Overview
Wool and the Gang (WATG) is a global DIY fashion platform that strives to reinvent the crafting experience by offering the next generation of knitters the supplies and tools needed to knit customizable pieces. While WATG's emphasis on forward knitting has drawn many into the ecosystem, the craft itself remains a difficult hobby to grasp which leads many to drop it all together and leave the space.
Untangled is thus a proposal for a supplmentary app designed to help beginner knitters overcome the struggles of knitting and empower them to continue the craft with WATG. Click me to see the intervention.
Problem Space and Research
When looking at WATG from a brand and business perspective research, it became evident that a large emphasis was placed on promoting the craft of knitting and pushing it beyond the established (and somewhat stereotypical) connotations. 4 key brand pillars were surfaced to represent their approach based on their offerings and identity.
Brand Pillars
01
Make it Fashionable
Shift existing social conventions of knitting; it’s not just for Grandma’s, it’s for everyone.
02
Gang Related Activity
Connecting like-minded makers with a passion for hand-crafted knitwear.
03
Slow Fashion
A product made by you with minimal environmental impact.
04
Knitwork Knowledge
Engaging in platforms that encourage creative education.
From follow up secondary research, it was clear that many customers resonated with these values as traffic for the WATG website had increased by 69% (Evening Standard, London News) during the Harry Styles cardigan trend as many looked to start their journey with the craft. However, the barrier that arose was the inherent difficulty of the craft that discouraged deep extended engagement with knitting and WATG.
“
The more effort a hobby takes to enact, [...], the more difficult it's going to be to engage in that on a regular basis.”
– David Conroy (Professor of Human Development at PSU)
Framing the Approach
Taking these considerations into mind, follow up primary research was conducted via a survey (with 147 respondents) and a Sprint (with 7 beginner to novice knitters) to better understand how individuals approached the knitting process and what they needed to be supported.
A consistent finding that resonated with both parties was that a large motivation for knitting was spurred by a desire to knit a specific garment.
“
Mostly if the pattern is repetitive or doesn’t knit up fast I’ll get demotivated and put the project down for months. I tend to just wait a while and see if I ever fall back in love with the pattern.”
– Survey Respondent
In this journey to create their desired garment however, many beginner knitters found themselves struggling to approach this process as 33.6% of the survey respondents noted that their issues were pattern related. Despite issues with the traditionally dense written patterns, user feedback revealed that this was still the primary means for knitters to approach projects; especially with WATG that used them in their beginner kits.
Leveraging the brand pillars of Make it Fashionable, Knitwork Knowledge and Gang Related Activity, we thus proposed a framing of "How might we provide beginner knitters with resources that help them learn to knit as they work through a pattern?"
Introducing Untangled
Acting as a new supplementary app, Untangled is a tool to be used with existing written patterns to help users learn knitting techniques and troubleshoot errors, as well as provide a means to find their next inspiration.
While not a replacement for the physical patterns (that most knitters referred to), Untangled provides knitters with means to better navigate the material and familiarze themselves with the craft by overcoming the cognitive overhead of understanding techniques in order to avoid extensive troubleshooting. For this intervention, I was primarily responsible for developing the interactions + animations within the final prototype.
Features of Untangled
User Onboarding
Once knitters log in for the first time, they are met with an onboarding process, helping knitters understand what they can use the app for.
Text and object animations are established in the beginning (and carried on) to have a subtle bounce to represent the fun and exciting nature of WATG.
Grasp the Jargon
Beginner knitters need help understanding keywords on pattern steps in order to complete them. The resources section provides knitters with videos of the techniques required for their specific garments; prexisting content is surfaced from Instagram and YouTube tutorials.
A video tracker and playback header appears on tap to allow for seamless playback to review sections.
Confronting Problems
When a knitter gets stuck, they are able to identify the problem by taking a picture or by searching a key term. In doing so, the cognitive overhead that stems from identifying errors is reduced, as knitters can troubleshoot their problems efficiently and smoothly.
Visual Search
Knitters like creating pieces based on what they see online, on other websites, or other people. Visual Search enables knitters to locate Wool and the Gang projects that are similar to their inspirations by gathering projects based on such inspiration.
Explore Feed
The explore feed allows knitters to browse Wool and the Gangs products to gain inspiration to begin knitting and offers an opportunity to re-engage with a different project.
The Process: From Desktop to a Mobile Sub-Brand
When considering where an intervention best suited WATG, a desktop approach was originally pursued as it would allow the solution to be integrated into the existing website. However, a mobile app approach was considered for two main reasons:
- A mobile device allows for more flexibility as knitters wouldn't always have their desktop on hand
- WATG's existing desktop branding was limiting so the use of a mobile app would give way for the creation of a sub-brand to target and deliver for a fashion first audience
The Process: Forming the Sub-Brand Art Direction
For the purposes of the sub-brand, typography acts as the main driving force for contrast + communication. The interface layout itself holds minimal colour as the white background paired with the black type provides a blank canavas for the striking knitware imagery to stand on its own.
My Final Thoughts
As my first endeavour into the realm of Experience Design, there was a lot of pain and struggles to not only understand what this concept meant, but how such work could be executed. The process alone of landing on a client through deep and wide research and understanding when to drop a weaker one (with no clear business connotations) served to be a test for my understanding of what design process entailed; if it's garbage in, sadly it's often garbage out.
This project also was the first time I worked in a group environment where the roles within the team were specifically delegated based on our individual skillsets. Although I was skeptical for the approach, by the time things were truly settled in the 3rd to 4th week, I'm glad we went with this approach as we were a well oiled design team by the end of it.
I can't imagine having done this project with another team after everything we went through, so here's my first (of many to come in the future) thanks here!