UX Research: Assessing the Usability of VTO Apps From Leading Brands
The client
The pandemic pushed retail digitalisation forward, augmented reality and virtual try-on with it. A decade ago letting a consumer see how a product looks on them was a gimmick a few retailers played with.
Now it is in use at leading brands, with more following — driven by the revenue and cost benefits it promises, though a poor implementation can do more harm than good.
The challengeWhat the teams actually needed
To help companies and developers of these solutions take the opportunity and avoid the traps, we ran an internal project assessing the usability of apps from selected brands.
Challenge 01Four categories, one comparison
The study spanned footwear, cosmetics, eyewear and jewellery, including household names such as Ray-Ban, Gucci, Charlotte Tilbury and Pandora.
Challenge 02Insight worth publishing
The first aim was an industry report carrying precise, actionable information about virtual try-on, so companies and developers can get more out of the technology.
Challenge 03And worth using ourselves
The second was applying what we learned to our own retail and ecommerce offering, for the benefit of clients.
What we did
Usability assessed across the brands already doing it
Identifying the weaknesses and the openings in existing solutions meant using them properly rather than reading about them.
Brands people recognise
Apps from footwear, cosmetics, eyewear and jewellery brands were examined, Ray-Ban, Gucci, Charlotte Tilbury and Pandora among them.
Usability, assessed directly
Each solution was evaluated on how usable it actually is, which is where implementations tend to fall down.
Actionable, not descriptive
The findings became an industry report with concrete guidance for companies and developers building these solutions.
Fed back into the offering
The same insight went into strengthening our retail and ecommerce work, so clients get the benefit of it directly.
Netguru quote
I did not come across a flawless solution. Every experience in the categories of jewelry, shoes, and glasses has smaller or larger shortcomings. However, where the solution of one brand is weak, another one looks good.
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What’s next