My Vintage

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Objective

My Vintage is initially designed as a mobile vintage clothing sales app that features handmade, used, and recycled material clothings. The app is created to attract women aged 24-35. It’s easy to use for sellers and buyers. Web version was added later for users who want to see images larger.

Role
UI Designer, Visual Designer

What I did
Conducted Research, Competitive Analysis, and UI Analysis in the beginning. Established User Personas. Determined 4 mvp features and functionalities by using User Personas. Sketched & Brainstormed for screen designs. Created lo-fi to hi-fi Wireframes, MoodBoard, and Style Guide. Designed Icons. Created the final pixel-perfect Prototype. Prepared files for handover.

Tools: Figma, XD, Photoshop, Illustrator

User Personas

  • Erin

    26 years old female
    lives in Maine

    Project Coordinator at day time Dressmaker at night She is primarily a seller at My Vintage. But she occasionally buys, too. She is a responsive and popular seller.

  • Diana

    31 years old female
    lives in California
    Singer and Waitress

    She needs clothings to perform. But she doesn’t have too much money. She buys cool outfits from My Vintage and sell them back after using them a few times.

  • Beatrice

    28 years old female
    lives in Seattle, WA
    Psychology graduate student

    She enjoys making simple jewelries because it calms her down and can make some pocket money.

Competitive Analysis

  • DePop

    Strength:
    A top ten vintage app targeted to 20’s-30’s young hipsters

    Street Fashion, money conscious and eco-friendly

    Social. Users can find friends and can follow people and shops

    Weakness:

    Limited to Street Fashion

    PayPal account only transaction • Users must sign up first before browsing

  • Etsy

    Strength:
    A large selection of used clothing and hand-made clothes

    Users can search without signing in Good Tracking system to feel personalized

    Weakness:
    The listing fees may eat up earnings for small sellers

    Not all sellers are responsive Etsy’s advertising platform may skew user’s search

  • Ebay

    Strength:
    A huge selection of used clothing for every style

    Users can search without signing in

    Buyers can haggle for a bargain

    Weakness:

    Users can lost in there

    The filter system is confusing

    Less personal, less community feel

Pain Points & Solutions

  • Design Requirements

    To include following functionalities:

    • Create a profile

    • Upload items to sell

    • Leave reviews for the sellers

  • Pain Points

    Users are looking for a specific style, a specific brand, or a specific item. Make the narrowing down process easy and enjoyable

    Size matters. What is the point, when I find something that I like in the size that I can’t use?

    Users want to browse high-quality images with descriptions

    Users want to connect with other sellers and buyers

  • Solutions: Added Functionalities

    Navigation: Navigation tabs with easy-to-understand icons

    Gathering input: Input Prompt Forms , Multiple Choice Picker

    Dealing with Data: Gallery images, Scrolling side by side, Scrolling up and down

    Social: Like, Review, Chat, Follow

Sketching & Brainstorming Screens

Sketching screens for the first time by hand,
I didn’t know where to start. Once I started sketching, I couldn’t stop keep making changes. It has become very messy quickly.
I became tired of redrawing over and over.

Mid-Fi Wireframes

 It was easier for me to draw in XD directly.

Style Guide

 Takeaway

What am I happy about?

I created an attractive feminine yet boldly designed app with robust functionalities which included all the required functionalities and more. I added Navigation, Gathering Data, Dealing with Data, and Social functionalities.

What would I change next time?

I would add User Interviews and Usability Testing to the project to understand the audience better.

 

What were the challenges and how did I overcome them?

Sketching initial screens by hand the first time was difficult. I was thinking too hard and making screens and flows too complicated. Once I moved on to XD, it was a breeze.

Visualizing User Flows. I brainstormed the flows while sketching the screens. I kept checking up on DePop and Etsy sites on my iPhone and learned from their screens when I got stuck.

Designing Icons. I didn’t want to use pre-made icons and most free pre-made icons were not customizable. Eventually, I found fontawesome.com, a free customizable icon site. I’ve been using this site ever since. I also learned that using established icons is recommended for easy recognition. Don’t try to invent a wagon.