Look Creator
Creating an outfit builder that caters for the needs of both Style Advisors and Clients for a tailormade menswear company.
✦ Year:
25
✦ Role:
UX/UI Design
✦ Technology:
✦ Client:
Atelier Munro
✦ Making tactile experiences digital
How do you bring a premium, tactile bespoke experience to a digital space? Atelier Munro's Style Advisors relied on physical swatch books and in-person consultations to guide clients through outfit combinations, leaving little room for digital inspiration before the appointment. I was told:
"We want to develop a digital swatchbook from scratch, as AM currently does not have one, to allow the style advisors to create and present outfit combinations more efficiently, eliminating the need to rely solely on physical swatch books in-store."
✦ My process
The project started with in-depth research to understand the Style Advisors' needs. Through interviews and contextual inquiry, I uncovered how tactile and hands-on their work really is. Additionally I wanted to learn what they needed to support their workflow. I paired this with benchmarking to map the existing landscape, then distilled everything into data cards and analysed the patterns through an affinity diagram.
From the research analysis, I gathered design principles that guided the ideation phase. I hosted two ideation sessions with participants where we sketched, brainstormed and x. Resulting in 3 different concepts that were presented to stakeholders. The final concept was then decided on and I started to design, test and iterate.
✦ Key design decisions
Flexible flow
Style advisors work differently, their flow differ and occasionally the motivation behind look creation does too. Therefore, the tool has to assist flexibly no matter how they decide to do it.
Consumer vs SA
Clients and Style Advisors use the tool for different goals and at different points in the process. We designed the experience to flex between these two roles rather than build one generic flow for both
Chip filters
Styling needs are rarely single-criteria. Multi-select chip filters let users combine attributes, like fabric, occasion, or fit, to narrow down looks without a rigid, linear search.
E-commerce layout
3D renders of looks would be too complex to produce at this stage. Using existing product photography within a familiar e-commerce layout let us ship a realistic, credible experience without that overhead.
Drag-and-drop
Style Advisors work on large touchscreens in-store. Drag-and-drop interactions fit that physical context far better than click-based menus, making look-building faster and more natural on a big screen.
✦ Outcome
The project covered the full design thinking process before being presented to stakeholders and handed over to developers. While it was ultimately put on hold due to shifting company priorities, the work itself was met with strong feedback from my mentor, the company, and my teacher, who awarded it a high grade.
Walkthrough video below.
