Problem Definition

Think Beyond Shopping.

By learning more about consumers, I discovered an exciting phenomenon among young adults. The young adults of Gen Z show great interest and willingness to participate in events and campaigns related to sustainable fashion. Yet, they are one of the biggest consumers of fast fashion when compared to other customer segments.

The video shows DD's experience buying a jumper online. As her search begins, she is bombarded with many external influences such as limited-time offers, sales, and discounts that she then takes the time to tediously compare against other retailers.

The key insight is that these influences become a problem for consumers like DD who now spend less time contemplating the item's future in her wardrobe, and are compelled to overconsume. There are more fashion wanderers like DD. They have a passion for fashion and try to buy clothes that show their character, but at the same time, see sustainable fashion as a category of clothing rather than a way of living.

They need to train their mind to know what they should avoid wearing and what they want to wear from their previous experiences. Essentially, they need to learn how to make more with less.

Mission & Goals

Build Your Style Standards

My final project, "Wear Over Two-Hundred Times", helps fashionistas seeking to build their wardrobe to make better purchasing decisions that are not influenced by external factors like marketing or price mark-downs. The 'over two hundred times' refers to the average use of clothes 15 years ago, as a reminiscence of the time before fast-fashion became a trend and criticism on today's number which only reaches approximately 120 times. The title works as a nudge to consumers as a minimum goal to achieve.

WOT understands an individual's style based on previous outfit patterns inputted by the user. So, the prototype was formed along the lines of a digital wardrobe, as it's a more effective way to organize and record the number of uses per item. However, unlike other digital wardrobe services that mainly focus on recording daily outfits and sharing them with others, I see the opportunity for WOT to turn these records into analytical summaries and comparisons for the user. With this information, they can better understand their style habits and find ways they can consume more sustainably as a result. The video for this section shows how WOT could change the journey of fashion wanderers like DD.

Interactions

Enjoy what you wear.

As a recap of the service, WOT provides three different ways that users could enjoy what they wear and learn about their own fashion habits. First, the service helps individuals become aware of their styling habits through summaries of their recorded outfits and preference surveys. Second is the rewards function that nudges users to achieve daily missions and seasonal challenges that encourage adaptive and sustainable clothing habits. Lastly, the third feature will help users compare purchase options when shopping based on the user's patterns so that the item's longevity is prioritised. If you like to see the previews of these three functions, you can find them on the WOT site.

In the future, I see a potential for the service to grow beyond a B2C model. The network of organisations procuring sustainable fashion, such as the Wewearagain Campaign, or brands aiming for slow growth, including upcycling designers, will help deliver the contents that trigger the newness of the events rather than the products. In return, WOT aims to create value from the accumulated anonymous data from users who consent to support the server and maintenance of the service.