Finding shoes that fit

Shoe Match app

Shoe returns trouble buyers and businesses. Shoe Match app helps find the best fitting shoes using 3D foot scans and machine learning.

See Prototype

Project Overview

 

Buying shoes is a dreadful task for me: I seem to be in-between sizes, my feet can be too narrow and wide. I can spend hours researching shoes online and walking from store to store, only to finish my quest tired and empty-handed. If I order online, I end up retuning many boxes back to the post office.

And don’t start me on the frustration of finding those perfect shoes, only to discover that they are not available in my size. I surveyed my friends on social media, and many people face similar problems.

Client Personal project

Scope 80 Hours

My role Research, UX Design, Visual Design, Prototyping, Usability Testing

  • Problem

    Inconsistencies in shoe sizes and measurements make it difficult to know what size and model are right.

  • The vision

    The app measures feet and learns about users’ preferences. Then the AI finds the shoes that match the user’s feet measurements and style.

  • How it benefits users

    Users will spend less time searching and avoid the hassle of returning shoes due to size issues. They will get a more personalized shopping experience.

  • How it benefits business

    Returns hurt the bottom line of both big and small shoe retailers. The app will help cut costs and create more customer loyalty.

 My process

Testing gives lots of new information about users and inspiration for new ideas

Empathize

Discovering users and businesses’ pains and goals

User Interviews + Market Research

User research

 

Research goals

  • Find out how people buy shoes online and in stores

  • Discover what they feel during different stages of the process

  • Understand their thought process and mental models

 Methodology and scope

Clicking on Image will take you to the file at Miro.com

 
 

I organized all information from the interviews into an affinity map.

Main insights

1. Users want to be confident that the shoes fit them before they buy because returning is inconvenient

2. Users want recommendations based on their taste and preferences to spend less time browsing

3. People are often reluctant to talk to sales associates for various reasons

4. Users want to be confident they get the best price and quality

 People experience strong emotions over shoe-shopping

  • Biggest Frustration

    The shoes they really like are unavailable in their size.

  • Users' Hacks

    1. Search reviews for their size and fit.

    2. Search for information on shoes and their maker when in store

Market Research

3d scanning  is a growing field, but it hasn’t reached mass market

  1. Returns hurt the bottom line, especially for small businesses

  2. Almost 70 percent of returns in retail are due to size issues

  3. Feet scanning is used frequently for expensive running and orthopedic shoes

  4. Retailers are trying to help buyers find a better fit by comparing their sizes across different brands ( True Fit, ThirdLove)

  5. Carrying lots of inventory is a challenge for many stores

 I wondered what companies are doing to solve the fit problem

 Competitive Research

  • Major shoe retailers

  • Applications that give size recommendations based on past purchases

  • Feet scanning apps

I've made a Google Sheet to systematize research findings. Here’s what I noticed

  • Discovering the right fit through feet scanning is limited to a few sneakers brands

  • Large retailers give recommendations based on previous purchases, but people often buy different sizes within the same brands

Comparative Research

  • Customization

    Customers seek an individual approach, expecting companies to cater to their needs specifically.

  • Seamless experience

    Customers want to get a seamless experience from app to brick and mortar store (i.e., Amazon stores)

Business Opportunity

There’s no service that combines feet measurements, past history and style preferences

Define

Visualizing how users shop for shoes to discover their pain points

PERSONA+ USER JOURNEY+USER AND BUSINESS AFFINITY MAP

Persona

Synthesizing common challenges and goals from user interviews

I was able to create a persona who accumulated the most frequent pain points, goals, and motivations. Emily buys shoes for herself and her child. She enjoys the process occasionally, but it is more of a hassle for her because of the time and effort it takes to find shoes. She hates returning items because it means more time is wasted.

User Journey

Looking for points of friction and opportunities

I created a user journey based on the information from the interviews. I wanted to see at what stages of the process users experience challenges. It also allowed me to think about business opportunities.

