Website Creation
Duration: 3 Weeks
My Role: UX Consultant & Design Lead
Tools: Sketch, InVision, & Zeplin
Deliverable: Specification Document, Research Report, & Presentation
NORTH STAR NEEDLE CO.
North Star Needle Co. is a newly founded online platform that seeks to connect emerging fashion designers with small-batch independent apparel producers. The company firmly believes in empowering both apparel producers and fashion designers by providing both parties financial independence in the form of job creation and project creation on the platform.
The Client
DISCOVER
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Emerging fashion designers have many ideas but lack the financial means to produce and sell their designs. Traditional manufacturers often impose high minimum order quantities (MOQ) for production but purchasing and retaining large inventories is expensive for new designers seeking to establish their brand.
How might we help emerging fashion designers overcome production barriers caused by high minimum order quantities (MOQ) imposed by traditional apparel manufacturers through leveraging a community of independent apparel producers?
USER INTERVIEWS
We interviewed six designers and four producers to try to understand their respective needs, goals, and pain points when undergoing the production process. For designers, we wanted to learn about how and why they chose their current manufacturers and their interactions with them. For apparel producers, we wanted to understand their interactions with designers and barriers they may face when manufacturing the product.
DESIGNER INTERVIEWS SUMMARY
½ worked for big fashion labels
½ were independent designers for their self-made brands
⅓ claimed the fashion community is toxic
⅓ stated that the fashion community consists of designers stealing each other’s designs
Small independent designers lack the financial capability to produce at large scale and retain large inventories.
More established designers concerned with cost per item would more likely look overseas towards factories in Asia to have their apparel produced as overseas factories tend to have cheaper production costs.
However, designers concerned with quality of the product (materials and craftsmanship) would more likely search for local producers/manufacturers.
PRODUCER INTERVIEWS SUMMARY
All mentioned that customers pay with 2 installments over the course of production
None required tech packs
All suggested the designer provide either a tech pack, swatches, patterns, sketches, pictures, or videos
½ had a minimum order quantity
½ did not have a minimum order quantity
All producers claimed most of their customer base was through word of mouth
¼ had a website
Producers in New York City generally promote their services through word of mouth. Their online presence is limited.
Local apparel producers are flexible with the production process. They will accept patterns and samples in place of tech packs but also have the skills to work with and even develop tech packs for designers.
All producers require a down payment/deposit to ensure that they are paid for their services. Most had a payment system set up to assure that they would receive payment even in cases when clients refuse to pay.
DEFINE
PERSONA DEVELOPMENT
Based on the insights gathered from initial user interviews, we crafted primary and secondary personas from designers to embody the two types of fashion designers who would use the site. We also created a primary persona to represent the typical producer who would offer their services on the platform.
Laura
Age: 44
Occupation: Apparel producer and business owner
Location: NYC
Laura has been an apparel producer for over twenty years. She is a first generation Chinese-American and learned how to sew from her parents who owned a small production business. Laura’s parents passed the business down to her and since then, she has significantly expanded it. laura’s clients are extremely loyal, money of whom she has worked with for many years and still regularly seek her for production of all sizes.
Goals:
Keep expanding her production business
Reach more designers
Acquire more clients
Needs:
Strengthen digital presence for her business
A easier way for new less established designers to find her
A more effective way to communicate with clients
Pain points:
Advertising her services online
irresponsible designers who request her service but are not timely with payment
Lana
Age: 22
Occupation: Independent Fashion Designer
Location: NYC
As a recent graduate from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), Lana has been trained by her professors to think outside the box. Now, after fours years of schooling and dozens of sketches, Lana is excited to launch her own streetwear line that reflects her personal style and social advocacy. She vehemently opposes fast-fashion production made in overseas factories and is passionate about helping local mom-and-pop businesses.
Goals:
Find other designers and producers to collaborate with
start selling her clothes online and after making enough money, moving to a physical retail space
Launch her streetwear clothing line within 9 months
Needs:
A seasoned designer to help her create a tech pack
A small-batch producer with no minimum order quantity
Quick production time for her placed orders
Pain points:
Access to local small-batch apparel producers
Finding a producer who can deliver quality products at low prices
Finding a small batch producer who shares her environmental philosophy
Charles
Age: 31
Occupation: Fast Fashion Designer at DKNY
Location: NYC
After working at DKNY for the past isx years, Charles is fed up with the fast-fashion industry. He feels like he has no creative control over his designs and he is sick of large fashion labels constantly copying off each other for a quick profit. After saving up for the past three years, Charles now has enough capital to start his own brand. He wants to create a unique evening wear line that features intricate hand-detailing and fabrics of the highest quality.
