Sustainably Yours
The fashion industry, a major contributor to carbon emissions, often conceals its operational practices despite promoting sustainability. Transparency is lacking, and consumers contribute by discarding clothes after minimal use, worsening environmental damage. The challenge is clear: create a platform that raises awareness of fashion brands' sustainability and motivates consumers to recycle and donate.
This project, undertaken as part of a UI/UX course at Singapore University of Technology and Design, spans approximately four months. As participants in this course, we engage in developing solutions to sustainability-themed problem. The journey involves extensive data gathering from research and surveys, identification of target users, creation of multiple prototypes, and user evaluations.
Data Gathering
Our approach to data gathering combined extensive literature research and targeted surveys among young adults in Singapore. This allowed us to understand sustainability challenges in the fashion industry, specifically tailored to the context of young adults in Singapore.
Literature Research: The fashion industry, contributing 10% of global carbon emissions, lacks transparency in sustainability practices, with over 90% of companies not disclosing essential processes. In addition, in the U.S., individuals discard 37 kg of clothes annually, with 66% ending up in landfills, typically after only 7 wears.
Survey insights: Surveys targeting individuals aged 15-24 revealed that 51.6% discard clothing, and only 4% is recycled in Singapore. Barriers to recycling include a lack of convenient options (82.4%), uncertainty about processes (58.8%), and concerns about transparency (61.8%). The demand for recycling incentives and knowledge about sustainable brands was notably high.
Target Users
Creating user personas is vital for tailoring our platform to diverse user needs. By understanding distinct groups, like those interested in donations or sustainability rankings, we ensure precise information delivery. This approach caters to both primary and secondary users, fostering an inclusive and impactful experience. We also recognize the opportunity to engage non-interested users, influencing positive change through incentivizing rewards.
Primary Users:
Our primary users fall into two distinct groups: those interested in donations but not sustainability rankings, and those interested in sustainability rankings but not donations. Our goal is to cater to both by providing precise information on fashion companies' sustainability.
The app takes an integrated approach, encouraging users to sustain donation efforts and make eco-conscious shopping decisions, bridging the gap between their interests and promoting exploration of features they might not initially prioritize.
Secondary Users (Interested in Both):
Our platform caters to users interested in sustainability rankings and donations, offering in-depth statistics on sustainable fashion brands, encouraging active community engagement through brand reviews and constructive feedback. This creates a more comprehensive and engaging experience for users with dual interests.
Supplemental Users (Non-interested Users):
While our focus is on serving interested users, we also recognize the presence of non-interested users. However, seizing the attention of some of these users presents an opportunity, particularly through incentivizing rewards. Additionally, we acknowledge that certain fast-fashion brands, often disregarding sustainable practices, may fall into this category. Our platform aims to influence positive change even among those initially uninterested.
Prototyping: First Version
We started our prototyping journey from a whiteboard prototype to a low-fidelity prototype which has been created through the Figma App. We had three user flows: donating clothes, searching for sustainability ratings and receiving rewards.
Through our homepage, we aimed to reflect the two goals of our app: to raise awareness of the sustainability of fashion brands and to encourage users to donate their clothes. As homepage was our most crucial part of user journeys, we created different variations which we in later stages evaluated and received feedback in our user evaluation.
User Testing & Evaluation
We conducted tests after each prototype to understand our user preferences, beahviors and expectations. The iterative nature of the testing process allowed for refinement based on user feedback to improve the app's functionality and user experience.
User Testing and Evaluation I:
Two tests, Sustainability Rating Awareness and Donation Behavior, revealed insights into user preferences. Valuable insights were gained for refining design elements in the next iteration such as improving feedback of the app and simplifiying user journeys.
User Testing and Evaluation II:
The second round assessed usability and user experience using Useberry, involving diverse personas. The System Usability Score (SUS) of 79.8 reflected decent usability, with potential enhancements for sustainability-focused users. Exploration paths diverged among personas, emphasizing the need for a versatile app. Aesthetics and readability evaluations showed positive scores for text clarity and icon relevance.
Prototyping: Second Version
Following the initial prototype and user feedback, we developed the second prototype, incorporating insights from end-users for a more polished appearance. This iteration involved exploring various color schemes and adhering to improved accessibility guidelines. User Evaluation II assessed usability alongside feedback. Subsequent to this evaluation, we implemented relevant changes, culminating in our final prototype as the course outcome.
Results
After completing the design and user testing phases for Sustainably Yours, we fine-tuned the user interface and overall experience. The final product received top marks for its comprehensive report. My primary responsibilities included overseeing the design process of the prototypes and deriving meaningful insights from the collected data. We also acknowledge that there is room for future improvements, especially in the visual design side.
Here's the refined and successful final version of Sustainably Yours.
