included an association of the wording with various mood boards, so that the visualization matched the expectations of the target group. The result is shown here.
Concept
The core concept is the visual search engine based on artificial intelligence, neural networks and machine learning.
An important approach is to leave the definition of sustainability to the user. This keeps the consumer's focus on the appearance of their desired item.
Paper prototyping
digital wireframes
User flow
User flow is a design processes centered around the user's perspective. It highlights the steps the user takes to achieve their goal in a process or workflow.
The following use case was used here:
Find and save a sustainable piece of clothing using an image.
04
Evaluation
participants
● 12 participants
● 50/ 50 female and male
● 75% from the age range of the defined target group
methodes
online questionnaire
for demographic and socioeconomic data
think aloud protocol
● 3 tasks with a click prototype
● inexpensive
● useful results with a small number of participants
semi-structured guided interview
pre-formulated question with prioritization of openness
Results
task 1 - work with folders in collection
two participants were successful.
nine participants knew the user journey to collections.
task 2 - use the image base search, save a result
eight participants were successful.
nine participants knew the user journey to collections.
task 3 - delete search history
all participants were successful.
Optimization
● add a wish list
● remove option "hide" for already saved articles
Conclusion
Match Mode is well received by participants with a high level of accordance in the target group. There is also a possible increase in demand due to the relevance of the ongoing climate and environmental debate.
The think aloud protocol proved helpful for the concept optimization and further development.
Going Forward
● further iterations with optimized concept and UI design
● quantitative study including standardized questionnaires
● target group analysis
05
Visuals
