iPhone App Design Process Book
Winter 2014
Shayne Smith
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ASOS is a global fashion destination for 20-somethings. We sell cutting-edge ‘fast fashion’ and offer a wide variety of fashion-related content, making ASOS.com the hub of a thriving fashion community. We sell over 65,000 branded and own-brand products through localised mobile and web experiences, delivering from our UK hub to almost every country in the world. We tailor the mix of own-label, global and local brands sold through each of our nine local language websites: UK, US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, Russia and China. ASOS’s websites attract 21.3 million unique visitors a month. W H AT W E D O
O U R S T R AT E G Y
We are a unique online fashion destination visited by millions of twenty-something shoppers and fashion-lovers around the world every day.
More than just an online retailer, we want to be as synonymous to fashion for twenty-somethings as Google is to search and Facebook is to social networking.
We sell our own label and other world-renowned brands at asos. com, and give individuals and boutiques the chance to sell, new and pre-worn fashion, through our Marketplace channel.
We’ll measure success through, amongst other things, our share of online traffic, the number of followers we have on social media sites, and, of course, sales.
And it’s not just about shopping. Our customers use the site’s Fashion Finder section to create and share with each other ideas and inspiration about outfits and trends and to work out their own personal style.
We are creating the best experience for our customers so they return to us every day, and we’re doing it in three ways: multiple channels, distribution and merchandising.
The fashion-focused competitions, games, news and feature articles we publish on asos.com and on mobile apps, or through social networks, are updated daily. They help give our target customers an online experience they won’t find anywhere else on the planet.
HOW WE DO IT ASOS is far more than just a simple shopping website.
WHERE WE ARE Our headquarters are in Camden, North London. We also have a 24-hour customer care office based in Hemel Hempstead, UK while our central distribution centre is in Barnsley, Yorkshire, UK. From here, we ship to customers in over 190 countries around the world.
Fashion-focused twenty-somethings can visit asos.com while searching for fashion, reading about it or talking about it on social media with their friends on their phones, tablets or laptops. // // // // //
ASOS.com Fashion Finder Marketplace ASOS Magazine Social Media
In 2012, we opened offices in New York (US) and Sydney (Australia) and in 2013 we opened offices in Lille (France), Berlin (Germany) and Shanghai (China). Right now, we have satellite warehouses in Australia and the USA to help us process returns. Our headquarters are in Camden, North London. We also have a 24-hour customer care office based in Hemel Hempstead, UK while our central distribution centre is in Barnsley, Yorkshire, UK. From here, we ship to customers in over 190 countries around the world. As of Aug. 2013, 63% of our total sales were from outside the UK.
TA R G E T A U D I E N C E Our core customer is the twenty-something fashion-lover: an avid consumer and communicator who is inspired by friends, celebrities and the media. We are obsessive about understanding them so we can join their conversation and offer them the fashion they want.
ASOS.COM
Global retail experience that has over 7.1 million active customers.
ASOS.COM
65,000 separate clothing ranges, spanning womenswear and menswear collections.
FA S H I O N F I N D E R
User-created styles; build an ‘outfit’; take street style photography and get inspired.
FA S H I O N F I N D E R C O M P E T I T I O N S
Competitions that fuel interaction between ASOS and their customers.
M A R K E T P L AC E
Buy and sell fashion with anyone, anywhere.
M A R K E T P L AC E
Buy and sell fashion with anyone, anywhere.
A S O S M AGA Z I N E
Monthy hard copy, digital format, and via Fashion Up app for iPhone/iPad.
SOCIAL MEDIA
ASOS engages their global community through 10 social networking sites.
MOBILE APPS
ASOS has a mobile site and three apps already on the market.
ASOS APP
A S O S FA S H I O N U P
A S O S M A R K E T P L AC E S E L L I N G
The number one global online fashion destination for 20-somethings. Discover fashion online with the ASOS app – a free shopping app.
Fashion Up is a free app that enables you to download a monthly interactive magazine from ASOS.
Sell your style and pocket the profit. This free app allows you to list and sell fashion to anyone, anywhere in the world.
APP DESIGN BRIEF CHALLENGE ASOS want you to imagine what’s next after street style – how can they present and share fashion inspiration in an entirely new way? Your idea will need to engage with a future generation of global 20somethings who are permanently connected and live on their digital devices.
B AC KG R O U N D ASOS’ ambition is to become the number one online fashion destination for 20somethings worldwide. By developing the brand’s proposition beyond pure e-tail into rich digital experiences, ASOS aims to inspire and engage with its audience on a daily basis in a way that feels credible, authentic and cool. The rise of the fashion blog and street style photography has changed the way we are influenced by fashion. Today’s 20something consumers are more inspired by the clothes they see on the street, celebrities and their peers than they are by catwalk trends. However, street style, one of the biggest fashion trends of recent years, is already becoming rapidly overused.
TA R G E T A U D I E N C E Fashion-loving 20somethings that are price savvy, social and addicted to newness. They love style and to look and feel great, but they believe there is more to life than fashion.
