Urban Outfitters Smart Mirror
A fitting room mirror that helps integrate the convenience of online shopping in-store.
The problem
It can be difficult to shop in-stores when there’s a large number of products. It takes time to browse around the store to try to find what you’re looking for and the staff may be too busy to lend a hand.
The goal
Help customers find products easily, get recommendations, and overall make the shopping experience more effortless and personalized.
Generative research
We began by conducting research about current trends in the retail industry to get familiar with solutions to common issues faced by in-store shoppers.
What we found:
Buy Online / Pick Up In Store
Good especially for busy parents who don’t have time to grocery shop and/or have young children that may not behave while shopping
In-store navigation
Augmented reality / try before you buy
Self-checkout
Ex: Uniqlo has a self checkout where users place items in a basket and it detects the items without having to manually scan each item
Apps
Many people use their phones while shopping in-store to look for product information
Service safari
With this knowledge in mind, we went out into the real world to get the Urban Outfitters in-store customer experience.
My notable observations:
No staff greeted us upon entering the store
Context: two people at register and one in fitting room, didn’t see any staff on floor
No line for fitting rooms
Rooms were very plain on the outside and inside
Store was pretty big, probably would be difficult to look at most/every piece without spending a significant amount of time looking
Honestly a little overwhelming, lots of stuff to look at
Ideation
Combining our online and in-person research, we focused on trying to make the fitting room experience easier and more enjoyable by including fun features that tie in to UO’s brand as a whole.
Our ideas:
Add features of shopping online in physical stores
Finding recommendations/similar items
Make locating items in-store easier
Personalize dressing room with UO home furniture
Align more with the rest of the brand and store (cool, edgy, bold)
Showcases products
Request sales assistant
Can bring items in a different size or new items so the customer doesn’t have to hunt for them
Virtual try-on for items not in-store
Using these ideas, we decided to create a smart mirror that would be in the fitting rooms.
Initial designs
We initially created the screens for an AI “UO Stylist” that can find clothing based on verbal prompts, a mix and match tool to browse tops and bottoms together as outfits, scanning items to see their information, a photo booth, and music selection to play while in the fitting room featuring albums that UO sells.
Prototype
Our mid fidelity designs added the ability to order items from the mirror if not available in-store, do a virtual try-on, request assistance from a store associate, an end screen for the experience, and a tutorial on how to use the mirror.
User testing
We conducted concept testing to see if our idea was something that UO customers would actually use.
Our ten users went through the prototype with minimal guidance and were asked questions about their experience with Urban Outfitters, their shopping habits, and what they thought about the concept.
What people said:
Helpful for people who may be scared of asking for help
Music is fun
Make smart mirror optional
Camera might be uncomfortable since it’s in a changing room
Buttons may be hard to reach
Verbal cue not great, some may not want to speak and some can’t speak
Save outfit choices, link UO account
Next steps
Overall, most users found the smart mirror easy to use and would be likely to use it if it were in-store. The most appealing feature was being able to request assistance from a sales associate.
Based on user feedback, we went ahead and added an option to use the smart mirror or a regular one. We also added the UO logo at the top for more branding.
If we had more time to work on this project, we’d implement:
A sidebar menu navigation that collapses and can be dragged by the user to fit a comfortable height for them
A way to disable the camera/”camera off mode” to give users peace of mind that they aren’t being recorded while changing
The ability to type instead of speak to the “Ask” feature
A way to login to a UO account to save outfits
Reflection
This was my first time designing an interface that isn’t mobile or desktop. At the beginning, I was very unsure of what steps to take as I’m also not very familiar with smart mirrors and their capabilities. I’m glad I was able to continuously learn throughout this experience how to approach designing for a different type of interface.