Pride

Supporting transgender transition through a carepackage

Product Design

Role

Duration

Team

UX Designer
UX Researcher

Aug 2019 (3 months)

Nikita Pinjare
Sukruti Shrivastava
Ajaya Pournami
Ashita Soni

Opportunity
Gender transition is a challenging process. Everyone's journey is different making it less predictable.
Transitioning can take several months to year. Although an exciting time, it is quite difficult as everyone’s journey is different. This makes it feel like venturing into the unknown. Additionally, social pressure can make it awkward and thus very challenging.
How might we support transgender persons through their transition and make it less challenging?
Solution
Pride is a subscription based personalized care package for a transgender person that can be ordered online.
This care package is meant to support through their transition by discovering their style, understanding the essentials they require and finding a perfect fit for their body type.
Receiving a Pride box containing styles and essentials for transitioning
Once ordered, individuals receive a Pride box that not only consists of clothing, but also essentials, words of encouragement and surprise gifts.
Style quiz to discover personal style
A style quiz that consists of questions that will help us understand users' needs by asking them about their style, gender, and preferences.
Providing precise body measurements for custom fit
Phone scan allows us to get precise body measurements. This is to help custom fit clothes to individual body type.
Pride Stories provides community support by sharing experiences
Sharing experiences within the same platform helps transgender person’s see other stories like them giving them support, representation and a sense of belonging.
Process
How did our team get here?
In the beginning, we had little knowledge about the transgender community, thus our process steered back and forth between research and design. This helped us get constant feedback from our users and iterate of our design.
Research
We began by researching all aspects of a transgender person's life through their personal stories and culture of the LGBTQ+ community.

Predisposition

To form initial hypothesis

Literature Review

Understand transgender fashion

Interviews

Recognize user needs & pain points

Photoethnography

Understand participants' emotions & life

Photoethnography: Shadowing Abby during her morning routine
Research Insights
We found that fashion is hugely important during transition, but poses many challenges.
1. Fashion is deeper than just appearance; it’s a channel to express identity
2. Gender transition means getting to know a whole new body. A challenging process, often affecting mental health.
“To me feminine was high heels, big hair, long fingernails, so when I transitioned I wanted to dress like that because it hid my masculinity.”
‍Jessie
“This [mainstream clothing] results in ill-fitted clothes affecting their confidence and further causing gender dysphoria.”
‍Quote from Clothing Fit Issues for Trans People
3. Available fashion choices for transgender people are expensive
4. Preconceived gender notions results in fear of judgement
“On the internet there like 6 companies that provide transgender clothing, and they rip you off!"
Jake
“For us, there is a lot of online shopping. At the beginning of transition, it is embarrassing, especially when you are older.”
Jessie
Product Goals
We turned our insights into these guiding core values.
Empathy & Support
Include loved ones and the LGBTQ+ community in transitions to help ease the many changes
Knowledge
Empower people with knowledge about their transitioning body
Confidence
Teach transgender people how to use fashion to build confidence in their appearance

How can we support transgender people during their transition process and make it less challenging?

Ideation
Using our core values, we generated multiple concepts. When we had to pick one, we combined ideas, added constraints and landed on an idea that reflected our values the most.
To think creatively and without any worldly constraints, we conducted a series of 'crazy concept' exercises.
Among all the concepts, we landed on “Activity box”.
The box also offers a 'body template' that can be used to modify their old clothes to cater to their body needs.
It contains fashion activities that need to be carried out by a transgender person and a loved one.
“Activity box” can be gifted from a loved one to transgender person.
Testing
We tested the concept using behavior prototype
We picked two activities from our DIY package and conducted them 12 times.
Designing clothes together using body template
Learning about hair by styling them
User feedback
Our behavioral prototype led us to recognize some design opportunities
Body template was neglected because users it tedious
Uncomplicating the process of finding well-fitted clothes
Activities require multiple people to participate resulting in dependency
User Feedback
Users preferred not to participate in the activities again making it redundant
Design Opportunities
Making them self-sufficient and independent
A concept that can be beneficial throughout their transition
How might we empower transgender persons through a simplified yet highly personalized product?
Iteration Round 1
They would go through a set of questionnaire that would help experts understand their style, body type, their needs and their personality.
We ideated using our opportunities and landed on a concept 'Pride'.
The Pride Style box is a subscription based personalized carepackage for a transgender person that can be ordered online.
We built low fidelity wireframes and tested them with our participants leading to positive response
"This is great! It's fun and colorful. I love that it is personalized for me!" -Abby
Iteration Round 2
After a few rounds of testing we iterated on our website
Choosing items in a Style Box
Customized Style through a Style Quiz
Complicated interface to show gender
Simpler interface to show gender
Mainstream Measurements that is not suitable for transgender body type
Personalized Measurements to make it easier for a transgender person
Final Design
Let's walk through a scenario with Kate, who is transitioning!
Measuring through camera was less frustrating than figuring out sizing standards
She briefly understands Pride and what it offers
How Pride Works
What's Inside?
Upon taking the style quiz, she finds the gender slider
She informs Pride about her style by answering few questions...
She answers questions about her requirements for essentials
Fun questions in also some fun questions
First, Abby scans the Pride home page
After receiving the package, she receives a feedback form for future orders
She looks through Pride Stories and hearing from her community made her happy and confident
Reflection

© Designed with ❤️ by Nikita Pinjare

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