Case Study: add a feature to Vestiaire Collective
UX/UI training project
July 2020–7 days
Role: UX-UI Designer
Tools: Mural, Sketch, Marvel
Founded in 2009, Vestiaire Collective is the leader in the resale of luxury and designer items. Every week, sellers around the world upload 25.000 new items, enabling buyers to search over 3.500 pieces per day.
I chose to add a feature on its app because I have a great interest in the circular fashion* business.
Teaser I was lucky enough to submit this Bootcamp project to the Product Design team at Vestiaire Collective and gathered their valuable feedback, keep reading.
Researches
Competitive analysis in France
Offering high-end fashion, designer brands, unique vintage for the fashion elite who knows about the trends and the latest up-and-coming designers, Vestiaire Collective is the only platform that offers an authentication service among its competitors. Average basket of a customer hits around 400€.
Vinted -the most used resale platform in France-, bets on low prices, low commission and offers all kinds of fashion: from fast fashion to luxury brands in all kinds of conditions: from worn out items to brand new and unfortunately, counterfeits. It attracts bargain hunters and fashion savvy with a limited buying power: the average basket is 40€.
For brands shopper, there’s a strong fear of buying counterfeits because Vinted’s customer service is said to be too discreet, and that can only highlight the one and unique authentication service of Vestiaire Co’s.
Secondary researches: “Resale is the Future of Fashion”
In 2018, the market of fashion resale in France represented 1 billion € and it is forecasted that in 2028, it will overtake the fast fashion market (IFM).
More over, according to a report published by Thred up in 2020 in the next 5 years, consumers are predicted to shift their clothing spending to second hand items. On the same graph, what ranked at second place was Sustainable fashion.
Although shopping pre-owned instead of new is already a better way to consume fashion, there still lies a great opportunity for Vestiaire Co. to attract these future consumers by showcasing more sustainability practices and features for their users and become an even better circular fashion* business.
The researches led me to conclude that Vestiaire Co. should keep their genuine leader position thanks to their exclusive authentication service but also has a great opportunity to attract the future sustainable fashion consumers by designing eco-fashion features and powerful content for sellers and buyers.
Problem statement
How might we add a Sustainability feature for the users of Vestiaire Collective app?
Ideation workshops
To start to answer that question, I co-designed with 2 colleagues from Ironhack Paris. To me, collaborating with a team is always fun and enriching as it brings differents perspectives to solve the problem.
The Crazy 8 workshop (sketching 8 ideas in 8 minutes) had us tried to solve the issue of returns with size measurements features to make sure the item ordered will fit or match. Straightforward eco-design ideas came up as well :
- creating filters to shop eco-conscious brand or items,
- CO2 weight on each product page, but also the CO2 consumption on the user profile page,
- a reward system for best green behaviour.
There are also features that do not consider a transaction such as giving and swapping, features that disrupt the core business model but also seems like common sense for a circular fashion company, isn’t it?
After a Worst Idea and a Round Robin workshops, we voted to sort out 3 disrupting and impactful sustainable ideas:
- Recycle or Donate
- Swap
- Rent
To pick one, I assessed the desirability of each feature by interviewing 8 users.
Key learnings
- Most of them would definitely give an item they’ll don’t wear anymore to a charity or for recycling.
- Users would lend an expensive item only if the lending fee is high enough.
- Swapping seems like a fun & social idea. However, there are many practical constraints that made them reluctant to choose this option.
Talking with fashion re-sale App users allowed me to identify the most relevant solution to add:
The Second Life feature, an alarm to notify the user to giveaway her/his item for donation or recycling when it does not sell.
Success metrics
The feature aims to offer a qualitative sustainability solution for all: the company, the user and hopefully, the environment.
The user is able to sell, shop but also give a second life to the unwanted item instead of throwing it away to an unmanaged waste system.
The Smart Side of Fashion report of the company establishes its commitment to improve sustainable practices across all departments and the feature could be one impactful project to pursue the global objective.
Quantitatively, it is obvious to state that the more the feature will be used, the more successful it is. However, while considering the benefits for the environment, can we really consider the growth of fashion waste collected by Fashion Collective, a success?
That is why I had to precise the quantitative metric: over a period of 1 year, we will measure how many items are recycled or in reuse thanks to the feature, instead of sleeping in the sellers’ wardrobe compared the year before.
