Fast fashion comes at a great price to both human life and the environment. Forced labor is pervasive in garment factories and labor intensive crops such as cotton . Further damage is done by the use of toxic chemicals that make their way into the environment and into our bodies. 1
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Second to oil, fashion and textiles is the most polluting industry in the world. Every stage in a garment’s life threatens our planet and its resources
- Rachel Kibbe ( Business of fashion)
A slow fashion marketplace dedicated to using ethically produced domestic fiber. A marketplace that connects fiber artists, fashion enthusiasts, and designers with small farms. 100% transparency from sheep to shawl.
A competitive analysis lead me to look deeper into companies that produce domestic fiber or have an established platform for independent fiber artist. Green Mountain Spinnery, Brooklyn Tweed, Row House, and Etsy are the four companies I focused on. While each company has considerable strengths, the market still lacked a dedicated slow-fashion platform with full transparency that offered both eco-friendly fiber for artists and ethically made garments.
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| HAND KNITS | ||||
| PATTERNS | ||||
| KITS | ||||
| 100% DOMESTIC | ||||
| INDIE ARTISTS | ||||
| ECO PRACTICES | ||||
| SMALL FARM SOURCED | ||||
| 100% TRANSPARENCY |
To understand the relationship users have buying, selling, and working with fiber, I conducted surveys throughout the fiber arts community. The results of 33 respondents revealed knitting as the most practiced fiber art. I then spoke with knitters about their fiber preferences and what they like and dislike about their current buying and selling platforms. The results helped me to better understand users goals and frustrations and develop stories and personas that reperesent the knitting community.
| User Story | Task | |
|---|---|---|
| As a user | I want to browse products | |
| As a user | I want to view details about specific products | |
| As a user | I want to view ratings and reviews for a product | |
| As a user | I want to add products to my cart | |
| As a user | I want to pay for payments with credit card, Amazon payment or Paypal | |
| As a new user | I want to sign up for an account | |
| As a new user | I want to checkout as a guest | |
| As a returning user | I want to log into my account | |
| As a returning user | I want to view history of transactions | |
| As a non-knitter
purchasing a gift |
I want to view highest rated items | |
| As a non-knitter
purchasing a gift |
I want to view items by color & price | |
| As a non-knitter
purchasing a gift |
I want to view promotions & sales | |
| As beginning knitter
purchasing a gift |
I want to purchase a kit that contains all materials | |
| As a beginning knitter
purchasing a gift |
I want to view the difficulty level of patterns & kits | |
| As a conscientious
consumer purchasing a gift |
I want to learn about the fiber before making a purchase | |
“If you are going to invest so much time creating a handmade garment, it is worth using a good quality wool that will last.” - Dori
Age: 56
Location: New Hampshire
Hobbies: knitting, spinning, hiking
Favorite brands
“My favorite sweater is 10 years old. It has worn well over the years and remains a staple in my wardrobe.” - Eva
Age: 38
Location: Boston
Hobbies: traveling, 3d felting
Favorite brands
To create, organize, and structure the content for Indie Wool I created a list of keywords along with their corresponding search volume. I then conducted a card sort to help develop the beginning of an optimized sitemap. The information gathered from the card sort was used to establish the main navigation and sub-categories. I detailed the content of each page in a spreadsheet to assist me in drafting wireframes.
Flow charts were used to map user tasks and eliminate issues such as cart abandonment. I took into consideration all the reasons users abandon their shopping carts and designed a seamless guest checkout with a simple design that contained all relevent information and allowed the user to know exactly where they are in the checkout process.
After much research, I began to sketch ideas and explore color palettes. One of the initial concepts was "Forever Wool", in the end "Indie Wool" was a better representation of the brand with a foundation of independent fiber artists. I used preference testing early in the brand design process and discovered that the initial color palette and fine lines of the design were perceived as a luxury brand. I wanted Indie Wool to be welcoming, approachable and lively! A few iterations later a cheerful palette emerged along with a clean simple logo that reperesents the collective voice of passionate fiber artists.
Indie Wool is a slow fashion marketplace for fiber & fashion enthusiasts. We support independent fiber artists and farmers that share the same passion for hand-made and the same commitment to using and producing ethically sourced domestic fiber.
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
I developed a prototype using Sketch and Invision. Once the prototype was complete I observed users trying to complete specific tasks such as complete a purchase, read reviews, and checkout as a guest. The results of the preference test for the item page revealed only a slight preference for the tab design. I ran further usability tests and discovered that while the design preference was for one design the design without tabs performed better from a usability stand point.
A Pew Research Center study found that 77% of Americans owned smartphones. With an increasing rate of ecommerce purchases made from mobile devices it was important for Indie Wool to have a great user-experience across desktop and mobile devices.
User research revealed that given the choice, consumers will actively choose to support brands they believe are doing social or environmental good. Having clear sustainability credentials builds trust.
The initial branding for Indie Wool felt more like a luxury brand while the goal was to create a brand that was youthful and inviting. It took a few iterations and gathering feedback from the fiber arts community before reaching the desired visual direction.
A key lesson learned through user testing is that the aesthetic preference of users may not deliver the best experience. I designed three versions of an e-commerce product page. While one design was preferred by users, the chosen design did not perform as well once users were asked to perform tasks.
My goal was to design the MVP that would bring value to users. Given more time I would like to design a curated gallery so that users could share their hand crafted garments as a way to feature Indie Wool products and create an interactive social community.