Taking the UK's leading female fashion marketplace onto the App Store
The Problem
No app store presence for a 90% mobile-based audience
SilkFred is a UK-based online female fashion marketplace for independent brands. Since its launch in 2010, it has seen huge growth and has positioned itself as the market leader.
Over the last few years, SilkFred has seen its website usage become predominantly mobile-based (nearly 90%), which has made calls for an app more and more relevant. From quicker access to improved usability, not having an app meant leaving lots on the table, and the company felt like it was missing out on a lot of opportunity by doing so. It was time to take SilkFred onto the App Store.
Company
SilkFred
Role
Product designer
User research
Tools
Sketch
InVision
Flinto
The Goal
Capturing what customers love most about SilkFred
It was established early on that the company did not just want to repackage the existing website into an app. This was an opportunity to build something special that captured what customers love most about SilkFred.
A small team of 4 was assembled, including me, the product designer, 2 developers and a fashion consultant. We were given 3 months to deliver an MVP app that we would soft-launch to 1,000 users.
The Approach
Why SilkFred?
Being an established company with an existing web product, we already had lots of data to work with. The first task was to review this existing data, along with previous research, to form a starting point for understanding what core aspects customers love most about the company.
We identified three key pillars that made up the core customer needs, which we built our stories around. This informed initial wireframes and mockups to show how existing components could be adapted and optimised in new user journeys.
Weekly sprints from day one
After defining the initial direction and what we expected to achieve for MVP, I began working closely with a small team of remote developers dedicated to the project.
This included weekly sprints, where we would showcase our work and findings with the wider team and plan the next steps, enabling us to test and validate our ideas with users quickly and with minimal waste.
The Solution
Being inspired to find the right outfit for the right moment
One of the key words that customers use to describe SilkFred is ‘inspirational’. The company has built much of its success around helping people find what to wear and when to wear it, and this is what we built the app around.
A dynamic ‘Discover’ section enables users to see, at a glance, what new styles are trending, and to get ideas for specific events. Also, a completely redesigned ‘My Likes’ area enables users to create a beautiful moodboard shortlist for that special occasion.
Talking to SilkFred users in their language
Another key part of SilkFred’s success is their strong social presence, where they are known for their catwalk and tutorial videos. Building on this idea, we created a ‘How to Wear’ section in the app, which extends the discovery-based experience, utilising video content to provide inspiration on what to wear and how to wear it.
The Outcomes
Within 3 months SilkFred had a robust, simple-to-use app on the App Store, built around the things their customers love most about them.
4.9/5
App Store rating
“This App is fab! Easy to use and navigate. Now got my favourite online fashion guru on the go!! Love it!! x”
App Store review