The Second Life feature
User flows
Designing the existing user flow of a seller helped me to identify the opportunities to integrate the full feature, which is actually composed of 2 flows:
FLOW 1 (in blue): The alarm set-up
Implemented in the Sell existing flow, I added a 6th step to the new item upload screen : the seller has 3 duration options (or a refusal) until receiving a reminder for recycling.
FLOW 2 (in green): Recycling & Donating
After that period has expired, like an alarm clock, the system will send a notification to the user to check on her/his unsold item and decide whether to give it a second life, or extend the alarm period.
My goal was to add the feature in the existing flow with subtlety as if it has always been there and not confuse the user with an unnecessary change of visual design. The 2 new flows only needed 2 more functional screens and a confirmation screen for using the feature.
Mid-fidelity prototype usability testings
In order to test the interest and usability, I submitted to 4 users a mid-fi prototype that combines the 2 flows.
All users were excited by the concept, clearly wanted to read and know more about the recycling or donations programs and discovered happily the “feel good content” in the final confirmation page.
Hi-fidelity Iteration
I considered the feedback to iterate a hi-fi prototype and improved it by:
- writing content that explains the different recycling programs and highlighting its accessibility to further details and stories with visual elements colored with the brand bright orange.
- highlighting the final confirmation page with more gratifications such as sharing on social media and a joyful visual design.
The challenge was also to recreate the platform from scratch with Sketch (no screenshots allowed!). Using the Atomic Design method with the Symbols tool was very useful to mimic the screens efficiently.
In the 2 wireframes below, the orange caption indicates the design addition to implement the Second Life feature.
Prototype usability testings
The prototype was tested with the same testing scenario with 5 users of the same demographics as for the mid-fi version.
Key learnings
The dynamic look and feel sparked even more interest for the feature but looking at the Prada handbag made the users aware of its value, so they were more reluctant to give it away after a few months. 50% of the users were asking to read more about the full recycling program to be sure that the bag will be given for a good purpose.
Also the term “upcycling” was off-putting for 30% of the users. They did not understand its meaning.
It is therefore critical to communicate accurate information in the users’ language about the second life of the item; before and after using the feature.
How? For instance, a user suggested that she would like to know where the bag ended up with a follow-up email.
Overall user testings, the Second Life concept is much approved thanks to the final gratification and rewards page. The “sustainable points” were an attempt to gamify the action of donating as well as triggering users’ pride of doing a good deed and it did perform.
Next steps
● Add more social media share buttons to the final page
● Add a Sustainability point counter in the user profile page and develop reward programs according to the points earned
● Test with the most active sellers of Vestiaire Collective
● Create a content plan (screens, newsletter, campaign) to inform fully about the donation programs.
The Reality check, sept. 2020
This project story is not over, in August 2020, I was hired at Vestiaire Collective for a 2 weeks professional immersion to craft my Final graduation project.
I took this opportunity to present the feature to the Product Design team and collected their feedbacks and advises:
The interest from users is validated, so the next move is to work on a business case to know what will be the cost acquisition for the company.
Every sign-up, every product sold and shipment has a cost for the company, so the feature can be considered viable if -beside the brand image benefits-, I can validate a concrete return of investment with a plan.
Since it is a disruptive and innovative feature, I was advised to compare it with the authentication service aquisition cost that makes V.C so distinctive and a leader of luxury brands re-sale.
The team invited me to contact the concerned departments for the business case and we discussed on how to limit the company costs:
● Physical collection points instead of a shipment
● If not donated to a charity, is there another way to value these fashion waste?
● Are there recycling businesses that buys premium material waste?
● What about creating a platform to sell the separate parts of the unwanted ultra-luxe item such as branded button, leather bag strap, trims,…?
Final words
As passionate I was to further investigate on the topic, I was hired to work on a new Problem Statement, so I focused on that project in order to graduate.
I am very grateful I could submit the feature to the Design team of Vestiaire collective for a reality check, and also secretely very proud that I did not hear a critic regarding UX and UI design. The Problem Statement I worked in August is confidential for now, but it was an enriching and instructive experience thanks to the friendly and supportive people I got to collaborate with.
Thank you so much for reading. Give me a clap if you enjoyed it, I need validation ;)
Linda Mai
Image & visual credits:
Vestiaire Collective
*A circular fashion industry is one in which waste and pollution are designed out, products and materials are kept in use for as long as possible, including through reusing and recycling, and where natural systems are regenerated. Source: commonobjectives.co
