The Beyond Experience

Creating an immersive, digital shopping experience to help highlight new markets and foster connection to Canada Goose's sustainability initiative

Role

UX/UI Designer
Product Strategy

Tools

Figma
Slack
Google Drive

Duration

24 hours
View Prototype

Challenge

How might we create a shopping experience focused on building customer loyalty as we move "Beyond the Parka" and make changes toward sustainable sourcing & materials?

Summary

The Beyond Experience is an immersive digital shopping experience for Canada Goose's "Beyond the Parka" sustainability initiative, that uses virtual reality, digital fitting rooms, and sensory features to help users explore new products at the touch of a finger.

I helped design this experience as a solo UX designer for a 24-hour hackathon, within a cross-functional team of four (4) data analysts, two (2) web developers, and one (1) digital marketer.

Team Guidelines

Before our team could dive into solving this problem, we first figured out a game plan for the next 22 hours. We started with setting basic guidelines - it is imperative when working on a team of multidisciplinary individuals that we optimize our success as a team and get on the same page.

Sprint Timeline

Next was figuring out our timeline - since we aimed to follow the double diamond process, we divided up the phases into scheduled timing to make sure we could work through our flow given the short deadline.

Discover

About Canada Goose

One of the world’s leading luxury apparel brands, with headquarters in Toronto, Canada Goose innovates products for diverse climates, with partnerships in film and a push for sustainability, globally.
What started as a small brand in a warehouse over 60 years ago, has since grown into a multi-million dollar company producing high-quality winter apparel globally. Canada Goose has always had a push to produce all of its items, including its record-breaking parkas, in-house, close to its culture and history.

"Beyond the Parka"

In 2017, Canada Goose launched their first knitwear collection, creating function-first and sustainably sourced apparel.
With the recent launch of their "Beyond the Parka" initiative and collection, they’ve expanded from low-temperature performance outerwear to lounge, fleece, and footwear utilizing high-quality recycled materials.

Understanding the Problem Space

I initially conducted a 3-question survey to start to gather some initial insights that would best inform my interview guide. I then conducted a series of 5 guided, decontextualized, one-on-one virtual interviews that fit my participant criteria.

Research Insights

We then aimed to try and understand our data and initial research. What do customers look for in the digital shopping experience?
We found that investment in a brand's social initiatives, unique and personalized online experiences, as well as feeling emotionally connected to a brand was very important to the digital shopping experience.

The Data Says...

Then, using the data given to us by the Canada Goose team, our data scientist were able to find 2 very important aspects of the "Beyond the Parka" initiative.
First, it seemed that there was a large potential market in the footwear and fleece product areas, and the second was that for these products, there were lower sales that paired with reviews speaking on lack of customer service compared to Canada Goose's outerwear products.
Our Focus
With our data in hand, we realized that in order to promote customer loyalty for Canada Goose, we needed to look at how we could expand the current digital shopping experience, in a way that was easy for users to operate and unique in helping them understand new products, helping to expand the market inevitably.
How might we expand the digital shopping experience for “Beyond the Parka” so that customers feel they are an integral part of the brand and its initiative for sustainability?

Define

Meet Melanie

With our refined challenge statement, we aimed to start ideating and brainstorming possible ways of tackling our solution. First, we started with building a proto-persona we'd be designing for.
Melanie is a nutritionist who just moved to Toronto, ON from Miami, FL looking to invest in sustainable outerwear as her new home has a climate very different from where she used to live. With the onset of COVID-19, she's been cautious about in-person activities, so she's primarily looking to digital shopping experiences.

Ideating

With Melanie in mind, we thought of two possible solutions. The goal was to create a digital experience that increased exposure to Canada Goose's initiative and new product markets and helped customers feel an emotional connection and investment in their initiative.
Another note was an emphasis on translating the in-person experience digitally since our data showed that already loyal Canada Goose customers valued the ability to experience and learn about products first-hand.
We decided to focus on our first idea, the Virtual Reality Experience. This would allow us to explore ways to personalize Melanie's unique online experience, while also showcasing a focus on Canada Goose's new line and sustainability initiatives.

Develop

Task at Hand

With the solution and goal in hand, I started to create a user task flow with input from the Developers on feasibility for production and market impact, with the Digital Marketer.

Sketching it Out

With our solution ideated, I got to work with sketching. The Web Development team and I coordinated timing and design iterations to make sure items were feasible and could be built out.

Deliver

Final Prototype

After finalizing my sketches and designs, I was able to finish a hi-fidelity prototype to pitch to our clent, and uploaded my designs to Zeplin for my developers to start building in the morning.
View Final Prototype

Profile Personalization

When Melanie gets on Canada Goose's website, she is able to enter the experience, where it first asks her for information to help personalize the rest of the flow.
  • Personalized User Experience
  • Sizing-based curated items, eliminating the need for bracketing
  • Environmental Immersion mimicking in-store experience

Immersive Audio/Visuals

Once, she's completed the personalization, she is able to browse curated items specific to her chosen experience, giving her the feel of being in the store. Curated item collections allow her to browse products in a more unique and personalized way.
  • Mimic chosen environment to give feel of live fitting rooms
  • Offer accessibility and sound control options
  • Ability to connect with a Canada Goose Representative for aid

Focus on Sustainability

Once she starts to explore items, Melanie sees she can understand how this product not only help keeps her warm, but also how she'll participate in helping the environment and sustainability - something she passionately cares about.
  • Highlighting "Beyond the Parka’s" key products for sustainability
  • Allowing users to explore why and how their chosen products help the environment, building trust

VR Fitting Room

Finally, Melanie is able to try on the item virtually, not just in her room, but in a simulated realistic setting. The in-store immersive experience is brought to her home, where she is able to get the proper digital customer service she needs to understand products and build loyalty.
  • Ability to virtually try on products, with the addition of a virtually mimicked environment
  • Given the feel of the in-store fittin room experience

Key Learnings

Last, but not least, I learned an immense amount about my users and myself, as a product designer.
Have a question, feedback, or idea?
Feel free to send it my way, let's connect!
Copyright (C) 2022 Rhea Shah