Timeline

• May - June 2022 (5 weeks)

Mirror was founded 1994 as a clothing store targeting an audience looking for cheap clothing for any occasion, along the same wave that brought us Old Navy and H&M. Their main idea is to make any type of clothing accessible to everyone. They believe clothing doesn’t have to be expensive to last forever. Mirror is very successful offline. With over 400 stores around the world in 32 countries, consumer perceptions around their stores suggest an experience that is not fancy, but clean and well taken care of.

BACKGROUND

Mirror lacks a prominent online presence and is in need of a major rebrand. Many customers who are unable to find specific articles of clothing in their correct size, color, etc. often resort to searching online for their clothing which puts a company such as Mirror at a disadvantage because they are lacking an online presence.

• Identify the factors that go into a positive shopping experience when customers are using their website to buy clothing

• Understand what can customers do when they cannot find specific articles of clothing in person

• Research and test how much does the average customer spend online and how can we make sure that they are a frequent customer

Build a desktop and mobile website for Mirror. If you are viewing on mobile, please click on the images below to view the enlarged version for readability.

We analyzed 5 clothing companies that our target demographic often shop at. We found that their online websites and mobile apps provide e-commerce and other features, but are not inclusive in terms of carrying a variety of sizes and clothing options all on one comprehensive platform. This exposed a gap in the market for a clothing brand that provides all of these options.

The competition did not provide a seamless and inclusive shopping experience.

Participants use or have used e-commerce websites, but have not felt compelled to shop at a specific platform consistently.

Since we found from research that a seamless and inclusive online shopping experience was missing, we conducted interviews with 5 participants who have purchased products from e-commerce websites. We asked them the questions below to understand more about their experiences and pain points when it comes to the online browsing and purchasing process.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
1. Before we begin, would you mind telling me a bit about yourself?
2. Walk me through what a typical online shopping experience for you looks like.
3. Can you tell me about a website that always gives you great online shopping experience?
4. What makes a shopping experience online easier for you?
5. What do you wish you could change about some online clothing websites?

Our participants experience various limitations and hindrances when shopping for and purchasing clothing online. If you are viewing on mobile, please click on the image below to view the enlarged version for readability.

This task flow introduces a scenario where a user searches for a specific product, adds it to their cart, and purchases the products from the website. The following wireframes were created based on the main insights that were discovered through the initial interviews which include a quick add feature for each product, extensive size range options, and an image based interface. Click on the images below to view the file for enlarged viewing.

During the first iteration process, the challenge of this project’s website being in “dark mode” started to cause some difficulty because the original idea of having a black background as a part of the website was too challenging for the user to read over. This left us to take Mirror’s UI in a new direction, redesigning the full color palette and rearranging the features for usability.

We continued to user test our first iteration, and based on user testing and stakeholder feedback, we continuously iterated on our design to include 3 major improvements.

Changing the Background

• Based on feedback given during user testing, users mentioned that they find it harder to read text over a black background

• The background was then changed to a midnight blue

• Research indicated that an inclusive and simple website is very important when shopping for clothes online

• This is why we designed Mirror’s website in a way that utilizes the best current option for browsing and purchasing clothing products

• Customers will now be able to easily, reliably, and seamlessly browse and make purchases without the typical inconveniences that prevent customers from shopping for clothes online

• Overall, this project took 5 weeks to complete

• A challenge I experienced during this process was figuring out how to implement a dark mode background into the new website

• Something I would do differently next time is conduct more research on individuals who are more familiar with shopping online, and ask my users more specific questions during interviews based on their feedback