Matching user and business’s goals and pain points

I analyzed all my findings to see what both users and businesses want and what they are missing

Ideating

Brainstorming multiple ideas and prioritizing design solutions

HMW + User Story Board+User Story Map

Answering HMW questions

My research and analysis helped me identify three key areas to focus on

  • People want confidence that shoes will fit

  • People want customized search resutls

  • People want frictionless store experience

  • HMW give people confidence that shoes will fit?

    Measure feet

    Match feet measurements and shoe last

    Learn from reviews by people with similar measurements

  • HMW give people customized search results?

    Ask about their style preferences

    Ask about favorite brands

    Use machine learning to offer best results

  • HMW create frictionless store experience ?

    Help people buy shoes they need even if the right pair is not in store

    Inform shop associate about buyers’ preferences

I scheduled several brainstorming sprints when I tried to come up with as many ideas as possible. During these sprints….

  1. Involved friends or other DesignLab students to bounce off ideas

  2. Thought about possible challenges. For example, trust issues, sensitivity over feet and shoes.

  3. Thought how this app would make money

User Story Map

Turning ideas and concepts  into specific features

User Story Map helps me think through what tasks users have to complete to reach their goals. I kept returning to it  throughout the design process, adding and removing features. 

As I was working on the User Story Map I saw that I can scale it up into a multi-functional product. But I needed to focus on its key features and test them. 

Key Features

  • Measure feet

  • Find shoes of the right fit and style

  • Find out if the model is available in the right size when in store

 All these three features aim to tacks the biggest user frustration 

“The shoes I like are not available in my size!”

 How will the app make money?

Retailers will pay when users make a purchase thanks to the app’s recommendations

 

How will retailers benefit from the app?

  • The app will help minimize returns because of size and fit issues

  • The stores will not miss on sale opportunities because they don’t carry the needed size

 

Let me show the benefit for customers and businesses with User Story Board

I am also introducing the title of the app ‘Shoe Match’

 

Business’ behind-the-scenes

Emily’s seamless experience is possible because Store A  is part of the Shoe Match network. 

Prototyping

Designing key features to test concept fast

User Flow+Content+Sketches+Mid-Fidelity Wireframes

User Flow

I needed to test what potential users may think of the app’s key features. I created two user flows: scanning feet and discovering the size, fit of shoes at a store.

 

 Content + Sketches

I made a table where I wrote the content of each screen and its purpose. I was making sketches for some screens at the same time.

 Prototype

Onboarding, Feet Scanning, Locating Shoes of the right size

Testing

Testing the appeal of the concept, discovering gaps in content and flow

Goal

1. Test product concept with target audience

2. Identify the friction points of the product.

3. Identify confusing experiences

Method and scope

5 participants

Match the persona characteristics

Moderated test via zoom

Success

  • Concept Validation

    All participants loved

    • the concept of scanning feet and using the measurements to find the right fit.

    • collecting data from reviews

    • scanning the QR code and not having to wait for a shop assistant first to come, then to bring several boxes.

  • Tasks complete

    • All participants completed the feet scanning process without problems and said it was easy

    • QR scanning process was complete, but there were several friction points

Friction Points & Confusing Experiences

Value proposition flow needs clarity

Participants said it was unclear how the app would help communicate with a shop associate.

Three out of five mentioned they either skip the flow or don’t pay much attention to it.

Talking about the fit

Users said they want the app just to say if the shoes will fit

Shoe Match number

Users said the screens didn’t explain why the number is needed. Two said they would be uncomfortable showing the actual scan of their feet to a shop assistant.

 

Locating shoes

Users said they wanted to see information about locations straight away.

Next Steps

  • Test changes in the prototype

  • Create and test additional flows

  • Finalize the palette and branding

  • Address business issues:

    1. Work out reviews and rewards combo - users like reading reviews, but do not like leaving them

    2. Shopping at the app or through the app ( like Instagram does)

Main takeaways

The most challenging aspect of this assignment was to zero in on a few ideas. Although I had a process of working out the details of the product set up, the project showed it needs fine-tuning.