02
Unbound
This case study highlights the importance of user-centered design
in improving a website's effectiveness and achieving business goals.
By simplifying the site's structure, optimizing it for mobile devices.
Role:
UI/UX Designer
Industry:
eCommerce
Duration:
4 months
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
Problem 1:
Gender Segregation
Retailers have long categorized products into Female/Women, Male/Man, only emphasizing on cis-genders
Problem 2:
Lack of Representation
Models predominantly showcase products within gender-specific sections, reinforcing binary norms, with men for male, and women for male
Problem 3:
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
Why these problems need to be addressed?
There has been a notable shift in societal perceptions of gender definitions, largely influenced by younger generations. Research tells that:
Research
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.
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.
Summary of Research Findings
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.
Perspectives on Gender-neutral clothing & retailers
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
Solution
Our 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.
Learnings
This project taught the critical importance of inclusivity in online shopping environments, particularly for transgender and non-binary individuals.
Engaging with a diverse audience highlighted the challenges faced by these communities, including the lack of representation and misconceptions surrounding gender-neutral clothing.
By adopting a user-centered design approach and developing innovative solutions like the Sizing and Styling Clothing
Extension, we were able to address these challenges and create a more inclusive and accessible shopping experience for all genders.
This experience emphasized the need for continuous learning and adaptation to meet the evolving needs of diverse user populations.
