Unbound
Unbound
A gender-inclusive clothing shopping extension that helps transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming individuals find properly fitting clothes that match their style preferences across multiple retailers, breaking down traditional binary shopping barriers.
A gender-inclusive clothing shopping extension that helps transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming individuals find properly fitting clothes that match their style preferences across multiple retailers, breaking down traditional binary shopping barriers.
Problem Statement
Traditional online retail platforms reinforce binary gender norms, making it difficult for transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming individuals to find clothing that aligns with their identity and style. The lack of gender-inclusive shopping experiences, coupled with rigid categorization and limited representation, creates barriers to accessibility and self-expression.
Problem Statement
Traditional online retail platforms reinforce binary gender norms, making it difficult for transgender, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming individuals to find clothing that aligns with their identity and style. The lack of gender-inclusive shopping experiences, coupled with rigid categorization and limited representation, creates barriers to accessibility and self-expression.
Challenges
Understanding the 'Why'
Challenges
Understanding the 'Why'
Gender Segregation
Retailers have long categorized products into Female/Women, Male/Man, only emphasizing on cis-genders
Evaluate navigation & findability of key checkout elements.
Lack of Representation
Models predominantly showcase products within gender-specific sections, reinforcing binary norms, with men for male, and women for male
Evaluate navigation & findability of key checkout elements.
Assumptions Regarding Gender Neutral Clothing
Misconceptions persist, including associating gender-neutral clothing solely with neutral colors or overly flashy designs, often adorned with pride symbols
Evaluate navigation & findability of key checkout elements.
Why these problems need to be addressed?
There has been a notable shift in societal perceptions of gender definitions, largely influenced by yopunger generations.
Research tells that:
Research by Trevor project reveals that 26% of LGBTQ+ youth prefer to identify as non-binary or genderqueer rather than strictly male or female
Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 35% of Gen Z Individuals know someone who uses gender neutral pronouns
Another study from Pew Research, about six-in-ten Gen Zers 59% say forms or online profiles should include additional gender options beyond just "man" and "woman."
Research by Trevor project reveals that 26% of LGBTQ+ youth prefer to identify as non-binary or genderqueer rather than strictly male or female
Data from the Pew Research Center shows that 35% of Gen Z Individuals know someone who uses gender neutral pronouns
Another study from Pew Research, about six-in-ten Gen Zers 59% say forms or online profiles should include additional gender options beyond just "man" and "woman."
Login / Sign-Up
Login / Sign-Up
Login / Sign-Up
Research & Discovery
Surveys
Engaged a diverse audience to understand the various perspectives, prioritized participant confidentiality due to the sensitivity of the topic. Surveys served as a valuable tool for recruiting participants and gathering insights.
Evaluate navigation & findability of key checkout elements.
Contextual Inquiry
Immersed into users' natural shopping environments. Observed users' behaviours to uncover underlying motivations. Conducted semi-structured inquiries to explore reasons behind their choices.This process helped us understand users' experiences and pain points with the current SIS and gather their feedback. By examining their grievances and suggestions, we gained valuable insights to inform the design of a new interface.
Evaluate navigation & findability of key checkout elements.
Summary of Research Findings
As the lead UX researcher in a team of five MS HCI students, I directed and managed the end-to-end research process:
Impact on Gender Identity: A significant portion of our participants have experienced or continue to experience gender dysphoria, exacerbated by the challenge of finding clothing that aligns with their identity and style.
Preference for Thrift Store Shopping: The majority of the participants favored thrift stores for two primary reasons: the absence ptiof gender segregation, which eliminated judgement, and the affordability of items.
Challenges with sizing & style: Many participants encountered difficulties matching their preferred clothing with their gender identity. Traditional female bottoms, designed for curvier figures, posed particular challenges for individuals identifying as men.
Perspective on Gender Neutral Clothing: While gender-neutral clothing options are available, they are often costly and limited in style, ranging from overly neutral to excessively flashy. Consequently, many participants expressed reluctance to purchase clothing from such brands
Summary of Research Findings
As the lead UX researcher in a team of five MS HCI students, I directed and managed the end-to-end research process:
Impact on Gender Identity: A significant portion of our participants have experienced or continue to experience gender dysphoria, exacerbated by the challenge of finding clothing that aligns with their identity and style.
Preference for Thrift Store Shopping: The majority of the participants favored thrift stores for two primary reasons: the absence ptiof gender segregation, which eliminated judgement, and the affordability of items.
Challenges with sizing & style: Many participants encountered difficulties matching their preferred clothing with their gender identity. Traditional female bottoms, designed for curvier figures, posed particular challenges for individuals identifying as men.
Perspective on Gender Neutral Clothing: While gender-neutral clothing options are available, they are often costly and limited in style, ranging from overly neutral to excessively flashy. Consequently, many participants expressed reluctance to purchase clothing from such brands
Affinity Diagram
The Solution
The Solution
Main Features
The final design is a web based extension that can be added to your browser that provides
The final design is a web based extension that can be added to your browser that provides
Onboarding
A seamless onboarding flow introduces users to Unbound and its purpose. Through inclusive language and minimal steps, users are welcomed with an option to choose their pronouns (optional), preferred style, and shopping goals.
This onboarding experience establishes trust and affirms the user’s identity from the start.
Adding Details
Users are prompted to enter their body measurements—not their gender—to generate personalized sizing recommendations. The form is straightforward and respectful, focusing on fit preferences (loose, regular, tight), favorite apparel types, and sizing issues they often face.
All inputs are optional and editable later, ensuring autonomy and comfort.
Running the Extension
Once activated, Unbound works quietly in the background while users browse any clothing site. It recognizes the brand, interprets its sizing chart, and overlays a quick-fit recommendation based on the user’s saved profile. No more toggling between male/female sections—Unbound highlights relevant sizes and pieces based on body data and style preferences, making the experience inclusive and stress-free.
The proposed solution is a Sizing and Styling Clothing Extension, which allows users to input their body size details and style preferences to streamline the shopping experience across multiple platforms.
By consolidating various retailers into one convenient interface, the extension simplifies size availability checks and promotes accessibility for all genders. While it may require some initial adjustment for users unfamiliar with web extensions, we prioritize making the interface user-friendly and intuitive.
Evaluate navigation & findability of key checkout elements.
Learnings & Takeaways
This project demonstrates how applying user-centered design principles can transform a frustrating enterprise system into an efficient and satisfying user experience.
Some key takeaways from forking on this project were:
Learnings & Takeaways
This project demonstrates how applying user-centered design principles can transform a frustrating enterprise system into an efficient and satisfying user experience.
Some key takeaways from forking on this project were:
Empathy beyond Assumptions
As cisgender designers, we initially lacked lived experience in the challenges faced by trans and non-binary users. Through contextual inquiries and interviews, we developed a much deeper empathy and understanding of how gendered systems in online shopping create discomfort, dysphoria, and exclusion.
Login / Sign-Up
Inclusivity is a design choice
Inclusive experiences don’t require reinventing the wheel, they require rethinking defaults. Simply reorganizing clothing by type rather than gender or providing non-gendered sizing options can significantly improve accessibility and comfort for a broader range of users..
Enter property address
Feasibility for Real-World impact
While a gender-neutral e-commerce platform is ideal, we recognized that real impact often lies in practical solutions. The browser extension became our primary focus because of its adaptability, it fits into existing systems and empowers users without relying on retailers to change their infrastructure.
Review & select a report plan