LESS CLOTHING MORE FASHION Elizabeth McPhail
We are becoming more aware of the enormity of the fashion industry’s social and environmental impact, however, our fashion consumption continues to increase exponentially every year. Education and the media have overwhelmed us with the scale of the problem, leaving us with a feeling guilty and hopeless. We have no idea how to start. It feels easier to simply forget, push the negativity to the side and carry on with our lives. With the rest of the world consuming at such a dramatic pace, those of us who do try to make changes, to buy less and wear more, end up feeling as though we have to sacrifice the enjoyment and creativity of fashion. What if there was a way to do both?
CENTRAL PROPOSITION Human centred design can help digital native ‘LOHAS followers’ and ‘drifters’* to make small, actionable changes to their clothing purchasing habits.
LOHAS & DRIFTERS The NMI LOHAS (Lifestyle of health and sustainability) framework segments audiences based on attitudes and behaviours towards sustainability (NMI). ‘LOHAS Followers’ and ‘drifters’ are interested and care about sustainability, however, their actions lack follow through.
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AIM Share Wear aims to provide an alternative solution for users to reduce their clothing consumption whilst still enjoying fashion.
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STRATEGY I have designed a ‘social system’ that connects digital native ‘LOHAS followers’ and ‘drifters’ together. The system takes the form of a mobile app that facilitates the borrowing and lending of clothing between users. The exchanges are short term; for a specific event, a holiday or just the weekend. The strategy focuses on nurturing intrinsic values of creativity and social connection, which inspire long term change. It is important for Share Wear to be positive and engaging, through both visual style and tone of voice to combat saturation of negativity in the sustainable fashion conversation. 7
UPLOAD Upload items to the Share Wear app. Share Wear extends the period of active use for non every day items, for example, a special dress, fancy top or a smart pair of pants. Users add images, a description, size, pickup and postage information plus choose the dates their item is available to be borrowed. 8
UPLOAD
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BORROW
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BORROW Users browse to find an item they would like to borrow. To build trust, borrowers send a personal message to the owner when requesting to borrow an item. Many digital natives enjoy browsing online shops as a hobby. Items can be saved in collections for later so users can enjoy the process of browsing whether they need an item or not. Collections can be curated for specific occasions and collaborated on with others. Users can also follow other peoples collections. 11
CONNECT The connect section encourages discussion and support between the community. For navigational ease, discussion is categorised into groups for different topics. Topics include, up-cycling, garment care etc. Questions, advice and support all focus on extending the life-cycle of clothing. Fostering a community increases the likelihood of long term, sustainable change. 12
CONNECT
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BADGES
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BADGES After borrowing an item, users upload a photo of them wearing the outfit. This is accompanied by a caption and a badge chosen to describe their experience wearing the item. These are displayed in the ‘dating history’ section on each items page, highlighting the extended use. Badges then provide a unique navigational feature for users to search for an outfit based on the recommendations of other.
friends. The language used to recommend an item of clothing to a friend is very different to searching on an online store. To make the Share Wear experience more friendly and enhance the focus on social connection I explored this language, combining it with a visual style influence by girl guide badges and teen magazines. The badges instantly differentiate Share Wear from any other clothing app.
The Share Wear badges were inspired by the borrowing and lending of clothing between 15
RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES My process included in-depth academic and theoretical research about my topic. I analysed other designer’s responses to the problem of clothing waste. Kate Fletcher’s thoughts on green products were key in influencing my decision to focus on reducing consumption. My designs were heavily influenced by Slow Design and the Common Cause Handbook. The common cause hand book is a resource for organisations creating social change. It offers a values based framework, suggesting that solutions based on intrinsic values including a connection with nature, creativity or affiliation with friends and family are more successful in creating sustainable long term change (Common Cause Foundation 18). Slow design principles are a starting point for discussion and design thinking for outcomes that promote long term behavioural change. Three slow design principles were important in my research; reveal, reflect and participate (Strauss and Faud-Luke 3, 5,6). 16
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I paired theoretical and contextual research with human centred research conducting interviews, surveys and user-testing. During the year long process I discussed my project with peers, family and friends. I gained a key insight from this. Over the year I noticed a shift in how other people spoke to me about their purchasing habits. They stopped telling me about new purchases. Casual interviews revealed that they felt bad about these purchases and telling me about them highlighted this guilt. 17
USER PERSONAS & USER JOURNEYS Developing user journeys highlighted specific barriers for my design outcome. The borrower was concerned with the size and fit and lenders were concerned about damage. I combined insights with user research to create personas I could to refer back to. I continued to develop and refine these throughout the design process. 18
USER PERSONAS
I want to start Loves fashion, exploring new styles and expressing themselves. Purchases a lot of new clothes. Would like to reduce their clothing consumption but feels like they have to sacrifice enjoying fashion in order to do so.
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I am trying
I find it easy
Are trying to reduce the number of clothes they own, and have made some changes to their purchasing habits. Own a few ‘special occasion’ outfits that they love but miss the excitement of wearing something new.
