Garment Goodbyes
Team-based UX research project investigating the challenges young adults face when disposing of unwanted clothing and identifying opportunities for improvement.
Role
Team
Tools
Timeline
UX Researcher
David Baum, Drake Wielar
Miro, Google Forms, Zoom, Mural
Jan 2024 - Mar 2024
Challenge
Many young adults face significant challenges when attempting to dispose of unwanted clothing. With the rise of fast fashion and the overwhelming array of clothing choices available, they often struggle to determine the best course of action for their excess garments. Through interviews, a survey, and usability testing, our team aimed to gain insights into the specific dilemmas encountered by young adults in this regard. We focused our research on the clothing disposal process, utilizing the Salvation Army's website as our primary resource. Our goal was to identify the positive and negative aspects of young adults' clothing disposal experiences and provide recommendations to improve efficiency in managing clothing.
Study Goals
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Identify the motivations and pain points young adults face when disposing of unwanted clothing.
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This goal aims to understand both the reasons behind young adults' decisions regarding clothing disposal and the specific challenges or pain points they encounter during the process.
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Understand the factors influencing their decision-making process.
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This goal focuses on gaining insight into the factors influencing young adults' choices when deciding what to do with their clothing, which is essential for understanding their behavior and preferences.
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Provide recommendations for improving the disposal process.
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The goal aims to provide actionable recommendations to streamline the clothing disposal process for young adults.
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Research Questions
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Why do young adults sell versus donate clothing?
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What could make it easier for young people to sustainably get rid of clothing they no longer need?
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How do young adults go about deciding to keep or get rid of their clothing?
Survey
We administered a 10-question survey to 31 participants to bolster our interview findings and touch on potential gaps left unanswered. A variety of questions were presented to the participants, with the major themes of the questions being: motivations, emotional valence, and other factors that contributed to the process of getting rid of clothes. We also gave participants the opportunity to share how they felt the process could be alleviated.
Key Findings
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74% of the participants identified time and effort as the most important determining factor for how they dealt with clothing.
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Participants indicated they felt significantly more positive about donating clothing than selling.
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Participants felt that the process was normally confusing and inconvenient.
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Participants suggested that increasing donation locations and pickup services would simplify the process.
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Majority of participants rarely dealt with old clothes, but when they did the main three reasons they got rid of clothing were it being worn out, not fitting, or having too many articles.
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Participants' focused firstly on how easy the process would be.
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When emotions were present, they primarily felt sentimental and nostalgic about getting rid of clothing.
User Interviews
We conducted 1-1 interviews with three participants on Zoom to understand the experiences and challenges of young adults when disposing of unwanted clothing. We aimed to explore their preferences, emotional attachments, and behaviors surrounding clothing disposal, specifically regarding donation and selling.
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Two out of three participants preferred donating unwanted clothing over selling.
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All participants acknowledged emotional attachment to certain clothing items, which they perceived as a potential challenge to parting with them.
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All participants cited convenience and altruistic motives as reasons for favoring donation.
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Two participants admitted they had never sold clothing, indicating a preference for donation.
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All participants were willing to consider alternative disposal methods if they were more convenient or less time-consuming.
Persona
After analyzing the collected data, we created a set of personas to guide our future research. We created three personas but selected Odelia as the focal point for our ongoing research as she represented the largest demographic among our young adult participants.
Odelia’s persona highlights the significance of time and convenience for young adults when managing their clothing. We also included other traits derived from our survey and interview data, such as feelings of frustration or annoyance related to clothing donation. Additionally, there is a secondary focus on the importance of creating space by decluttering excess clothing.
Storyboard
Our storyboard follows Odelia's journey through the challenges of disposing of unwanted clothing. Through visual frames, we depict key moments in her experience, capturing the frustrations and decisions she faces throughout the donation process. This narrative provides insight into the specific pain points experienced by our target audience.
Design Session
A remote design session was conducted on Zoom with three participants to ideate solutions for a sustainable clothing disposal app. The session included brainstorming user flows, affinity mapping features, and wireframing the interface.
Goals
Brainstorm Solutions: Generate ideas to simplify the clothing disposal process for young adults, addressing convenience and emotional attachment.
User Journey and Flow: Develop a user journey map or user flow to visualize the app’s navigation and overall process.
Wireframe App Interface: Create low-fidelity wireframes of key app screens to visualize the app's functionality and user experience.
Feature Prioritization: Identify and prioritize key features and functionalities for the app based on user research insights.
Key Activities & Artifacts
User Journey Mapping
A collaborative sketching exercise where each participant contributed to defining the step-by-step process for the user.
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Participants took turns deciding on the next step and sketched illustrations alongside each stage.
Affinity Mapping
Participants brainstormed features individually, then grouped them into categories to identify patterns.
This helped in prioritizing functionalities based on user needs.
Crazy 8's Wireframing
Participants brainstormed features individually, then grouped them into categories to identify patterns.
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This helped in prioritizing functionalities based on user needs.
What Went Well
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Active participation in sketching user flows.
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Feature prioritization aligned well with user needs.
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Wireframes showcased creative solutions, even from participants without UX backgrounds.
Challenges & Learnings
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Time Management: The session lasted longer than planned. Allocating a buffer time in future sessions will help manage expectations.
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Idea Overlap: Many participants had similar ideas due to prior research insights, reinforcing the importance of diverse perspectives in brainstorming.
Next Steps
Following the design session, the next phase of the Garment Goodbyes project will focus on refining the concepts generated and testing initial prototypes. The key steps include:
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​​Developing Low-Fidelity Prototypes: Using the wireframe sketches from the session, low-fidelity prototypes will be created to establish basic functionality and user interactions.
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Conducting Usability Testing: Participants from the target audience will test the low-fidelity prototypes to evaluate ease of use, clarity of navigation, and overall user experience.
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Iterating Based on Feedback: Insights from usability testing will inform necessary design adjustments, ensuring that the app effectively addresses user needs, such as simplifying clothing disposal and making donation options more accessible.
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Creating High-Fidelity Prototypes: Once key interactions are validated, high-fidelity prototypes with refined UI elements and branding will be developed.
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Final Usability Testing & Design Handoff: Additional usability testing will be conducted to finalize interactions before preparing the designs for development. The goal is to ensure the app is intuitive, engaging, and meets the needs of young adults looking for sustainable ways to part with their clothing.