when maternity clothes meet street style
A REAL-WORLD PROJECT FOCUSING ON UX STRATEGY
2022
As my first real-world project working directly with the stakeholder, I have to say this journey was an experience! Switch between super-inspired and super-clueless. The biggest challenge is communication. Although this journey was not easy,
I learned a lot about communication skills, and more importantly, I discovered my passion for UX strategy.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Mater is a start-up brand of sustainable maternity wear. The stakeholder Ana is the founder of this brand. The state of this project is still in a very early stage. To kick off the project, she still needs more funding. During the three-week voluntary cooperation, what she wants us (Eli and I) to do is:
1. Branding;
2. Designing the landing page.
Where shall we start when there are no products, no pictures, no business model… almost nothing but a great idea?
After a short period of clueless, I decided to look into the user, aiming to first understand the special user group of mom-to-be.
USER RESEARCH
Even though I am a woman, the world of moms is still so different. This special user group is far more difficult to understand than I imagine.
After some online research and a user survey, I got to know that this stage of pregnancy is a very fragile period for mom-to-be, with huge changes in body shape, hormones, mood, lifestyle, etc. To visualize all my findings, I mapped out the user journey and started to think about what opportunities Mater might have.
BUSINESS & COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Based on the value proposition, I started searching on Google for relevant competitors who shared the same values as Mater.
This vertical comparison was very interesting because you can easily tell the little nuance that every brand is playing, through their narrative, the imagery, the service, and so on.
I realized that the products didn't make a difference. The user experience does.
“What can make Mater different from others? What user experience can we offer?”
MARKET POSITIONING
With these questions in mind, I reviewed her brand again and discovered a niche where Mater could play out - her expertise as a stylist & fashion designer, as well as her experience as a mother of two. Based on this, I selected the corresponding indicators and mapped out the market positioning of Mater.
BUSINESS STRATEGY
Soon I realized that the leading brands like H&M were not suitable competitors for Mater. A realistic step-by-step strategy is needed. In that, I proposed a two-stage business strategy.
Then, I looked into the Berlin market and found three local brands that are very similar to Mater's value, concept, and style, aiming to evaluate the feasibility of our business model through their practices. We also interviewed a local Berlin mom who fits Mater’s user persona. In the end, all our assumptions and ideas were successfully validated!
BRANDING
Since I have never done branding before, I started by learning from successful brands, such as Lululemon Athletica, NIKE, and Apple. This horizontal comparison across different industries was very helpful, as it gave me a "jump-out-of-the-box perspective".
This new perspective inspired my idea for Mater:
Brand message: “Being a mom, can still be cool.”
Core value: support and empower the women who are becoming moms
Brand attributes: progressive, outspoken, casual, stylish
Brand Mood: street style
STYLE TILE
To match the brand language we defined above, I chose outspoken neon color and magazine typography.
“Why is pregnancy just a bunch of flowers and an earthy tone? I want to feel like a cool mom.”
— interviewee, a Berlin mom
LANDING PAGE
As the stakeholder do not yet have real products or images, all images in this prototype are from online sources. This landing page will serve as a template and style guide for future use by the stakeholder.
GOAL
Advocate the "cool mom" attitude
Provide styling services and content
CALL TO ACTION
Book a Styling Consultation
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Thanks for reading this far!
If you want to see the complete case study with more details, please check my Medium.
ROLE
UX Strategy & Design
Team of Two: Eli & Me
TIMELINE
Three Weeks
TOOLS
Figma
Premiere