Have successfully reduced their clothing consumption. Find it easy not to consume and enjoy sharing their knowledge with others. Occasionally need a specific piece of clothing for a one off occasion, e.g. job interview, fancy event, etc. 21
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KEY INSIGHTS Intention vs. action We are aware of the impact of the fashion industry and say we want to act but lack follow through.
We purchase new clothes but then feel guilty Reducing consumption is surrounded by negative emotions, feelings of guilt are counter productive to long term change.
We feel like we have to sacrifice
Those of us really trying to reduce our clothing consumption are early adopters not the majority. We live in a consumerist society where everyone else is still consuming at a high rate, so it is easy to feel like we’re missing out.
Fashion = new clothes
Fashion is so closely linked with purchasing new clothing, this perception needs to change. 23
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ITERATIVE PROCESS My design output was developed through an iterative process. I cycled through paper wireframes, digital wireframes and clickable inVision and Sketch prototypes, returning to paper for tricky problems. Many of my peers made up my audience, making user testing at every stage easy. I investigated the information architecture, user-experience and user-interface design of many online shopping and peer to peer trading apps. This helped with developing navigational structures and ensured data was presented in a logical, intuitive way. Formal user testing with a clickable prototype confirmed the design was successful and ironed out minor issues. I created my final prototype on Flinto. Some interactions were hard to test on Sketch so building an interactive prototype was important for the testing process. 24
SHARED MOMENTS & CHALLENGES Defining my final output was a challenge. In my research proposal I planned to create a social media campaign including short videos to build awareness and a engage my audience. Feedback for my proposal reiterated my aspiration to create behavioural change and questioned the effectiveness of my proposed output. Using rapid ideation I explored many potential ideas before to focus on developing alternative exchange system. Shared moments were key to overcoming the challenges I had with developing my output. The second showing confirmed that my new direction resonated with my audience as many people said they would 26
use it. This showing was also essential to refining my audience to early adopters. Some people were apprehensive about the idea, however, they would not be my initial target audience. Super crit was a catalyst for developing my visual style. A click through video showed my proposed direction. This was the first time I was able to receive critique on the visual direction. It was quickly apparent that I needed to differentiate myself from other online shopping apps. It was a bit boring. I pushed myself to explore new directions and this lead to the badges and tone of voice. 27
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CONCLUSION I learnt that I am drawn towards ‘wicked’ problems. I began the year with the goal of trying to solve all of the fashion industry’s problems. I got absorbed in research about production techniques, waste methods and ethical supply chains. All of which are important, however, as one designer, it was important to narrow down my scope to something that I could achieve within the time frame, using my skills. If Share Wear were to exist the ‘real world’, the app would be situated within a larger system. This would include a social media campaign and website for creating awareness, on-boarding and informing people about app plus events to continue the conversation and develop the community ‘offline.’ If I had more time I would like to develop a way for users to share their experiences on social media. This could include badges being used as
digital stickers for Snapchat or Instagram stories. It would be valuable to have user input in the development of the badges. This could take the form of an engaging social media campaign where the community could suggest new badges. This would incorporate a diverse range of voices making Share Wear even more accessible. I believe Share Wear would be successful in the ‘real world.’ It offers a unique addition to the conversation of sustainable fashion, facilitating reduced clothing consumption without sacrificing the enjoyment of fashion. Developing a community combats the isolation people sometimes feel when going against social norms. Share Wear provides unique benefits to the user beyond reduced clothing consumption giving it the potential to make a sustained, positive impact to the problem of clothing waste. 29
WORKS CITED NMI. “U.S. Consumer Perspectives and Trends in Sustainability.” NMI, 2013, https://www.ftc.gov/system files/documents/ public_comments/2014/05/00005-90255.pdf Common Cause Foundation. “The Common Cause Handbook.” Values and Frames, Common Cause Foundation, 2012. https://valuesandframes.org/ Strauss, Carolyn F., Fuad-Luke, Alastair. “The Slow Design Principles.” n.d. http://raaf.org/pdfs/Slow_Design_ Principles.pdf.
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ILLUSTRATION LIST Figure 1. Common Cause Foundation. Statistical analysis (dimensional smallest space analysis) of value structure across 68 countries and 64,271 people. Diagram, Common Cause Handbook, 2012, p. 13. Figure 2. Fletcher, Kate and Lynda Grose. Front cover, Fashion & Sustainability: Design for Change, 2012. Figure 3. Designer Wardobe app. 2018, app mockup, Designer Wardrobe, https://designerwardrobe.co.nz/download-app Figure 4. Trademe app. 2018, app mockup, Trademe, https://itunes. apple.com/nz/app/trade-me/id392567559?mt=8 Figure 5. Good On You app. 2018, app mockup, Good On You, https://goodonyou.eco ALL OTHER IMAGES. McPhail, Elizabeth. 2018, photographs, drawings & graphics. 31
THANK YOU https://elizabethmcphail -4thyear.tumblr.com