C O N S I D E R AT I O N S • ASOS is a leader of trends – not a follower. Its digital platform needs to mirror this. • The ASOS ethos is to find, nurture and support the new, and impart this back to their audience in a way that feels relevant, authentic and cool. • Consider including the ASOS audience in an integral way into your concept. • ASOS is a unisex brand so your solution should meet the needs of either a unisex or a female only audience. Please justify your choice. • ASOS never dictates to its audience. Your solution should not only enhance the user’s life, but also allow them to personalize the content to fit in with their own desires and lifestyle. • ASOS is a global brand, meeting the wants and needs of 20somethings worldwide. How can they create a global platform whilst still providing custom content to suit a local audience? • A 20something community lives and thrives online. To evolve and succeed, content must be shareable across all relevant social media channels. • Consider the advantages of a new form of inspiration that will evolve with time and technology, rather than simply create a splash and disappear. • Brands like Olapic are challenging the way we use UGC (User Generated Content) to inspire peers and support ecommerce. This is the latest way to impart fashion inspiration now, but what’s next? The brand image can’t be jeopardized at any point so how can ASOS use UGC and remain genuine, whilst maintaining the quality of the content created by its users?
One sector producing a lot of iPad magazines is fashion, arguably because apps allow more crafted layouts and make fashion photography look better than on the web. These magazine apps have come both from traditional publishers, and online fashion retailers such as ASOS. ASOS’s iPad app is a monthly mag that combines interactive content with the ability to quickly order the clothes shown. Art editor Simon Helyar says he enjoys working on it: “I can upload pages on the fly and see what they look like on the iPad right away, compared to sending off for printed proofs, which can take a couple of days.
STREET STYLE Research Sources: Bill Cunningham (American photographer) - Wikipedia Has Street Style Jumped The Shark? - REFINERY29 The Street Style Zeitgeist: Is The End Of Street Style Near? - Independent Fashion Bloggers
Street style has taken that core idea — swapping, sharing, and engaging in conversation about that joy of dressing with other people — and made it something we can all be a part of, while eating breakfast in our pajamas.
HISTORY: BILL CUNNINGHAM • • • • •
Bill started street style. He contributed significantly to fashion journalism. He started by taking photos of fashion on the streets of New York. He published his pictures in New York Times in 1978, which soon became a regular series. His photos focus on the genuine usage of clothing to express personal style. He doesn’t overly photograph celebrities (like a paparazzi would) or people that use fame to showcase clothing they didn’t originally pick themselves (sponsored, free clothing). • He has made a career taking unexpected photographs of everyday people, socialites and fashion personalities, many of whom value his company.
WHERE STREET STYLE IS NOW • Street style is an incredibly viral, instant, and addictive facet of fashion that’s changed lots of the ways in which fashion gets made and consumed. • In an age obsessed with “that was so five seconds ago” social media, street style photography has joined the easy to digest media we consume on a daily basis. As a society, we routinely become addicted to something. Then as it gets overexposed and over saturated, we get bored. We move on. • The same is true in fashion. Once something is being done by everyone, its ‘cool’ factor is lost. • What was once a curated, influential, and refined art, has become commercialized & abused. • Being a street-style photographer isn’t just a hobby — it can be a lucrative, full career. • With all the photographers present at fashion events, there’s a good chance that if you’re dressed even half decently, you’ll get photographed. • The game of “gifting” has become more popular, where brands give clothing to celebrities or trendsetters as a product placement, to then be photographed on the street wearing their clothing. • As street-style stars become more influential (at least to fashion fans) than celebrities, how they acquired the pieces they own becomes important. If 50% of an outfit didn’t come from the wearer’s own pockets, is it valid to say that 50% of her style isn’t her own? • Now that everyone is getting in on the street-style game, is it special or real anymore?
With the gap between runway model and regular citizen being constantly replaced, are we all just becoming empty mannequins for stores and boutiques? Is style itself becoming increasingly homogenous?
PROBLEMS WITH STREET STYLE HISTORY: THE SARTORIALIST • Scott Schuman started a NYC-based menswear-style blog called The Sartorialist. • He started taking photos of the dapper dudes in the city — some off the cuff, some posed, but all in the outfits they happened to be wearing that day. • His blog grew and he got a better camera. He started photographing aggressively outside of places where he knew fashionable ladies and gents would be. • And suddenly, his blog became the hottest bookmark on the Internet, and the place where people went to get authentic, aspirational outfit inspiration worn by real people.
• • • • •
It’s not as authentic as it started out to be. It’s overly consumed and easily digested. It’s overexposed and over saturated. People are over it for the most part, for it’s commercialized ways. Street Style as a photography hobby is too common. There’s too many photographers out there in the street-style game. • Gifting has made street style untrustworthy and makes us as fashionistas not think the street style pictures we see are the actual styles of the “real” people on the street. • People, especially in New York or after fashion events, are expecting to get their pictures taken now if they are at least somewhat fashionable.
STREET STYLE PHOTOGRAPHERS • As the on-the-street style of photographer became more popular, advertisers started to get in on it, too. • With a new demand for people with the skills to make real people look like models, a new sector of the industry developed. • The number of street-style photographers has exploded, ranging from photographers for toplevel publications to new bloggers taking photos with their parents’ point-and-shoots. • With all the photographers out there, competition for a unique good shot gets fierce.
As street style has gotten more popular, there are definitely more people hanging around Fashion Week dressed up — like bloggers and fashion students who are not attending but want to be photographed and seen. Often people will be standing outside a Fashion Show, already posed, waiting to be photographed.
With all of this in mind, we don’t think it’s a stretch to say that street style is going to become even more commodified in the future.
