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Seequence
Clothing

Reshaping the operations and creating a digital presence for an ethnic garment manufacturing company in response to the pandemic.  

Overview

Seequence Clothing Company is a mid-scale Indian garment manufacturing startup that employed 52 people.

 

On March 23rd, 2020 there was a nationwide lockdown declared in India to prevent the spread of COVID-19 which forced manufacturing units that were unable to operate remotely to shut down operations indefinitely.

Problem

The decreased demand for Indian wedding wear, restrictions on in-person operations, and the company's insufficient reserve funds pushed it to the brink of permanent closure and put the livelihoods of its 52 employees at risk.

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Solution

Shifted the company's operations from manufacturing ethnic clothing to designer cotton masks in response to market needs.

 

Establish the company’s digital presence and enabled online sales through branding and website design.

Team

Rohan Gaonkar 

(Co-Founder)

 

Meghna Balachandran

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Duration

12 weeks

March-May, 2021

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My Role

Research

Strategy

Branding

UX Design

UI Design

Tools

Photoshop

Illustrator

XD

Wix

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Overview

What does success look like?

The user centered design process was used to plan and execute interventions to achieve the following business goals:

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Create new avenues of income

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Increase

revenue by 10% 

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Retain all 52 employees through the pandemic 

Process Summary
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Research

Scenario

Only "essential services" were allowed to conduct in-person operations during the lockdown period

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Opportunity 

Shift from manufacturing Indian ethnic clothing to 3 layered cloth masks as per the WHO guidelines

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Problem

People were apprehensive about using anything apart from surgical or N95 masks

Let's learn more about...

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Research Findings

The Makers

Surveys

  • Most employees were comfortable with in-person work.
     

  • The majority (58%) of them were the sole earners in their families. All employees belonged to the economically weaker sections (EWS) category.
     

  • Most of the employees were able to commute to work despite the absence of public transportation.

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The Product

Competitive Analysis

  • Only single-use surgical masks could be ordered in large quantities.
     

  • None of the competitor masks could be customized.
     

  • Printed and patterned masks were not available.

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The Users

User Interviews

  • Customization is required for bulk orders. 
     

  • Based on prior experience with the product:

    • Most participants preferred the elastic to loop around the ears.

    • Establishment owners/managers wanted the elastic to loop around the head for employees engaged in machine operation or physical work.
       

  • All participants wanted multiple choices of color and pattern.

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Customer Profiles
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Product Design

The mask was carefully crafted with both comfort and protection in mind. I collaborated with a Tailor - Cutting Master, who brought his domain expertise to the table during the prototype stage. To comply with regulatory guidelines, 3 layers of soft cotton fabric were used in the mask's construction. We also internally sampled and tested the prototypes using the blowing-out a-candle method using fabrics of varying thicknesses to ensure both effectiveness and breathability.

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Design
Usability Testing

Usability Test Round 1

We offered 5 samples of the masks (having both ear and head loops) to friends and family and asked them for their feedback after using our product for a day.
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Usability Test Round 2

Once we acquired government permission to start work during the lockdown, we gave the mask samples to the employees and asked them for their feedback on the design. This was done to test the masks' usability in working conditions.

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Key Findings

  • All the women and 70% of men preferred using the masks with the ear loops.
     

  • Participants complained about size issues. At least 3 sizes were required for adults for subsequent iterations.
     

  • We also took note of the prints and colors that were preferred by the participants.

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Shifting Online
Back to the drawing board...

I collaborated with the cofounders to generate a secondary design question and explore potential paths for the company during the ongoing pandemic.

How might we encourage people to purchase reusable cloth masks?

Stakeholder feedback

The company has typically only operated through informal referrals and professional contacts in the B-to-B space, so the co-founders never had to worry about branding or having a digital presence. To better understand user needs in the digital space, I interviewed three direct end-users and two potential customers who were interested in bulk orders. Through these conversations, I was able to challenge or confirm our assumptions and plan the path forward

What is important to the users?
 

  • Brand image and aesthetics were important to direct end-users. For both masks as well as ethnic clothing.

  • They were more likely to try out new brands through recommendations from their friends and family.

  • Covid safety protocol followed during the manufacturing process improves users' opinion of the brand or product.

  • Customers interested in bulk orders were more concerned with the price point and being able to view photos or samples of the end product.
     

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What is important to the co-founders?
 

  • For users and customers to know their story, values, and ethics.

  • To showcase their wide range of products and services.

Business Plan

From the data gathered, we decided to create a brand identity for the company and try out WhatsApp, Instagram, and an official website as tools to spread the word about our product.  We also made a video to highlight employee safety and covid protocol being followed in the manufacturing unit to help build user confidence in the company.

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Branding

The logo was designed such that the nature of the work/product is adequately communicated to people of varying levels of literacy and education considering the demographic range of the employees, vendors, clients, and users that were part of the different operational cycles.

Ideation
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Logo Design
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Lo-Fi Prototyping
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Website Design
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The Solution

Seequence Clothing Company Website

Website Details

ITERATION - 1

Home
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Products
Services

Note: Online purchases had not been set up during the 1st iteration of the website at the request of the client

About
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Contact
Reflections
Goals
Outcomes
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Increase

revenue by 10% 

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Retain all 52 employees through the pandemic 

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Create new avenues of income

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Next Steps

2/3 participants in the usability tests were confused about the content in services pages. The following would be the next steps:
 

  • Test with B-to-B clientele.

  • Identify errors and the aspects of the interface that led to those errors.

  • Prioritize problems and the corresponding design changes in consultation with the co-founder.

  • Set up the online purchasing gateway and test the customer check-out process.

  • Launch the second iteration of the website.

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