Buff Threads

Team Members:
Michael Drozd, Franco Ruscitti,
Abby Haines, Jack Mckelligon,
& Kyle Gragnola
 Problem Statement

CU Boulder students need a dedicated app to buy, sell,

and explore new or used clothing and gear conveniently
and trustworthily. Existing options fail to offer sufficient
personalization, safety, affordability, and sustainability. A
new platform could effectively address these gaps,
enhancing the shopping experience within the student
community.
 Target Audience
CU students in
need of formal CU Students interested
wear for special in fashion
occasions

Members of CU's
Greek community
CU Students who want
to BUY clothes

CU Students who want to SELL clothes

 Primary Persona
Personal Details Scenario
★ Hometown: Denver, Colorado
★ Major: Environmental Studies Grace needs a dress to go to formal in 3 days and has
already worn all of the dresses in her closet. She
★ Minor: Business
needs a dress for only one night, that is affordable,
★ Year: Sophomore has fashion appeal, and can be purchased quickly
★ Hobbies: Partying, Watching Movies & from a trusted seller in her local area.
Hanging out with her BF

About
Grace, an enthusiastic freshman at CU Boulder, is just beginning her journey into Greek life, eager to make her mark
within her new sorority. With a fresh perspective on college life and a vibrant social calendar, she's already looking
forward to her collegiate future. Instead of opting for a new dress, Grace is creatively exploring sustainable fashion
choices, showing her commitment to both style and environmental responsibility early in her college career. Her
proactive approach to embracing sorority life while staying true to her values highlights her adaptability and
forward-thinking mindset as she navigates her first year at CU Boulder.

Greek Life Grace Patterns & Behaviors Goals & Motivation

20, Student At CU Boulder
QUOTE
“ Live, Laugh, and Love your sisters. Give
back to the community. KAPPA KAPPA 4L.
#dresstoimpress”
★ Grace goes to any social event she is ★ Lead and network in her sorority and on
invited to campus
★ Grace is passionate about fashion but is on ★ Advocate for sustainable fashion choices
a college budget ★ Balance social life with academic success
★ Grace tends to overspend ★ Pursue personal growth through diverse
★ Grace is social and wants to dress to activities
impress ★ Live by values of community and
★ Grace has a lot of clothes she lets her sustainability
friends borrow for free
 Solution - Vision of the App
● Inexpensive for students who seek a
cheaper alternative
● Promotes upcycling
● App-based platform ideal for
engagement and digital solutions for
shopping
● Speedy in transactions, including easy
listing, searching, and seamless
exchange processes.
● Integrates well with other aspects of
campus life, such as events, clubs, and
other sustainability initiatives.
 Design Process - How We Used Design Thinking
1. Understanding User Needs
a. Conducted 2 rounds of interviews to deeply understand the needs and challenges of our
target users.
b. Prioritized empathy with users to ensure our solutions were tailored to their problems.
2. Iterative Design and Usability Testing
a. Employed an iterative design process, refining our prototype based on direct feedback from
usability testing.
b. Each test phase improved our prototype's functionality and UX.
3. Problem Definition and Solution Innovation
a. Clearly defined the problems identified through user feedback.
b. Developed innovative solutions to address these problems, focusing on effectiveness and
user satisfaction.
4. Outcome
a. Our iterative process and focus on user needs produced a highly functional prototype.
b. Demonstrated the power of design thinking in creating impactful, user-centered solutions.
 R&D - Interviewees

We Conducted a Total of 10 Interviews

- Interview Demographics
- Freshman/Incoming Students.
- Current Undergraduates
- Graduate Students

- Goal
- Our goal was to capture a comprehensive view of the CU student demographic, ensuring
our insights reflect the full spectrum of student experiences and expectations.
- Importance
- These diverse perspectives help us accurately define our target personas, tailoring our
project to meet the varied needs of CU students effectively.
 R&D - Usability Research Questions
Navigation & Flow: Content Creation:
● Can users find what they need quickly? ● Is it simple to create and share new
● Is the layout intuitive and easy to follow? content?
● Are the posting steps straightforward
Clarity & Learnability: and intuitive?
● Are icons and buttons easy to understand?
● Can users complete basic tasks without getting lost? Profile Management:
● Can users personalize their profiles
Design & Aesthetics: with ease?
● How does the app's visual style resonate with users? ● Is there anything else to add to the
● Are there any design elements that cause confusion? profile?
Sign-Up & Onboarding: Overall Satisfaction:
● Is the sign-up process smooth and efficient? ● Would users recommend this app to
● Does onboarding effectively guide new users? others?
● Would they use the app regularly for
Messaging: their needs?
● Can users easily send, receive, and manage messages?
● Is the messaging interface clear and user-friendly?
 R&D - Overall Interview Findings

Overview: Our interviews provided valuable insights into the app's strengths and areas for
improvement, helping us better understand user interaction and satisfaction.

Key Positives:
- App Flow
- Effective Navigation Aids
- Streamlined Account Management
Areas for Improvement:
- Conflicting Profile Interaction: Users found posting on profiles confusing due to interface design.
- Prototype Clarity: Low-fidelity prototypes led to misunderstandings of app features.
- Feature Overlap: Confusion arose from overlapping functionalities.
- Visual Differentiation: A lack of distinct visual cues made navigating different app sections challenging.
- Purpose Clarity: Ambiguity regarding the app’s main focus led to mismatched user expectations.
- Iconography: Inconsistent icon styles contributed to uncertainty in their functions.

Conclusion: These insights highlight the critical balance between user-friendly design and
functional clarity, guiding our next steps in refining the app's interface and functionalities.
 Research and Discovery- Competitive
● Homepage Analysis
Analysis
● Cart Functionality
● Clothing Recommendations
● Branding
● Profiles/Selling & Buying Processes
Research and Discovery - Competitive
Analysis
Design Process and Iterations

Storyboarding Wireflow Sketches

 Design Process and Iterations

From Whiteboard to Wireframe:

Wireflow Sketches
Transforming our Initial Ideas into Figma
Design Process and Iterations
Design Process and Iterations
Design Process and Iterations - Final Product
Design Process and Iterations - Final Product
Design Process and Iterations - Final Product
Final Prototype Demo Video
 Lessons Learned

Qualitative data is important:

- Interviews gave us better insights on what users might want
- The feedback we were given on our prototypes allowed us to make more
comprehensive and educated design choices
- Competitive analysis gave us ideas for our own design
Personas invoke empathy
- Personas allowed us to understand the practical aspects of our
marketplace
- Creating a storyboard of the personas better allows us as designers to
create a flow for different processes
 Evaluation Plan (proposed)

Develop & Deploy Plan & execute

phases post-launch evaluations
● Fully develop all interactions and functionally ● Rely on QA testing and user feedback to find
of the application and fix bugs or any other issues.
● QA testing on all functions ● Improve UX/UI designs based on user
● UAT (User Acceptance Testing) to ensure feedback and internal usage tracking data.
the product is ready for launch. ● Expand on ideas that had to be shelved due
● Make changes to the Hi-fi prototype based do time constraints
on feedback from user testing.
○ Color, font, and layout designing and
iterations
● Develop a fully functional application,
moving away from prototypes.
Questions?

Questions?
Appendix Slides