THE FUTURE • Just as Twitter, personal style blogs, and even fashion in general have become more addriven, commercialized, and more accessible and international, so too will street style. • Trends tend to be cyclical, especially in fashion. Once we get sick of something, we move in the opposite direction from what we are sick of = street style. We want a little more insight. What’s behind the beauty on the street with the Cambridge satchel bag? What does she do for a living? What’s on her coffee table and in her closet? • Advertisers want websites that provide solid photography, street style (or style of “the people,” non-editorial), and that little something extra to keep readers feeling satisfied.
OTHER THOUGHTS It would be smart for brands to have scannable clothing so that when you see someone on the street, you can scan the top and find it right there or one like it if it’s from a few seasons ago. Street Style photos/blogs as a means of selling me something sounds irritating, but as a lens into a frame of mind or certain sentiment it’s alluring-because it’s really never just about the outfit-it’s about a moment. As a founder of a street-style blog (Campus Sartorialist) I always tell other contributors to never ever stage a shoot as it robs the photos of their essence. When one looks at my photos I want them to witness the subject’s style in an impromptu manner, just as one would see them on the street. As a street-style photography consumer I rarely read the text that accompanies photos and I disagree with the article saying that people want more information. We are a visual species and we consume the photos for their visual information. While sometimes the information accompanying the photo is relevant and interesting most often it comes off as awkward and irrelevant. I think people follow street-style photography to see what other people wear and to get new ideas and be inspired. As for street style photography dying out, I really believe there will always be people looking for inspiration in these photos as well as fashionable men and women worth immortalizing. What we don’t realize yet is that these photos will one day form an incredible window into the past and our grandchildren will have such amazing content to peer into our lives. Don’t we wish we could see a multitude of street-style photos from the 20s or 50s? I personally would have loved it. Street-style is one of the things that captures the zeitgeist incredibly well. What people wear tells us more than their personal taste…it tells us about trends, popular colours, cuts, fabric and most importantly documenting them will offer the next generation with a seamless portrait of its evolution. One can argue that we can look at designer’s collections and see how fashion evolved but it’s definitely what’s being worn by real people that should be remembered as its them who are the manifestation of the runway collections.
APP BRAINSTORMING 0 3 . ST Y L E G OA L S There’s a lot of fashion apps already out there, and to come up with an mobile iPhone app idea that is unique and the “next-best-thing” in fashion for a digital and mobile generation of 20somethings is a struggle. Through countless hours of research of what fashion apps are already out there, and how a new idea can be beneficial to ASOS (an already forward-thinking company) I brainstormed a few ideas.
Create style goals. What do you want to get next? What do you want to dye your hair to next? Collect inspiration for your next retail shopping or online shopping experience. Save up for your favorite styles, and purchase when you’re ready.
Street Style is becoming more controlled than how it started out to be. It started out as this photographer going out and taking random pictures of random stylish people on the street and sharing it with the world. But now it’s becoming “too mainstream” or too much of a controlled thing where photographers wait outside fashion events to make sure to take the next best street style picture from people who planned to be photographed that day. Street Style has become unauthentic, easily digested, overexposed, commercialized, untrustworthy and expected. The concept’s been blown up where there needs to be something new. What’s the best new thing in fashion? How can it be mobile, interactive, and inspiring?
04. CONNECT W/ DESIGNERS What if we could connect ourselves to the brands that we wear and the designers who makes the clothes that we love? What if we could put the fashion designers in the spotlight, and make them the rockstars and not drag the attention entirely on ourselves (i.e. street style)? What if we could communicate to the clothing designers like we can do with celebrities, companies, musicians, actors, and artists on social media? How can we learn about a brand and find the ways its story relates to our beliefs and values? This app will be for connecting to new and established brands and fashion designers.
05. STYLE WITH STORIES 01. FITTING ROOM SCAN Going to a retail store and when you’re in the fitting room you could scan or take a picture of the tag and learn about where that piece of clothing came from, if you should buy it, what other styles the brand makes, and what to wear with it. Problem is it may be too much work.
0 2 . P E R S O N A L M AGA Z I N E Make your own interactive fashion magazine. Ability to be creative. Challenge is ASOS already has an interactive magazine for iPad/ iPhone that’s amazing.
People want stories. How can they connect to their style icons or inspirations? Give me meaning. Give me context. Give me substance. People are looking for richer, more personal content. This is done already through, with the more content-heavy street style blogs where they interview the person that was photographed and accompany that text with the picture.
06. BE A BLOGGER Become a street style blogger yourself by going out and taking your own pictures and videos or gifs of your experience. Rules: Never stage a shoot as it robs the photos of their essence. Problem is it would add to the overexposure of street style. (Resource)
0 7. T H R I F T Y Thrift shop challenge. Go to Goodwill or any local thrift shop and create inspiring outfits from used, vintage buys. Take a picture of your best outfits and inspire others to thrift shop. Go off of the competitions idea. Prizes for the best themed outfit.
