Cher

UX Design Process

Bringing the Closet from the 90’s to modern day

When designing for Cher, I'm thinking about how people use their phones and how I can make checking out different outfits fun and easy. Since phone screens are tall, I can show off whole outfits from hats down to shoes, which is pretty cool. I'm playing around with different combos, like mixing and matching four pieces (think headwear, a top, bottoms, and shoes) or keeping it simple with just three (maybe a hat, a dress, and some neat footwear). But what about when you want to throw on a jacket or add a belt? That's where it gets interesting. I'm figuring out the best way to let users layer up and accessorize without making things complicated. It's all about keeping it chill and making sure everyone can see how their choices come together right on their phone.

In designing Cher, I've been diving deep into how we can shuffle through different clothing options in a way that feels natural and fun. I've come up with two main models to tackle this: Nigiri and Maki.

With Nigiri, you swipe left and right to flip through catalog items for a specific layer, like moving from one shirt to another. Swiping up and down shifts you between layers on that body part, so you could go from a shirt to a jacket with a simple swipe up.

Maki takes a slightly different approach. Here, swiping up and down changes the layers for all clothing items at once. It's a bit like pulling an imaginary zipper that layers or unlayers your whole outfit from head to toe.

Chirashi UX, lightweight organization

Both the Nigiri and Maki models bring valuable features to the table, yet they also present significant challenges, particularly in the way users preview combinations and the smoothness of interaction loading and display. The task of quickly generating images as users swipe left to right through the catalog is daunting. While technology capable of virtually dressing users does exist, the possibility of pre-loading being time-consuming is a concern, as each image must be generated rapidly to keep up with user interactions. The goal is to avoid a loading icon with every swipe, ensuring a seamless and engaging user experience. This situation has prompted me to reconsider our approach to digital clothing organization and outfit planning, underscoring the need for a more intuitive solution that aligns with user expectations and technological capabilities.

Taking a step back, outfit planning has always been an integral part of our daily routines, whether it's setting aside clothes for the next day or packing for a 3-day trip. What if we could apply a similar model to organize the tiles within our app? This is where I believe Chirashi could really shine. By drawing on the familiar process of selecting and organizing outfits in real life, Chirashi has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach outfit planning digitally, making it more intuitive and aligned with our natural habits.

The UX model named Chirashi introduces a novel approach to outfit planning by allowing users to layout a full view of clothes, thereby effectively displaying their entire catalog. This model organizes tiles from top to bottom, correlating directly with the clothing item's position on the body—starting with headwear at the top and ending with sneakers at the bottom. Users can easily swipe left to right on each tile to explore and discover new products within that specific category.

This intuitive design mirrors the natural way we think about dressing, making the process of mixing and matching pieces from a digital wardrobe both seamless and enjoyable.