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TL;DR
As a part of Visa Climate Tech Hackathon 2024, we developed ReThread, a conceptual digital platform promoting sustainable fashion by encouraging clothing reuse and recycling. In partnership with Visa, it rewards eco-friendly purchases made using a Visa card, supporting a circular fashion economy.
My Role - UX Designer
Conducted surveys and interviews to identify consumer behaviors around sustainable fashion.
Mapped user flows, and wireframes for seamless navigation and usability.
Designed high-fidelity prototypes to encourage eco-friendly buying decisions.
Team of 2
Tools
Timeline
2 months (April 2024 - June 2024)
ANTICIPATED IMPACT
HIGHLIGHTS
Components
Visa Climate Tech Hackathon 2024
As part of the Visa Climate Tech Hackathon 2024, my teammate and I chose the Recommerce and remixing data prompt, focusing on using payment data to create solutions that blend financial technology with sustainable practices.
Recommerce is the resale, rental, or refurbishment of previously owned products, extending their life cycles and promoting sustainability by reducing waste.
Fast Fashion's Environmental Pollution
We began our research by identifying the biggest contributors to pollution. Fast Fashion emerged as a significant concern due to its rapid production and disposal cycles. A major contributor to landfills, and plastics in the ocean.
Main Insight
Despite its environmental impact, fast fashion is projected to continue growing, with emissions expected to rise by 60% by 2030.
Surveys
I conducted surveys to understand consumer awareness and attitudes towards sustainable fashion and identify why consumers continue to support fast fashion despite its impacts on the environment.
Based on these findings, it's likely that limited awareness about environmental impacts, combined with quality and hygiene concerns, contributes significantly to consumers hesitation to adopt recommerce alternatives.
40
Respondents
18 - 55
Age Group
60%
respondents lacked awareness of how their fashion choices impact the environment.
Top 2 concerns
were Quality and Hygiene followed by Higher Prices, Accessibility, Limited Options.
35%
had purchased pre-owned clothing in past 5 years.
User Interviews
I conducted user interviews to better understand consumer motivations and barriers to purchasing used clothing, focusing on factors like quality perceptions, trust issues, and value assessments.
Consumers often choose convenience and savings like fast shipping and variety over sustainability, even when aware of the environmental impact. Recycling clothes is seen as too difficult, leading many to discard them instead, highlighting key barriers to sustainable fashion.
Participant Criteria
10
Participants
18 - 55
Age Group
Purchase history of new and used clothing.
User Quotes
I prefer fast fashion because it’s just more convenient, faster shipping, more variety, and there are always discounts or coupons.
Recycling clothes sounds good, but honestly, figuring out how to do it is just difficult and tiresome.
I want to shop fashion more sustainably, but I just don’t know where to start.
Key Themes
Convenience & Cost Over Sustainability
Sustainable alternatives and Recycling feel too expensive or less convenient, discouraging adoption.
Sustainable Shopping Barriers
Concerns over quality and hygiene prevent many from considering secondhand options and recycling clothes feels difficult due to a lack of clear options.
Lack of Awareness & Information Gaps
Consumers lack awareness of how their fashion choices impact environment, and lack clear guidance and transparency to make informed decisions.
The findings show a need for a sustainable solution that aligns with consumer preferences and overcomes barriers like quality concerns, recycling hassle, and lack of incentives.
It should fit easily into daily life and make choosing sustainability simpler and more appealing than fast fashion.
To create a solution that encourages sustainable fashion choices by addressing barriers to eco-friendly shopping and promoting long-term, mindful consumption habits.
A Sustainable Alternative
To innovate for sustainable fashion, we explored various concepts to see which best addressed consumer needs while promoting convenience, affordability, and environmental impact.
Rewarding Sustainable Visa card Purchases
Our research showed that environmental awareness alone doesn't drive change, and fast fashion thrives on coupons and discounts.
To compete, we could introduce a rewards program for Visa card users for sustainable choices they make, making a subscription model even more easier to switch to. Visualizing impact and offering rewards also reinforce sustainable behavior.
This Approach Benefits Both Visa and Consumers
For Visa
Rewarding sustainable purchases made with a Visa card builds brand trust, strengthens customer relationships, and attracts environmentally conscious users, increasing customer retention.
For Consumers
A subscription model offers a cost-effective and diverse wardrobe and offering rewards motivates consumers by making sustainable choices feel valuable, and personally rewarding.
Revenue Model: Ensuring Profitability and Scalability
We designed a revenue model to ensure the business remains profitable and scalable while supporting the sustainability-driven subscription model.
Pricing Justification
To ensure financial sustainability, ReThread’s pricing model is structured around cost recovery and a 35% markup to support logistics, platform maintenance, and sustainable sourcing.
Businesses pay between $500 and $5,000 annually to feature their products in ReThread’s ecosystem.
User can pay additional fees and order more clothes than their plan offers.
Individual item rentals available at $5-$25 per piece, offering a flexible alternative.
Minimum Price Calculation
15.93+(15.93×0.35)=21.50
(Total Monthly Costs to Cover + 35% Markup = x )
The minimum price must be $21.50/month to break even, with actual subscription prices ($29, $49, $99) ensuring profitability.
Service Blueprint: Mapping Key Business Operations
We developed a high-level service blueprint for ReThread to map out the core elements of our business functions, providing a clear visualization of operational workflows.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Low Fidelity and Mid Fidelity
Designed low fidelity screens to identify core elements on the screen based on their importance.
Style Guide
I designed a style guide to ensure consistency, clarity, and a cohesive visual identity across the platform.
Onboarding Experience
Introduces users to the app’s assurances, benefits and subscription plans, communicating its value and help users get started smoothly.
Placing an Order
Users can easily browse, choose, and place their orders with minimal effort.
Redeeming Rewards
Allows users to see the impact of their sustainable choices and provides them with multiple options to redeem their rewards.
Recycling Experience
Simplifies drop-off scheduling by guiding users through item selection, location choice, and confirmation.
Meeting User Expectations
Our goal was to evaluate the prototype’s usability, educational effectiveness, and reward appeal. 6 Participants completed given tasks while thinking aloud, allowing us to assess their experience with ReThread.
Tasks
Complete the Sign-Up Process and Place Your First Order on ReThread
Use the Recycle Feature to Recycle a Garment on ReThread
Redeem Rewards Points on ReThread
Evaluation Metrics
Participants were assessed based on:
Task Success Rate
Time on Task
User Satisfaction
Qualitative feedback
Findings
Positive Response to Sustainability Insights
Users were drawn to learning about the impact of their choices, suggesting that educational components were valuable.
Motivation through Rewards
The rewards system was seen as a major value add, making people more drawn towards sustainable fashion.
5/6 Participants said they would consider switching to ReThread for a sustainable future
Key Takeaways
If Visa were to adopt ReThread, it would simplify the process for users to engage in sustainable practices by making recycling simpler and rewarding sustainable actions. This integration could impact sustainability efforts on a global scale due to Visa's extensive network. Visa could attract eco conscious consumers, expand user base and loyal customers.
Ultimately, by promoting the reuse of garments, ReThread would help mitigate the environmental damage caused by fast fashion, including reductions in plastic waste, water usage, tree harvesting, and energy consumption, leading to a more sustainable future.
This project reinforced the importance of sustainability in design and the need to design responsibly for our planet, which is something I’ll carry forward in all my future works. With more time, I would have explored the finer details of functionality and developed a more compelling strategy for user engagement and long-term adoption.