0 8 . Q W I K I F O R FA S H I O N Automatically create a style experience video/photo series of your inspiration for the day. Whether that inspiration is from going shopping and looking for your favorite outfit, or going out around the city and recording/photographing the city with images of people you found fashionable or specific pieces you liked on the person. Be the blogger and the storyteller. Report what’s trending where you are, or what’s inspiring you in order to inspire others. Or maybe it’s going to a show in town with your friends and seeing what others are wearing. It’s your story, your experiences. And you can share them with the world. Or traveling to a new place and documenting the fashions you see. Maybe it’s someone you met and you want to document their story and share it with everyone. (Similar to Qwiki)
09. #TRENDS Platform for tagged photos to reach the masses. All social media platforms can #ASOS or something else and there will be a live feed that’s new every single second it’s updated. (Like 21st Street)
CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH In order to dig deeping into what should go into my app, what people know about my client or situation and who my users are, I conducted a few pieces of contextual research in the form of a survey done by a colleague of mine using SurveyMonkey and a Google Drive survey I performed from people who have heard of ASOS.
SURVEYMONKEY SURVEY Respondents were all between the ages of 19-23; 74% female. About 70% of them said they had an account with some sort of fashion community such as Lookbook, Tumblr, Nordstrom, Pintrest, Wanelo, Polyvore, and Shop Style. 52% said they were very likely to use an app to shop or find fashion inspiration. They were asked what they would want a fashion app to do for them and they suggested: lookbooks, fashions in different regions, ability to put together outfits, show affordable options, interviews/trend reports/ sales alerts, model comparison and sizing, and they wanted an app that was efficient. Below are some statistics from the survey.
GOOGLE DRIVE SURVEY ////// ASOS Questions Do you have an account with ASOS? If so, is your account with their retail experience (asos.com), Fashion Finder (fashionfinder.asos.com) and/or Marketplace (marketplace.asos.com)? 1. I have an account at asos.com 2. Yes with their retail experience. (asos.com) 3. No, I don’t have an account with ASOS. 4. Yes, asos.com 5. I have an account at asos.com but not at any of their other sites. 6. No, I do not. Do you own any current ASOS apps? 1. No 2. Nope 3. Nope 4. No, I don’t own any apps relating to ASOS. 5. I don’t have any ASOS apps. 6. Nope! How often do you visit ASOS’s website (or apps)? 1. A few times a week. 2. I’ve visited a couple of times. 3. Once a month. 4. Just the website--maybe once a month? More if I have spare time. 5. I usually check ASOS website every day, if only for a few minutes. 6. Usually once or twice a week. ////// Street Style Questions Does Street Style inspire your fashion taste? 1. Not really 2. Yes 3. N/A 4. I never thought much of it before but now it’s definitely starting to influence how I want to dress. 5. I think I’m probably inspired by street style inadvertently but I don’t consciously follow it that closely. 6. Yes, always. I follow many more bloggers than I do corporate fashion companies. I follow the #myaritzia hashtag like it’s its own account. I love anything Tommy Ton captures.
Do you follow any Street Style blogs or own any other fashion apps? 1. No 2. No 3. N/A 4. Humans of New York (not exactly a street style blog, but you can find interesting influences there), and Sol-Sol Korean street fashion tumblr (sol-sol-street.tumblr.com). 5. I check lookbook occasionally but that’s mostly the extent of it. 6. I use Pinterest primarily to keep track of items I want to buy and also to find other stuff. I used to follow a lot of blogs but I follow those bloggers on Instagram now b/c it’s easier. Have you taken any Street Style images or yourself or others? 1. No 2. No 3. N/A 4. No, I have not. 5. Nope. 6. I had a blog in high school but I had more fun taking photos of others on campus last year as a CollegeFashionista Style Guru. Do you trust Street Style and believe it’s mostly authentic? 1. I think Street Style is more authentic than runway style. 2. I don’t know. 3. Yes 4. I think some is staged for magazines and what not, but I think others, especially Humans of New York, has authentic street style. 5. I think that the idea of street style is a little bit disingenuous because the intention is to create this casual look that seems at place out on the town but you go to all this length to achieve this look. I don’t think this necessarily means anything negative about street style but it does seem unauthentic at times. 6. Yes, definitely. Photoshoots are premeditated and the outfits aren’t necessarily easy to wear out. What people put on each day is the most accurate reflection of how they view themselves.
G O O G L E D R I V E S U R V E Y ( C O N T. ) In your opinion, what do you think is next after Street Style? 1. Huh? 2. I’m not sure what is after street style since it’s been around for so long, yet is now only gaining momentum. 3. I’m not sure. 4. No idea. 5. I have no idea. 6. Lifestyle Branding has really influenced me. It’s not necessarily what someone on the street is wearing but what kind of life they’re living. Where they live, who their significant other is, what their favorite restaurants are, etc. Fashion and life go hand in hand, I think.
If you had the opportunity to follow and interact with a fashion designer or brand whom you support, would you? 1. No 2. Possibly 3. Of course! I think it’d be interesting to see the whole process of a brand from the beginning to the end, and understand how much work goes into every step. 4. Maybe, I’m more for just looking than actively commenting though. 5. I might be interested in seeing something like this once or twice a week but probably not something I would check on a daily basis. 6. I already do! Aritzia is my favorite, followed by Free People and Noul (in Canada).
