Spotlight on… Part 2: Whering
Spotlight on… is a series to shine a light on all things design, with a focus on great UX and products that aim to make our lives easier.
For part 2 of this series I wanted to spotlight an app that I absolutely rave about, but am yet to get someone to use…
How often are you left mystified that you have a full wardrobe and yet absolutely nothing to wear?
I have been in this cycle since the age of 16, when I got a pay check of £24 for 6 hours of work on a Sunday, and then would immediately spend it all on my lunch break at the local New Look. I love clothes and I always have, but this has become a vicious cycle the older I’ve become.
Back in June ’22, I challenged myself not to buy new clothes for 1 month, as I had ASOS parcels coming out of my ears, drawers that no longer closed properly and was frustrated with the lack of funds I had in my account at the end of each month.
I immediately realised I had under estimated how often I was clicking the ‘complete purchase’ button and was handing over my card details. But I held strong, and once the month ended I had a better handle on my impulse control and more money in the bank.
I quickly realised that breaking up with fast fashion, wasn’t as insurmountable as I had made it in my head and decided to make this a (more or less) permanent choice in my life. However, I was still left with an overflowing wardrobe and the classic sense of ‘I have nothing to wear’. I kept thinking about the movie Clueless, and the tool the main character used to select her outfits for her everyday, and as a product designer, I refused to believe I was the only person that was obsessed with that product and had wardrobe issues. A quick search had the ideal solution found and downloaded on my phone within minutes.
Enter Whering
Whering aims to support you in breaking up with fast fashion and falling back in love with the clothes that are already in your wardrobe. It champions sustainability and this was a main draw for me when downloading the app.
We’re in a critical position with the environment and many of us ask: ‘But what can I do?’ Here is one big thing — Fall back in love with the clothes you already have. I won’t get into all the stats against fast fashion here, but if you want more info on how it’s effecting the world and how slow fashion could be the answer, here’s a great resource.
Back to the app, let’s look at a high level user flow starting from after you’ve created an account and want to get started with your clothes:
Why do I love this experience?
It’s fun, it’s sustainable and I would go as far to say that it’s mindful.
- Encouraging sustainability
The whole purpose of the app is to encourage sustainability without sacrificing your style. Finding small ways that you can help the environment everyday, is what will help us to shift the needle on climate change. - Simple to use
You could essentially have a 3 click journey on this app to track your outfits, meaning it’s accessible for everyone’s busy daily lives. - A creative, nostalgic & mindful experience
This app harnesses emotional design at it’s finest. Picture this, it’s Sunday night and instead of feeling the Sunday Scaries, you’re playing with a blank canvas and all your clothes to plan which outfits you’ll wear that week. It reduces your stress for the week ahead, and it’s a creative activity to help you wind down.
This app is also incredibly nostalgic for me. I used to use a website called Polyvore, to put together imaginary outfits for events, so this unlocked some real dopamine for me to get back into it as an adult, with my own clothes and my real events! - Fun branding and tone of voice
This is something we can see emerging consistently and allows users to connect to the brands and products they use everyday, by exposing that there is indeed humans behind it. *gasp* - It’s very open and fun to use
You can see from the flow above how many options there are for you to track the way feels right for you, I love how open the navigation of the app is and it just feels so fun to use. - Encouraging the revival of individuality
Fast fashion has us all wearing incredibly similar clothes and styling our outfits the same. When you dig into your wardrobe and the clothes you love, you’ll find fun new ways to style them and begin to rediscover your own individual sense of style.
Ok, but what’s the catch?
The biggest draw back with this app, and probably the biggest blocker for onboarding new users, is the high buy in, as it asks for your most precious resource, time.
Here’s a few routes I imagine different users experience when taking on the ‘outside app’ onboarding:
- The wardrobe gut
This is the route I took and definitely takes up your time, but it means you take all your items out, cull what you don’t like, doesn’t fit etc. and only put back what you’re still happy with. The step between is snapping a quick photo and uploading it to the app to catalogue it.
