Overview
Client: TAILORU (TAILOAR)
My Role: UX/UI Designer
Duration: 3 months
Summary: Discover the inefficiencies for the user as they use the current TAILOAR mobile app and design a clickable prototype for the next round of testing
Deliverables: Research, customer journey map, persona, wireframes, prototypes
Tools: Adobe XD, Sketch
Challenge
In today’s digital world, people value the ability to get things done from their smartphones. TAILOAR wants to help customers measure themselves in the comfort of their homes. The app’s augmented reality technology allows users to measure between two points using their mobile phones. They can share their body measurements with tailors or their favorite brands. This project centered on improving the overall user experience of the beta design and understanding what will encourage more users to use TAILOAR and share the product with others.
Empathize
Research Plan
In following the Design Thinking process, the first step was formulating research questions.
We wanted to learn more about augmented reality technology and the existing TAILOAR app that would help us gain a deeper understanding of users’ needs, issues, and any problems that underlie the further development of this product.
Questions:
What are the strengths and weaknesses of this technology?
Are there competitors who are currently successful in this industry? If so, what is it that they are doing well?
Can we offer a product that serves the needs of a wide age range?
How do customers and service providers feel about the current measurement process?
How are customers currently sharing their measurements with service providers?
What motivates customers to provide feedback to improve the app?
What motivates customers to want to access the product regularly and share the product?
What motivates customers to sign up for a trial or sign up for product updates?
Research Objectives:
Discover inefficiencies or challenges for the user as they use the application
Discover areas of possible improvement for the application based on usability testing and feedback
Conduct market studies and online research on augmented reality technology
Validate user motivations and needs for each TAILOAR app screen
Generate ideas to improve on the user experience and create solutions for areas of inefficiency
Design a clickable prototype for possible next rounds of testing
We used the following primary and secondary sources for data gathering and research.
Competitive Analysis: How does TAILOAR compare to their top 5 competitors?
The competitive analysis showed us what popular features we should focus on adding to the existing prototype: adding the ability to make an account, providing audio cues when the measurement is complete, and providing videos with instructions.
User Interviews: We conducted 10 remote interviews with a range of customers.
Insights
People struggle with measuring themselves correctly for custom clothing.
People need to feel confident that TAILOAR’s body measurements will be accurate.
People are open to the idea of using AR to measure themselves
Usability Testing Round 1: The goal was to find any issues with functionality and assess the overall user experience of the existing prototype. We translated our insights into recommendations for a better user experience.
Insights
Users feel they need more step-by-step guidance on how to measure.
Users missed having audio and haptic prompts as they measured themselves.
Users felt they needed to go back and review instructions at times.
We used the authentic data gathered from our user interviews and usability testing to create a persona that further deepens our understanding of the user needs in a user-centric design.
This is Ida, our sophisticated shopper who is feeling nervous about measuring herself accurately for her custom dress. She doesn’t have time to return it if it doesn’t fit! Because of the pandemic, it’s important for Ida to be able to do most things from home. She wants to be able to take an accurate measurement and she save herself a trip to the tailor.
Persona
Customer Journey Map
Persona Building: We refined TAILOAR’s large target market through our persona and customer journey map. We wanted to really imagine what the process of utilizing a tailor might look like for a customer and what problems they might encounter along the way.
Define (Design Decisions)
After synthesizing the insights gained from our research were able to set a clear objective with our problem statement:
Tailoring clients need a reliable way to capture body measurements on their own because the process can be tricky and they need assurance that the measurements are exact for custom clothing.
We generated a set of design principles to keep in mind as we started the process of content ideation:
Trust
Useful
Engaging
Solutions - Our First Iteration
We iterated on the beta version of the TAILOAR app to create a mid-fidelity prototype.
We created less friction for the user by breaking up the opening screen into several steps.
By implementing step-by-step instructions and an audio guide, the user completes this process correctly on the first try, reducing user error and ensuring that they are prepared to measure.
In our user testing, users turned up the volume on their phone but didn’t realize their phone was not off silent. This design ensures they are able to hear the noise during the measurement process.
Taking into account user feedback on gender neutrality so we picked a more neutral diagram. As users select what they want to measure a bold green line will provide confirmation.
We updated the language in the instructions and broke up the measuring process into step-by-step instructions to provide additional guidance and build trust in the process.
Usability Testing Round 2
We conducted nine usability tests with our mid-fidelity prototype. Users responded well to the updated design.
“I would use this app instead of going to a real tailor especially if it’s going in this direction with the audio guide and so on.”
“It makes me feel more comfortable using it and that I’ll be getting a more accurate measurement where the last one didn’t make me feel that way.”
Our findings indicated the following recommendations for our last iteration:
Add a Try It First option for a practice measurement
Add specific instructions for how to take a back measurement
Implement haptic feedback during the measurement process
Where We Left Things Off
After completing the second round of user testing, we implemented the latest recommendations in the design handoff for the client.
Try It First takes you to a two-point measurement where we ask the user to measure their sleeve length in a practice.
Learnings
WHAT WE DID WELL
We recognized users generally needed more guidance so we broke up the measuring guide into several screens to show step-by-step instructions.
We included an audio guide to build confidence in users as they take their body measurements.
We also revamped the directions during the measuring process to provide more clarity and encouragement.
The new Try It First feature on Final Setup screen gives users a chance to try out the AR technlogy.
FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS
Add computer vision “body scan” technology that allows for more accurate measurements
Sizing guides and tables can be used to compare results and determine accuracy
Create account pages for individual users
Create a chat function within the app with tailors
CLIENT FEEDBACK
Liz and the team did a great job to get us from the unknown to the known. They were intelligent, diligent, and empathetic to our users and our team. We learned so much from our users by the end of the project and even received beyond scope recommendations from the team on how to improve the overall experience.
- Thu Do, Founder @ TAILORU