////// Fashion Designers & Brands Questions Do you stick to brands and continue to purchase clothing from them? Or is your closet full of completely different brands? 1. I do stick to brands I like, but I also have a lot of different brands because I thrift a lot, or I stick to a particular item from one brand and choose a different brand for other items, etc. 2. I don’t really shop based on brand names, just whatever I find that I think looks good/fits me. If I’m shopping online, I look at different stores because I already know what I’m looking for, and it’s just a matter of finding a store that has the clothing I need. 3. Different brands. 4. I don’t have too much brand loyalty, it’s mostly on a case by case basis by the individual piece of clothing. 5. I do a significant portion of my clothing shopping at Goodwill and Value Village so I am more driven by the actual piece rather than the tag. I do follow a couple brands but mostly I buy based on the form rather than the name. 6. I’m not a thrifter. I’m not patient enough and I like the feel of stores too much. I generally stick to my favorites but I’m always open to finding new independent stores and labels. When I’m older I’ll definitely start purchasing more from independent jewelry lines but as of right now it’s a little out of budget.
////// My App Idea (I described my app) From the description of my app idea, what are your overall impressions? Do you have any suggestions for me? 1. I think that you’ve considered the functions of the app to the smallest details and I’m very interested to see how it will turn out. I like the idea of aspiring designers being able to connect with more well known designers. 2. Sounds really cool--but you might want to try a multiple choice survey that doesn’t take too much time/effort. You would get more results, I think... 3. I think that it is a new approach to the fashion world, which has up till now been a very esoteric world. I personally don’t care enough about specific designers to follow them on an app but I would find following certain styles or trends interesting. I think it is a great platform for upcoming fashion designers to get their work known. 4. This sounds pretty compelling. 5. This sounds like something I might check out, it seems like it’s somewhere between tumblr and twitter specifically for designers and people interested in fashion. It might be interesting to have some amount of feedback available, for instance if a designer has sketches of a few ideas, allowing users to comment or vote on what direction they like would add to the feeling that they are a part of the finished product. 6. I love that idea!! I just mentioned Lifestyle Branding and this idea reminds me of that. Feeling like you’re part of the story is way more relevant to me than endless photos of models. It’s the back-end that I’m interested in. Maybe the beginning can be limited membership that only up and coming designers can access? After they build up their profiles it can be released to their top fans and then released to the general public? Initial exclusivity is generally key. I’d be interested in seeing what the layout for this app is!! Hope all goes well :)
Do you use Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Tumblr to follow fashion brands, retailers or trends? 1. Mostly email lists rather than social media. 2. I use Pinterest to follow brands. 3. I follow Sol-Sol on tumblr and Instagram (although that’s not a brand or retailer). 4. Facebook and Tumblr somewhat. 5. I think I like a few brand pages on Facebook but not significantly. 6. Instagram the most. Pinterest is second. I follow brands on Facebook to find out about new sales/merch.
CHOSEN CONCEPT Out of all of my brainstormed ideas, I have chosen to go with the fourth one, where users can connect with fashion designers. From this idea, I defined and finalized the concept and goals further by answering what, who, how, and most importantly why.
W H AT ? PROJECT TITLE ASOS Studio
OVERVIEW An iPhone app that connects twenty-something fashion-lovers (“admirers”) with new and already established fashion designers (“designers”) through mobile interaction.
DESCRIPTION What if we could connect ourselves to the brands that we wear and the designers who makes the clothes that we love? What if we could put the fashion designers in the spotlight, and make them the rockstars and not drag the attention entirely on ourselves (i.e. street style)? What if we could communicate to the clothing designers like we can do with celebrities, companies, musicians, actors, and artists on social media? How can new or established fashion designers showcase their work online and build a following like musicians can on Soundcloud or graphic designers on Dribbble? How can we feel a part of their story as much as they are a part of our daily lives? How can we provide input on their clothing and open up a conversation with the fashion designer? How can we learn about a brand and find the ways its story relates to our beliefs and values? Example 1: TOMS. People loved TOMS for their campaign to give shoes to the needy when you buy their shoes. The shoes themselves were shitty quality and we knew they were expensive, but we could get behind their charity and wanted to be a part of their campaign. We wanted to help. And as TOMS became more popular the word spread and TOMS became a trend. But what if we learned about TOMS and their campaign through an app that specializes in making the stories of brands a forefront?
D E S C R I P T I O N ( C O N T. ) Example 2: DJs/Producers (metaphor). Five-ten years ago, producers were brushed aside. It was all about the vocalist, all about the singer, the performer, the lead. The one you went to go see at a show that performed on stage for you and held the mic. But once electronic music became a trend and more noticeable in media, people started to realize and respect actual producers of music. These producers gained the praise of their fans through Soundcloud or “word-ofmouth” on social media, a very underground way but still global in the sense that the music content was independently driven but global where everyone who has internet access can listen to their music. From there, DJs played their music too. And producers would play shows and play their own music and other people’s music in DJ sets and the producers became the rockstars, not the singer that’s holding the mic anymore. So what if the new fashion trend is to make the fashion designers the rockstars? It’s been tried on Project Runway, but how can it become a personal, social, mobile thing? We can think of fashion designers and brands that are considered rockstars. Michael Kors, Coach, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci... but those are for the more expensive high fashion. What if there was a young fashion designer who was just starting to find their aesthetic and they put their work out there for everyone to see, people caught on and they developed a fan base. This designer could talk to their fans, communicate with them, receive feedback, get influenced, sell their work and inspire others. From there they grow and grow and then get connected with the right people and become a trendsetter themselves and become successful. I love the idea of connecting with a story. I love the idea of feeling like you’re a part of someone’s journey, even if you’re not necessarily really close to that person relationship-wise. To follow them through their ups and downs and eventually see them succeed, is a very exciting thing. And it’s nice to follow this person’s career with other people. Other people you can talk to about the fashion designer’s work. Example 3: Macklemore’s creative journey. Many people that I know, including myself, liked Macklemore from the beginning of his music career. Those first few EPs, singles and albums that no one really knew about except for some Seattleites. Once he made The Heist and landed all of the success he has, as an early fan we felt so proud and connected to his story and his journey. Example 4: YouTubers. YouTube has been a platform for personalities and video-creators to post their work for everyone to see. Anyone who joins the site has the potential to grow from a few subscribers to millions of fans. This connection with this person feels real with the way subscribers can talk to the YouTuber, and become involved in their channel.