User result = no longer frustrated but organised - As and when
When you’re putting your clothes back at the end of the day, or pulling them out to choose an outfit for the next day (this will be a thing of the past when you download the app!) and take your photos there and then.
User result = Slow and steady organisation and clarity - Upload party
You could get together with friends and agree on clothes to ‘toss’ or ‘keep’ and then upload in the process!
User result = social time with friends and decluttering - Track your selfies
You don’t have to go all the way with uploading individual items, you can start by taking a picture of yourself everyday and logging this on the calendar, this would at least give you an idea of what you are/aren’t wearing to start off slow. (I do this when I’m feeling lazy)
User result = light touch tracking without the high buy in
I do wonder if there are ways that Whering could motivate users during their uploads to remind them that they might be sacrificing some of their time now but that you can be smart, and get rewarded by then selling your discarded clothes. So if you can’t think of saving the planet, think of saving your time, money and sanity.
Imagine if they teamed up with Vinted and told you the clothes you wore the least (which they already do) and could ‘one-click’ upload them to sell 👀
Can it appeal to users that are not ‘all about’ sustainability?
In short, I say yes! Here’s a few user types I reckon would be rewarded by using the app on the daily:
- The data lover
See your wardrobe statistics. How much is your wardrobe worth? Which items do you wear the most/least? What colours and items make up the majority of your wardrobe? - The luxury secondhand shopper
Alongside the wardrobe tracking feature, they have a shopping function that selects luxury secondhand, and often designer, pieces for you to purchase. - The conscious consumer
I haven’t completely stopped buying brand new clothes, so when I see a dress or something I like on ASOS for example, I will add a photo of it to my Whering, and see how I would style it with my existing items. This helps mitigate buying pieces that will sit, with the tag on in your wardrobe and ultimately lose you money.
What am I left wondering
Coming away from my rave review and into the designer mentality, here’s some free user feedback from an avid daily user:
- Can we talk about the navigation?
I’d be interested to know the activity behind the the tab labelled ‘community’ which houses some great articles that reflect the companies mission and values. I totally appreciate that they’re trying to educate with their articles, but I personally never use this tab which leads me onto my next point… - Bring the stats to the forefront
I LOVE this feature so much, it really appeals to me as a delighter feature and wasn’t a reason I signed up to the product but it’s a big reason I stay. The problem for me is that it is hidden in the profile section, behind buttons that don’t look particularly ‘clickable’, meaning they have a high possibility of being missed. - Could the Beta shuffle feature help to monetise?
Another great feature in the app is the ability to let it choose an outfit for you, either by shuffling your existing ones (think tinder for your outfits) or shuffling and randomising your items together. Could there be a way to offer users some of those sourced luxury secondhand items with their current pieces? (*Note: after writing this I actually found this feature in the marketplace, when you select a piece you like it offers you potential outfits with your current clothes — so cool!) - Why can’t I filter by size on marketplace?
This feels like the number one filter users would want to reduce the cognitive overload of scrolling through lots of pieces that wouldn’t fit them, so I wonder why it’s not available to use…
In summary
This product has the potential to appeal to a lot of different user types and has the backing of being good for the planet, good for your wallet and mental health and is also just extremely easy and aesthetic to use. It also solves a lot of problems that people may not even realise they’re experiencing in their daily lives.
Personally, it has saved me a lot of ‘nothing-to-wear’ melt downs, insights into what is in my wardrobe and does the ‘girl math’ for me by telling me how much any item is per wear. I have no idea how much money it’s saved me as a domino effect of showing me what I already own, but I can bet it’s a real handful.
Whering, I love you and will continue to freely market you to anyone who will listen. Let me know if this has peaked your interest and you take the plunge to download the app and start tracking your wardrobe, and what features you love or think are missing!
Whering is revolutionising fashion one wardrobe at a time, making circular solutions accessible via an app on your phone.
