ARMOIRE: Buy Now & Re-wear Home Page
Design Concept | Mobile + Desktop
Team: Zara Anderson, Alexander Yamato, Olena Khomchenko & Sarah McMurchie
Role: UX Designer
Deliverables: Research synthesis, competitive research, conducted user testing, created an interactive prototype, and visual mock-ups
Giving professional women a way to access fashion that is easy, fast, and fun.
What is Armoire?
Armoire is a Seattle-based clothing rental service for women. They give women unlimited access to designer pieces for a set monthly price. Their items are highly-personalized based on insights from their algorithm and on-staff personal stylists.
Project Focus
For this project, we worked on four main components: a buy now feature, a review flow and the overall re-wear home page. These projects were all nestled under the re-wear section of the website, where users go to visit when they want to re-rent an item.
Problem Statement
How might we create design solutions that help save women time, make renting clothes easier, and increase engagement?
Research
We did both internal and external research to begin our design process. We interviewed the member experience team to better understand recurring pain points members express, as well as reading logs of customer service inquiries. We also did some competitive research, to see how competitive services and other fashion retailers were designing their call to actions and buying process.
User Testing
We rooted our design decisions in specific paint points that user expressed in user testing
Our user testers were from all across the country and ranged in ages 30 - 37. They were all professionals from a plethora of fields - from project managers to registered dietitians. They were all members of Armoire for less than 6 months which gave us a particularly interesting insight in what new users paint points were.
Part 1: Buy Now Design Flow
Problem
There is currently no way for a member to buy an item once they’ve returned it
For Armoire, selling items is a great way to increase revenue. On the right is currently how members are able to buy items, but they can only access this screen when they physically have the items rented out.
Design
We began designing a buy now flow but encountered a few operational issues…
Number of turns
Problem: Because of the nature of renting, a member might not receive the same item they rented before, meaning the number of times the item has been rented out may have changed since the last time they rented it.
Our Solution: Show the number of times an item has been rented out by rating it from light, moderate to heavy.
Shipping
Problem: How would members receive their orders? Because shipping is one of the highest costs for Armoire we wanted to be conscious about how users would receive their items.
Our Solution: Giving a member the choice to ship it with their next “case” (order of rented items) or pay to have it shipped to them directly.
Scarcity
Problem: 2/3 of Armoire’s inventory is out with members, leaving a very slim selections that show up in one’s re-wear page. Most of the time this page only has 1-2 items, if any. This means that users wouldn’t be able to buy items very often.
Our Solution: We wanted to express this in our home page re-design which we’ll visit next.
User Testing Results
Through user testing we came to a major realization…
6/6 of the users we tested did not want to buy clothes from the Re-wear page. They love the renting process and were nervous about fit & quality of buying items they’d never rented before
But we also discovered something interesting…
5/6 of the users we tested believed the item would be available to rent later
Which made us realize that there was an opportunity to provide visibility of unavailable items to potentially increase number of items bought while rented.
Part 2: RE-WEAR HOME PAGE Re-DESIGN
Problem
There is currently no way for a member to see all of the items that they’ve rented out before
For Armoire, transparency is something the site is currently lacking. Many users don’t realize the scarcity of items in inventory. We discovered that by giving users this information, it would encourage them to purchase items the first time they have it rented out.
Design
We began re-designing the home page to show all of the items a member has rented and decided to add some specific features to meet user pain points
1. Renaming “Re-Wear” to “History”
Problem: The current “Re-Wear” section is often empty because 2/3 of Armoire’s items are out of stock at a time.
Our Solution: We renamed the “Re-Wear” section to “History.” By calling it the “History” section, we thought it would better reflect that this section included all of the items that a member has rented out.
2. Unavailable Icon
Problem: Because most of the items in this section are usually unavailable, we still wanted a way to show them without confusing a user.
Our Solution: We created the unavailable button which doesn’t allow the user to “re-wear” the item, but still interact with the item.
3. Filters
Problem: With all of the new content, we recognized the need for the ability to sort through entirety of History section.
Our Solution: Creating filters for members to see specific items. This included available/unavailable items, seasons, ratings, styles, and the month the item was rented out.
4. Column View
Problem: Currently, Armoire only allows users to see a one column view, but with so much more content, we saw the need for users to be able to pick how many items they wanted to see at a time.
Our Solution: We included a one column or two column view toggle.
User Testing Results
Through user testing we built a better Re-Wear page which encompassed all of the pain-points user’s were encountering
5/6 Said they thought the item would still be available to rent later
3/6 liked the idea of a filter options in the Re-wear section
3/4 of click testers said they preferred the icons on the buttons vs without
Part 3: Review DESIGN Flow
Problem
There is currently no way for a member to review an item after they’ve returned it
For Armoire members, reviews on items highly encourage whether they will rent an item. The more reviews and member submitted photos an item has, the more likely it is to be rented. All items should ideally have a review since members are asked to review items before returning them, however if a member doesn’t have time they simply won’t add a comment or photo which is the most important components of the review for other members.
Design
We began designing a review flow that gave more power to the user and increased transparency across the re-wear homepage
1. Access/Edit Past Review Comments
Problem: When a member doesn’t have time to properly review an item, they don’t leave a comment review which is the most helpful type of review.
Our Solution: Allowing a member to go back and edit their reviews or add a new one gives them a chance to this at their own leisure.
2. Upload Photos for Reviews
Problem: Currently rentable items don’t have many user uploaded photos, but most members mentioned that this was a helpful feature when looking to rent an item.
Our Solution: Allowing members to go back and be able to upload photos of them in items gives them a chance to this at their own leisure.
3. Unavailable Information
Problem: Most of the items in the History section will be unavailable since 2/3 of Armoire’s inventory is out with members at a time, but there isn’t an explanation for this that members can easily access. Currently, members will reach out to Armoire’s members support when they can’t re-rent an item.
Our Solution: By giving members an information button on the ghost “Add to Case” button, they can learn more about why the item isn’t available and can also access the “Ask my Stylist” button; a feature Armoire wants to encourage more members to utilize when they need help.
User Testing Results
Through user testing we found that providing accessibility to review at any time increases flexibility for members and facilitates more reviews
6/6 Found photos and reviews helpful for determining fit
4/6 Members don’t upload photos or leave comments
Key Findings
Originally, Armoire believed that members wanted an option to buy after they had returned an item; through user testing we discovered that users just wanted more transparency - so that’s what we gave them.
“We are eager and excited to bring your designs to life. You really heard our needs as a business as well as the needs of our customers, and have built some amazing solutions that serve everyone.”
— Katrina Taylor (Head of UX at Armoire)
Next Steps
Conduct usability tests on each design solution with a larger number of Armoire members.
Explore filter usage and preferred default states for member’s “History” section.