A P P F E AT U R E S • Loading screen will be simple with the logo. • First-time users will be taken through a welcome/introduction series learning about the app and ultimately signing up or signing in. • App will have the ability for fashion designers to showcase their work. Whether it is a work in progress or a new collection on the market. As a new fashion designer there will be potential to grow in fans and recognition. • Profiles for admirers and profiles for designers. When establishing a profile, the person will pick if they are a designer or an admirer. • Profiles will include areas to customize picture, name, location, description, social media links, and blog/website link. Profiles for designers will be more detailed and visual, including streams of their posts and other user’s pictures of them wearing their designs. A new user will have the option to sign up with Facebook or with email. • Users can follow their favorite designers to keep up to date with their work and support them. • Admirers can ‘like’ and comment on posts made by designers. Liking posts gives the user the ability to collect some of their favorite styles/designs for inspiration or general interest in buying the clothes. Comments are a way to provide feedback on a look made by a fashion designer. These comments open up the conversation and give the admirer an opportunity to interact with their favorite designers. Comments and likes can also be made on admirers’ posts. • ‘Liked’ items are available for view on an admirers’ profile. • Admirers can post pictures of themselves wearing their favorite designer’s clothing and tag designers onto specific items. These photos will show up on a the designer’s profile if they’re tagged. They will also show up on the admirer’s profile (the one who posted the picture). • There will be a live stream of trending (popular) posts and a stream from those that the user admires. • Admirers can only follow designers. • This app also has a styles feature. Styles (i.e. punk, hipster, girly, dapper, bowties, etc.) are treated as hashtags. There is a live stream of popular styles on the streams page and on each profile there is a page for that user’s most used styles associated with their posts. • All users of the app (designer or admirer) will have the ability to directly message each other. • Activity will be available to view for any logged in user. Notifications to phone are optional (changed under settings). This will show activity of the latest likes, comments, messages and admirers (if designer) you recieve. • Settings will include ways to edit your profile, sign out, app details, turn on/off push notifications and specify which notifications to recieve. • There will be a basic search feature. • When a fashion designer wants to make a post, they can post either photos or videos and add a description to the post. They can also share the post to their connected social media accounts. Admirers can do the same except they cannot post videos. Admirers must tag their photo with which designer’s clothing they are wearing. There will be a share feature on all posts to outside sources. • There will be a legal agreement for all users to not copy and produce a designers early progress to ensure their idea isn’t stolen and to feel comfortable with posting their progress. This is part of the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions among other things.
W H AT ? C O M P E T I T I V E A N A LY S I S
The Style.com app gives you unlimited access to the world’s fashion and runway coverage on your iPhone and iPad from the authority in fashion media. Instantly get the latest ready-to-wear, couture, resort and menswear shows from the world’s fashion capitals including New York, Paris, Milan, London and more. In addition to every catwalk look, you can get up-to-themoment party coverage, industry news and access to Style.com’s entire video library. The Style.com app includes: Fashion Shows, Party Coverage, Look of the Day (street style), and Videos. PROS: Considered the best fashion app. This is the go-to source not only for up-to-the minute fashion news, show reviews and catwalk images, but an extensive archive that goes back to autumn/winter 2000. There are also interviews, beauty news and trend pieces to fill the gap between fashion weeks. CONS: Design is not that great. The interface - including menus, buttons and icons - seem very standard or default to the iPhone. There is no orginality or inspiration in the app design. It seems to try to focus on the functionality and imagery rather than having a unique interface.
Pose is the fashion and beauty app for figuring out what to wear each day. Open the app’s daily dashboard to see personalized outfit ideas based on your weather and location. Every morning, Pose has brand new recommendations and styles for you to explore. With Pose, you’ll never have to struggle with what to wear, no matter where your day take you. Pose includes: Shop, Follow and Discover What To Wear, and Curate. PROS: When you sign up, you fill out a short survey that helps identify your personal style and subsequently finds people with similar taste that you can follow for inspiration. And if you follow your favorite retailers, you can get a heads up about upcoming sales and specials. The design of the app is a lot more unique and beautiful than the Style.com app. Its interface is appealing, with the thin icons and airy imagery. Its clean but still fun and interesting. CONS: The phone application is more visually appealing than the actual website. Some image overlaying is a bit too much. Very feminine in design.
Trendabl lets you follow your favorite Tastemakers like Michael Kors, DVF, BCBG, Tory Burch, Alice and Olivia, BarneysNY, Wildfox, Jeffrey Campbell and so many more. Share your own fashion by snapping a photo, adding a cool filter and tagging the brand. Shop your favorite items right from your feed! Add items from multiple merchants and hit the Buy button once. PROS: Popular for being the “instagram of fashion”. You have the ability to follow brands, shop, and take your own pictures. CONS: Besides the nice flat icons for category in the 5th screenshot, the rest of the icons and buttons are bad, too gradient-based, and dated. The design of this app can be improved. Interface for photos is a bit too much like Instagram, almost copying it.