Goals:
Wants to launch his own fashion label within the next year
Sell products on his own website
Find a network of producers he can rely on for his designs
Needs:
Protect his designs from “copycats”
High quality but small batch production
A producer that understands tech packs
Pain points:
Difficulty finding local producers
Finding a variety of producers with different specialties
Communicating with smaller producers
USABILITY TESTING
Round 1
Informed by our initial research, we began designing key mid-fidelity screens for the platform. We created two grey-scale prototypes, one reflecting the designer’s side of the platform and another representing the producer’s view. Each prototype was tested with five testers who were asked to use to the prototype to complete a series of tasks representative of tasks real users would use the platform to do. The charts below detail the success rates of each task and the amount of time users took to complete it. We also asked testers to rate the difficulty of respective tasks on a scale ranging from 1-5, with 1 being “Easy” and being “Difficult”.
Designer Mid-Fi Usability Test
The designer’s mid-fidelity prototype was tested on 5 users.
Producer Mid-Fi Usability Test
The producer’s mid-fidelity prototype was tested on 5 users.
The results of our first usability test were largely successful as demonstrated by the high success rates for each task. The difficulty ratings revealed that the our prototype was easy to navigate and use. Most testers were able to complete each task and felt confident doing so. Users on both the designer and producer tests, however, faced the most difficulty when tasked with viewing a quote. Based on these results, we made iterations to make the next prototype more usable. Major changes include: a new quote requests section placed in the Accounts page, new Invoices and Order tracker sections within the order pages, a new layout for the messages section, and removal of messages and notifications tabs on the global header.
1ST ROUND OF ITERATIONS
USABILITY TESTING
Round 2
After the first round of usability testing, we elevated our mid-fidelity wireframes to high-fidelity. We created two prototypes, one reflecting the designer’s view and the other representing the producer’s. The same tasks from the initial usability test were tested with two new sets of testers (five for each prototype). Comparing the results from the first round and this second round, it is clear that the usability of the prototype improved significantly. All testers in this round completed each task and generally, the amount of time spent on each task decreased. The difficulty rating for each task also decreased across tasks.
Designer’s Hi-Fi Usability Test
5 users tested this design. Delta’s when compared to test 1 are included.
Producer’s Hi-Fi Usability Test
5 users tested this design. Delta’s when compared to test 1 are included.
The results of this second test, however, also indicated that further iterations must be made in the accounts pages as many testers expressed that they were confused by the organization of the content within that section.
2nd ROUND OF ITERATIONS
DESIGN
USER FLOWS
Both designer and producer user flows were created in order to provide a structured flow for both processes in the design.
STYLE GUIDE
North Star Needle Co. did not have the client’s intended aesthetic present in the BETA site, therefore, I created a style guide for our design of the site. The style guide helped create consistency throughout the site.
ANNOTATED WIREFRAMES
DESIGNER’S ANNOTATED WIREFRAMES
Upon entering the site, designers will be given a search bar that allows them to filter producer’s profiles. After entering in their search criteria, they are given a list of producers who match the designer’s desired production qualities.
Designer’s will also have a “Project Listings” page where they can find other designers to collaborate with. They will be able to filter the listings through a search.
Designer’s will be able to directly message producers and designers that they are working with. Designer’s message window with producers will feature a '“Request a Quote” button where they will be able to request a quote from a producer.
From this page, designers can view a summary of their order as well as their order tracker. The order tracker will be updated by the producer producing the order to allow the designer to know which stage of production the project is in.
Designer’s can view their orders on this page. Each order listed provides a title and description of the order as well as “View Invoice” and “Track Order” buttons.
Designers can use this page to create a project listing for producers to view.
PRODUCER’S ANNOTATED WIREFRAMES
Upon entering the site, producers will enter search criteria to filter the list of designers offered to them.
After selecting a specific project listing from their search, producer can view the designer’s project listing. From this page, they will be provided information on the specific project, a way to contact the designer, as well as access to view the designer’s profile page.
Producers can view a designer’s profile page in order to gain more information on potential clients.
Producer’s can update their order tracker to inform the designer which part of production they are in. This order tracker also includes payment points where the designer must pay the producer installments over the course of production.From this page, designers can view a summary of their order as well as their order tracker. The order tracker will be updated by the producer producing the order to allow the designer to know which stage of production the project is in.
From the account page, producers can view a list of their current orders. The list includes a title and description of the order, as well as “View Invoice” and “Update Order” buttons.
Producers can view any quote requests they receive from designers on the “Requests” page. The page is accessible from the producer’s “Account” page.
NEXT STEPS
When moving forward with this project, more research would need to be collected on the various regions that our client wants to launch the product in. The culture in each areas fashion community is different, therefore, it is vital to conduct more research in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago, and New Orleans(our client’s desired launch locations) to better understand the culture within those fashion communities. Navigational indicators must also be added to the site due to users, at times, feeling as though they are unsure of where they are in the website. Further testing on these iterations will solidify the design decisions.