Sustainable Closet
Side Project
2023
UX Designer & Researcher — Competitor Analysis, Focus Group & Interviews, Design Strategy, Prototyping, Usability Testing
My role
Jenny Liu, Dorothy Li (Design)
Xiaolin Ni (Research)
Team
Sep 2023 - Dec 2023
Timeline
For my Persuasive Design class project, my team and I explored sustainability in fast fashion. Our goal was to raise consumer awareness on fast fashion sustainability and help them make more eco-conscious decisions when shop for clothes.
We conducted research, concept validation, multiple rounds of testing and delivered designs for a digital closet mobile app that encourages sustainable behaviors.
We presented our final solution to 50+ students and faculty, receiving very positive feedback and discussions.
Overview
CONTEXT
The hidden cost of fast fashion
Fast fashion has become a popular choice for clothing, especially among younger generation, because of the ever-changing trends and its affordability. However, this convenience comes with environmental cost. Our goal was to understand current purchasing behaviors and explore ways to encourage more eco-friendly purchasing habits.
FINAL SOLUTIONS
A sustainable closet on your phone
Over 3 months, our team conducted in-depth background and user research, and designed a digital closet experience in the form of a mobile app. Embedding cognitive-behavior theories, we enhanced the effectiveness of raising people’s awareness on sustainability issues, subtly influenced their purchasing habits.
Tailored outfit inspiration
To help users solve the “what to wear” problem and curb impulsive shopping for redundant pieces, the closet provides daily outfit inspirations. These suggestions are tailored to difference occasions, based on user’s collection and weather, encouraging more mindful, creative use of their clothes.
Understand the sustainability of your choices
Along with other information such as price, brand, color, we integrated a sustainability metric to represent the “eco-score” of the item. When scanning or browsing items, users can learn about sustainability information as well as more eco-friendly options.
Personalized AI Assistant
This lovely Earth assistant offers everything from outfit ideas to monthly closet summary. It also pops up from time to time with shopping suggestions, changing it’s appearance based on the sus score, prompting eco-conscious decisions in a friendly manner.
Measure your eco-impact from profile
Instead of a traditional user profile, the closet has a eco-profile that measures the user’s eco-impact, highlighting users’ achievements and sustainable behaviors. Additionally, the profile includes data to inform users about their styling habits and hidden gem in their closet.
User research
Discover challenges and needs
We conducted extensive desk research and first-hand data collection to deeply understand the purchasing behaviors from the perspectives of consumers and service providers.
01
Literature Review
We researched and reviewed 15 related papers and journals. This helped us understand factors that drive fast fashion consumption and the challenges faced by consumers and stores.
02
Competitor Analysis
We analyzed some closet apps, including Cladwell, Indyx, Acloset, and Stylebook, to get inspiration of outfit curation and how they embed AI. None of these competitors target at clothing sustainability directly.
03
Expert Consults
We interviewed 3 practitioners in sustainable fashion and fast fashion retailing fields to gain insights into their experiences, current market and some existing sustainable practices targeting at consumers.
04
Focus Groups
We recruited 8 young adults who constantly shop for clothing and conducted two 30-minute focus groups. We facilitated discussions around their experiences, feelings, attitudes regarding fast fashion, and how they handle those items if they no longer wear or want.
What we learned
After synthesizing research results, we identified and prioritized 4 key insights that shaped our design direction.
Participants have general awareness of sustainability
People are aware of the harmful environmental and labor impacts of the fast fashion industry and express a willingness to choose eco-friendly options.
Styles and price drive purchasing decisions
Despite knowing the short lifespan and low quality of fast fashion items, people continue to buy them due to their low cost and trendiness, which are the key factors behind their purchase.
Occasion and weather influence outfit choices
Outfit decisions are influenced by factors such as occasion and weather. Though the decision process is often swift, people still want to look presentable before going outside.
Participants have emotional attachment to clothing
Our participants often associate clothes with personal evolution and identity. Even when outdated, they find it challenging to discard old clothes due to sentimental attachment.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
How can we help consumers to reduce impulsive purchases and make more eco-aware decisions when shopping for clothes?
ideation
Explicit v.s. Implicit approach
Sustainability is a broad and vague topic. During interviews several participants mentioned that they were aware that fast fashion comes at costs, but because they don’t directly experience the impact, it rarely factors into their purchasing decisions. Instead, cheap price and styles are more attractive.
Our goal wasn’t to force consumers to stop buying fast fashion products. Instead, we aim to raise awareness and gently shift their mindset when making purchase decisions. To achieve this, we took a balanced approach by embedding both explicit and implicit elements into our design.
Automate input by using camera roll scan to extract clothing information
Add a sustainability metric for clothing items
Outfit inspiration based on weather & occasion from existing collection
Compare similar items in closet to reduce impulsive purchases
Concept validation
Persuasive? Yes, but mediocre
To validate our ideas, we created a hypothetical scenario to simulate the fast fashion shopping experience and instructed participants to scan the item using our app (wireframe).
Out of 12 user testing, 33% of the participants either decided to not to purchase or would go for a more sustainable alternative. The result shows that the idea have some potential to shift consumer’s mindset during their purchase. Our next goal is to explore ways to level up the effectiveness of persuading.
DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
Embedded Design: Intermixing
Balance the portion of “on-topic” and “off-topic” content to make design more approachable
We prioritized "off-topic" features like closet management and daily outfit inspirations, while placing "on-topic" features one click away. This avoids direct persuasion towards sustainable behaviors. Instead, it shifts user attention to some tangible benefits they can get, minimizing the risk of user reactance.
“Being watched”
According to research, people tend to have higher self-control when they know they are being watched
We designed our AI assistant as a cute, anthropomorphic Earth character that frequently pops up on the screen to provide purchasing tips. This aims to evoke a sense of “being watched”, and consequently, users may exhibit higher self-control and consider different perspectives.
Cost-effectiveness
One common theme that emerged from our early research was the importance of cost. To address this, I decided to highlight the price of alternatives, bringing the most affordable choices to the surface. By doing this, users are more likely to be attracted to and explore sustainable alternatives.
ITERATIONS
Fine-tuning design
We conducted usability testing with 4 fast fashion consumers, and reflected on the feedback to fine-tune the features and design.
Enhance discoverability
Before
Users had difficulty accessing the chatbot, the animated character as entrance it’s too vague.
After
I added onboarding tooltips to inform users how to interact with the chatbot.
Enhance transparency
Before
The eco level was not clear as some users was curious about how they can boost their level.
After
We added an information button so when tapping, a pop-up message explains the calculation.
Enhance accessibility
Before
The scan button takes users directly to "Camera access" message. Some users prefer other input methods.
After
We incorporated different ways to add items, such as photos, scanning, voice input etc, allowing more flexibility.
My takeaways
Reframing as a way to approach problem
At beginning, defining the problem around fast fashion and sustainability was challenging to us because the topic is broad. However, user research helped me to better understand user needs, and reframed the problem to set actionable goals.
Interactivity is valued, but should not get in the way
Initially, our Earth chatbot frequently popped up to offer opinions. However, testing revealed that constant interruption might annoy users and make them reluctant. It’s important to find a subtle balance that maintains interactivity without being intrusive.
I would love to add a trading feature if we have more time
Another thing I found from our research was people often struggle to find optimal ways to dispose the unwanted clothes, many of which are barely worn. Alongside closet management, I see the potential of introducing a trading feature to promote sustainable behaviors by giving those items a second life and reduce waste.
Let’s connect and chat 🧋
& make something amazing together!
© 2025 Cassie Xu Made with late night music