W H AT ? C O M P E T I T I V E A N A LY S I S
Lyst’s iPhone app gives you access to the world’s fashion in one place. View and buy the latest pieces from thousands of fashion brands, boutiques and collections from a unique Stylefeed, created to your personal tastes. When you love a piece, Lyst it. We’ll then help you locate and purchase your Lysted items at the best available price. If an item you love is out of stock, we will keep searching for it and let you know the moment we have tracked it down. And we’ll alert you as soon as the price of any product you have Lysted has been reduced. Lyst has a lot of features for fashion inspiration as well. PROS: Good concept of “lyst”ing things. The company understands that your style is personal, so your shopping experience should be personal. CONS: Way too clean. Actually boring in its design. I know that images are important when shopping and looking for fashion inspiration, but at least make the interface unique.
Styletag is a shoppable fashion-sharing app, where style inspiration becomes reality. “Tag your Fashion. Get your Style.” Discover Great Style: Styletag is an endless resource for drool-worthy outfit/accessory images shared by top fashion bloggers, celebs, fashion insiders, and general users. Shop Great Style: Like what you see? Styletag tells you exactly how to get the look, from brand names and where-to-buy info to suggested items with a similar feel. Share Great Style: Styletag is an easy, convenient ways to share/post your Outfit of the Day. Share with other users what you’re wearing and where you got it. Just a few taps and you’re a style star!
Tory Daily features content from the Tory Blog, highlights exclusive products, and enables mobile shopping (free shipping!). Plus you get daily curated stories on style, culture, travel, entertaining, music and philanthropy from Ms. Burch and her team of super-savvy contributors.
PROS: The app will update you with real-time photos of fashion styles found on the street. The design has a nice interface, and that used teal color really pops on the clean white design. The “My Lookbook” feature is nice.
CONS: I wish the beautiful orange used in the app icon was integrated into the design. The design is bland, and the type is too huge in some entries. The menu bar is not attractive. Too much white and too default-y.
CONS: Too much white. All of these fashion apps seem to want to be all white, and they’re all starting to look the same and have the same features.
PROS: Gives fashion-lovers a personal experience into the world of a fashion designer, Tory Burch. From culture to philanthropy, users can feel like they’re a part of Tory’s world. Most popular app that centralizes focus on an actual fashion designer.
WHO? U S E R G OA L S / P R I O R I T Y P Y R A M I D
AUDIENCE PERSONAS / SCENARIOS
20%
high priority
30%
medium priorty
50%
low priority As a fashion designer: • Showcase their work to their admirers. • Display their design process and their new projects. • Interact with their admirers and recieve inspiration, advice, and support. • Develop a following or a fan-base. • Be trendsetters for admirers and display admirers wearing their clothing. • Be transparent about their design process and projects. • Potentially develop a lot of success. • Be a rockstar! As an admirer: • Admire their favorite fashion designers. • Feel connected to a designer’s story and good about wearing their clothing. • Learn about a designer’s process and admire a project from the beginning. • Interact with the designers by providing likes and comments on their posts. • Display how they wear their favorite designer’s clothes by posting their own image and tagging the designer(s). • Can give advice, praise, or share posts. • Showcase your main style using #’s and view a stream of popular styles. • Have a real-time update from all of your admirings and featured designers. • Collect ‘liked’ posts which you can view on your profile.
Kathryn Bates, 21 College Student New York, New York
Tiffany Haze, 24 Aspiring Music Aritst Los Angeles, California
Brandon Kole, 29 Marketing Consultant London, United Kingdom
Kathryn or “Kat” is a student at Parsons The New School for Design. She studies fashion design and wants to share her work with the world and the process she takes to get to her ideas and collections. She is young, and knows that being on social media can really get your foot in the door, but is struggling to be noticed. She has a few connections, but she wants to have more. Kat goes to fashion events locally when she can, to network and support the big-shot fashion designers in the industry.
Tiffany is in the early stages of her music career, as a pop/hiphop vocalist. She loves to perform, and has played a few gigs. She is excited to tour on the west coast after her new album releases. Her success on Soundcloud really landed her a lot of local fame, and she is thankful for that.
Brandon is a marketing consultant for KAE in London. He has lived in London all of his life but has traveled to many places. His marketing strategies hold a foundation in mobile, digital platforms and social media, which he feels is a major part of a companies success. He’s either listening to music or is on his phone constantly for work and for his own personal social media persuits.
Kat learned about the new ASOS app targeted for fashion designers from a fellow student at Parsons. She has already know about ASOS and loved shopping on their website as well as got fashion insporation from ASOS Fashion Finder, for her own style and for her designs. She has a lot of apps on her iPhone already, but none of them are specific for her field.
As a young fashion designer, I want to get noticed. I try to post my work on Instagram and Pintrest, but I don’t feel like those sites are specific to what I want. With this new ASOS app, I feel accepted and am excited to start sharing my process and my work. I love my followers!
