Newish
Luxury clothing rental concept to tackle fashion & textiles waste
Responsibilities
UX/UI Design, User Testing, Product Strategy
Timeline
8 Months
Platform
Mobile Native
Introduction
Status quo
As part of my honours degree I developed and tested a high-fidelity prototype of an app concept aimed at reducing the harmful environmental effects of clothing consumption.
My two aims for the project were to reach product-market fit, and develop a solution that helped users shop sustainably.
Challenges
I conducted a literature review exploring fast-fashion, the harmful effect it has on the environment, and consumer buying/selling habits of second-hand clothing.
The research revealed that the factors influencing buying and selling habits were mainly financial and materialistic rather than environmental.
Based on this insight, I thought the most successful solution would be one centred around saving users money and helping them discover new clothes they like.
help people get clothes they love
HMW:
help people find new homes for preloved clothes
HMW:
Process
User flows
I conducted a competitor analysis to gain insight into what solutions existed.
I discovered an app/service called ByRotation whilst researching competitors. This business offered peer-to-peer luxury clothing rental, which was unique to the other solutions on the market.
Audience survey
I conducted a quantitative survey aiming to learn more about what people’s thoughts were on the second-hand clothing market.
User personas
I created two user personas to capture the needs, desires, and attitudes of my target audience.
Rosa Matthews
24 Years-old
Rosa is a junior content creator. She is becoming increasingly environmentally conscious and is looking for ways to shop more sustainably. She would also like to find new owners for her preloved clothes.
Nile Frank
21 Years-old
Nile is an accounting student. He is frustrated about the price of luxury clothing, and the social pressure to wear it. He ideally would like to wear luxury clothing without spending too much, and make money on his unwanted clothing.
Value proposition
Phone app that helps you get clothes you love, and find a purpose for clothes you no longer wear.
Final designs
Getting new clothes
The ‘Discover’ screen allows users to browse clothing listings. Users can then purchase or rent desired items.
Moving on from old clothes
Users have the option of listing items for other people to buy or rent.
Tailored and personal
Weekly Fits give users curated picks depending on their own preferences.
Impact
After completing the high-fidelity prototype, I tested it with 5 users. I then carried out a thematic analysis to drive insights from the data I gathered.
All of the participants said they would use the app, however none of them were interested in renting clothing. The sample group had 3 main worries.
will the clothes arrive on time?
what happens when items are returned in different conditions?
if I can’t afford to buy clothes, it doesn’t feel right to rent them
Future work
None of the participants were fully sold on luxury second-hand clothing rental. To find product-market fit with the current concept, users would need to be willing to rent clothes or rent out their own clothes, as without rental, Newish is too similar to existing solutions on the market (Vinted, Vestiaire Collective etc).
If I were to take this project further I would look into ways of alleviating the main issues stated by my sample group and test the prototype further with more people. Creating clear policies around item condition upon return, and offering reliable delivery options would help with the first two pain points. The third pain point is a harder one to solve, and suggests we did not find an early adopter.
Reflection
Desirability
Exploring how people think about the intersection between luxury clothing and circular economy, was incredibly interesting. It was also a challenge attempting to create new concept in a saturated market. Whilst I built an offering that had an interesting USP (rental), it did not turn out to be one particularly desirable to the people I tested with. If I was carrying on with my project, perhaps it would be time to pivot.
