Diya Bhatia — ReNew

ReNew

Designing a mobile app to promote circular fashion.

Fast fashion is one of the biggest drivers of climate change.

Donation centers and landfills are constantly overrun with clothing as overconsumption habits and fast fashion trends take over the world. After talking to local thrift store Angels in the Attic in Floyd, VA, I discovered that 51% of donations end up in the landfill anyway.

How can we encourage consumers to adopt more sustainable habits?

To learn more about what motivates people to get rid of an item, I surveyed 105 individuals on their shopping habits. From the results, I found that women get rid of clothing more often than men, often multiple times a year. I shifted my focus to finding ways to save clothing from the end of the cycle before they’re ready.

There are no platforms that focus on local clothing swap meetups.

The most used online platforms for giving clothing a second life (Poshmark and Depop) are shipping products nation-wide, increasing the buyer’s carbon footprint despite buying second-hand clothing. This led me to explore a third route for clothing, where women can rely on their communities to find new items when their clothing no longer fit their personal needs.

Identifying a user group to tailor my design approach with consumer needs

Honing into one specific user group allowed me to tailor the application to attract more users in one subset than overall users. I focused on a group that is young enough to be following trends yet still able to make conscious decisions for the betterment of the planet.

Unfortunately, finding the “perfect fit” can be rare in a thrift store.

Many women who thrift report that they struggle to find the item they want in the size they need. I configured my design to make sure women have a higher success rate at finding the style and fit.

Developing a vision for the MVP version of ReNew.

Using familiar apps and interfaces as inspiration, I began sketching out my ideas to visualize what ReNew should look like. This is when I had the idea to create an experience similar to a dating app; this way, instead of passively scrolling through a list of clothes, users can separately view each item without feeling overwhelmed.

Users liked gamified aspects of the design, but wanted to see more focus on human involvement

I conducted user testing during both during the low-fidelity and high-fidelity phases to make the user experience as smooth as possible. Here’s what I learned:

One user expressed that there was a lack of human presence until later in the low-fidelity prototype, which I updated in the high-fidelity prototype with more images and illustrations
Some users had trouble interacting with the Feed the first time, which led me to add a “how to use” feature the first time users download the application
ReNew’s algorithm will only be effective with a large number of users for Swappers to match with. Many users claimed that the onoboarding process should be as short as possible, which led me to cut down some of the unnecessary onboarding information

Renew: reimagining clothing swaps in the digital age

Setting up your account

Users will get introduced to the application and its goals upon first download, giving them a brief overlook over the company’s goals and values. The onboarding process is short and efficient, gathering basic information before users can get started.

Adding your first item

Upon creating an account, users will be guided on how to add their first item to their profile, adding photos and a short description.

Finding the perfect swap

The Explore Feed allows users to scroll through other Swappers’ posts, where they can Like or Dislike items. The more Swappers in a user’s swapping radius, the more likely they are to find a Swap.

Messaging your swapper

Once two users mutually decide to swap items (i.e. Like an item on each others’ page) they’ll be able to contact each other to figure out a meeting place and time.

Connecting with your community

The Community page allows users to post and discover events - like public clothing swaps - and ask questions to fellow Swappers.

Reflection

ReNew was an opportunity to take a familiar concept and put a fresh spin on it. By implementing a dating app-like interface, I hope to draw in more of a younger generation - specifically college students - who are familiar with the user interface and can have an exciting new way to experience clothing swaps.