Tiffany has been known to have a unique style. Her friends always love shopping with her so that she can give them advice on what to pick out. Tiffany is into photography and does a little bit of modeling. She loves street style and follows a lot of street style blogs like Hel Looks and Streetgeist. She loves to go thrift shopping but also loves shopping online. She has known of ASOS for a while, especially their magazine and their free shipping! She goes to ASOS for inspiration and a retail experience that she enjoys. Tiffany likes to stick to brands that she loves to wear, and when she heard about the new ASOS app she downloaded it right away so she could follow brands like Faith and Boy London.
I love being a trendsetter. Combining clothes into unique outfits that I can rock at a show or on the streets of LA is something that I love to do. I’m glad ASOS has an app where I can follow brands and designers I love so I can keep up with their work and feel a part of their story.
Brandon gets complemented on his style in person but mostly online for his amazing steet style photography. He has a lot of followers, even on ASOS’s own Fashion Finder. Brandon has always had a passion for looking out for the latest trends in fashion. His outfits are always well put together. He sticks to some brands he likes but also likes to learn about new brands that hold true to his style. He loves to support emerging/new designers and musicians. When he started using the ASOS app for following fashion designers, he joined immediately.
I enjoy the fact that I can inspire others with my style. I always love telling people where I get my clothes, and I recommend brands for them to check out. I’m always open to learn about new clothing designers and get inspired by their work.
WHY? / HOW? OV E R A L L G OA L Connect twenty-something fashion-lovers (“admirers”) with new and already established fashion designers (“designers”).
SOURCE OF CONTENT The content for admirer profiles will come from the user’s Facebook and/or inputted information and images. New designers and new admirers can sign up for the app as new users. Most of the content, besides the foundation/functionality of the app, will be user generated. From posts designers make on their project and clothes, or posts that admirers make of themselves wearing specific designer’s clothing. The main user-generated content experience is the stream an admirer will recieve from all of their admirings. The user chose these designers and decided that they wanted to see their posts. And those posts are created by designers/ users as well.
MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES • Contact Information Within ASOS Studio, there will be basic contact information visible on each user’s profile. The information provided and seen are a username, location, description/about, website, photo, social media links and a way to directly and privately contact that person through the app. • Notifications/Alerts/Reminders While using the app, users will recieve notifications about new likes, comments, messages and admirers they recieve. These notifications are given within the app and also as push notifications (which can be turned off if the user desires). • Camera When a user creates a new post, they are taken to a view of all of their phone’s internal pictures and videos that they can post. There is also an option to take a picture or video then and there to post. • Social Aspects The whole app is designed as a social network, one in which fashion designers and admirers can interact with each other through likes, comments, messages, following and streams. On each post there is an option to share it. When this is initiated, a standard iOS window will open to pick your desired share platform. When a user posts a new image or video, they can also share it on their own social media accounts once the post is made on the app. Every user has their own profile, and the conten is mainly usergenerated.
CONTENT OUTLINE Loading Screen • App logo Welcome Series • Series of 5 screens for first-time users giving an introduction to the app and ultimately a way to sign in or sign up. Sign In / Sign Up • Sign In with Facebook or Username. Option to click forgotten password. • Sign Up with Facebook or email. Sign Up agrees to Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy. Name, username, email address, and password (confirm) are entered. Stream • Stream of admirings, trending posts, and styles. • If a user is not admiring anyone yet, they will get an “oops” message. Profile (designers) • Customizable picture, name, location, about, social media links, and blog/website link. Profiles for designers will have in addition a customizable banner, and their philosphy. • See their posts, info, styles, tagged photos of their designs and admirers. Profile (admirers) • Customizable picture, name, location, about, social media links, and blog/website link. • See their posts (tagged photos), styles, info, likes and admirings. Post (designers) • Choose photo or video from their phone (or take a new one) and enter in a description (including style # tags). Option to share the post on connected social media. Post (admirers) • Choose photo or video from their phone (or take a new one) of themselves where they tag the designer(s) they are wearing. They can also add a description (including style # tags) and share the post on connected social media. Messages • View private messages and send messages. Settings • Settings will include ways to edit your profile, sign out, view app details, turn on/off push notifications and chose which kinds of alerts to recieve. Activity • Activity such as new likes, comments, messages and admirers (if designer). Search • Basic text-based search.
HOW? SITE MAP Loading Screen
Welcome for first-time users
Sign In / Sign Up
Stream
Profile
Post
Messages
Sign In with Facebook or username
Style Stream
Admirer
Designer
Admirer
Designer
Sign Up with Facebook or email
Admiring Stream (seen first)
Styles
Styles
Post Pictures with tag(s)
Post Photos or Videos
Trending Stream
Info
Info
Posts (seen first)
Posts (seen first)
Likes
Tagged
Admiring
Admirers
Settings
Activity (anytime)
Search (anytime)
DESIGN SKETCHES
Opening Screen
Welcome Screen
Designer/Admirer
Sign In
Sign Up
Profile Setup
Designer Profile
Single Post View
Admirer Post
Designer Post
Stream
Trending Stream
Style Stream
Style Stream
Nav Menu
Admirer Profile
Search
Alerts
Private Messages
Settings
Designer Post
M O O D B O A R D & I N S P I R AT I O N
LOGO DESIGN FA S H I O N D E S I G N E R W O R D L I S T Mannequin, needle/thread, sketchy texture, color palate, fabric, measure tape, sewing machine, spool of thread, pins, buttons, scissors, iron, close pin.
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