Existing App Research

I felt it was important to research into existing wardrobe apps in order to see what I would be competing with as well as being able to gain some knowledge on the different links, buttons and widgets that are used and whether they work well or not. Researching this is also useful as it will allow me to know what design decisions to avoid when designing my app.

The apps that I have researched are 'Style Me', 'Closet Love', 'SimpleCloset' and 'Her Wardrobe'. The apps 'Style Me', 'Her Wardrobe' and 'Closet Love' weren't as useful as 'SimpleCloset', this is because the apps 'Style Me' and 'Closet Love' require you to login/register with your email as soon as you open the app as a new user, this is inconvenient as personally I wouldn't want to make an account on an app that I haven't explored or read about first. I would also be concerned that I would get spam mail. This is something I would need to avoid, when opening the app I could possibly give the user an introduction/trial run for the app before they decide to make a profile. I also don't think I would ask the user for an email address as spam mail is annoying, I would allow the user to make a profile which wouldn't require them to connect it with their other social media accounts.

Additionally, I didn't actually download the app 'Her Wardrobe' as it wasn't free, the overall aesthetic was also very out dated and dull which wouldn't make the user want to purchase it anyway;

The colour scheme is extremely grey and boring, it also isn't very refined as the 6 buttons on the category page all use different colours that don't contrast well with the background. Furthermore, the photographs of the clothing are also very out-dated, the fashion/clothing looks like it would be from around 2007, rather than recently.

The app SimpleCloset simply allows you to take photographs of your clothing, shoes or accessories and then categorise it into different sections; Brand, Item, Shop, Season etc. The app also tells you the total price of all your items, as well as an average price. Im not sure if this is that useful personally I wouldn't want to know how much my whole wardrobe costs or the average, however some people might find it useful if they are trying to save money for example.

Additionally, the app lets you categorise things by colour, this feature is quite useful as it helps you decide what to wear with what, e.g. a certain colour of top with black jeans. Aesthetic features for the shoes would be something to consider when creating my app.

More notes for this app:

• The design of the app is very dull and boring, only uses black, grey and white mainly
• Bad UI
• No illustrations/animations/interactive fun elements, except from being able to use the camera really
• Might be too many categories. E.g. the 'Scene' category; Private, Business, Ceremony. This is a bit useless as the user doesn't really care about that 
• The UX is average- a bit basic, not anything exciting or different
• Calendar section is unnecessary for a wardrobe app