Could digital avatars and AR help shoppers preview clothing before physically trying it on? If customers could visualize fit and style earlier in the shopping process, retailers could reduce returns, shorten fitting room wait times, and increase purchase confidence.
Product Design
The Future of
Fitting is Here
ROleProduct · Research · Usability
ToolsFigma · UserTesting
FocusRetail technology / B2B Product concept
Timeline3 months
OverviewDesigning an AR Fitting Platform
Fashion retailers lose billions each year due to product returns driven by fit uncertainty. Customers often purchase multiple sizes or avoid trying new styles because they cannot confidently visualize how garments will fit their bodies.
TrueStyle explores how augmented reality (AR) technology could help retailers reduce returns, improve in-store efficiency, and give shoppers greater confidence before purchasing.
Fit uncertainty drives a cycle of over-ordering, returning, and discarding, at a massive cost to the planet.
01 - The ProblemA costly cycle
nobody wins
Retailers face growing operational costs caused by product returns and inefficient in-store experiences. Fit uncertainty is one of the biggest drivers of these issues.
When shoppers are unsure how clothing will fit, they order multiple sizes, avoid new styles, or rely heavily on fitting rooms before committing.
Together, these problems create lost revenue, wasted inventory movement, and a frustrating experience for both shoppers and retailers.
63%
of US online shoppers intentionally over-order with plans to return
Return Prime, 2022
9.5B lbs
of returned clothing sent to landfill by US retailers in 2022 alone
CleanHub, 2024
3x
more returns from online purchases than in-store
Inside Ecology, 2024
Fit uncertainty drives 30–40% return rates in fashion e-commerce. And the cost isn't just financial. Those returns are an environmental crisis. E-commerce returns generate up to 24 million metric tonnes of CO₂ every year. In 2022 alone, US retailers sent 9.5 billion pounds of returned products straight to landfill, because restocking costs more than discarding. Every returned item that doesn't make it back to a shelf makes that number worse.
Without a way to visualize how something will actually look on a shopper's body, they order multiple sizes, return what doesn't work, and the planet absorbs the cost.
This project asks: what if you could try on a complete outfit before buying online?
02 - ResearchWhat shoppers
actually told me
I conducted interviews with 4 shoppers who regularly purchase clothing both online and in stores. Participants ranged from ages 30–42 and represented a mix of shopping habits. Three clear patterns emerged.
01
Fit Uncertainty Drives Hesitation
"I'll order two sizes just in case and return one."
Participants frequently purchased multiple sizes or avoided buying online entirely because they couldn't accurately predict fit. This directly increases return volume and shipping costs.
02
Fitting Rooms Feel Like a Burden
"I'd rather take something home and return it than use a fitting room."
Shoppers describe fitting rooms as inconvenient when trying multiple outfits, and often abandon potential purchases rather than repeatedly entering and exiting.
03
Shoppers Want Full Outfits, Not Just Items
"I wish I could see how pieces work together before buying them."
Users were less interested in visualizing individual garments and more interested in seeing complete outfits — suggesting an opportunity to support style exploration, not just fit verification.
03 — The Opportunity
The fitting room
The fitting room
of the future
Reduce Return Rates
Helping shoppers make more confident decisions means fewer items shipped back — saving money and reducing waste.
Shorter Fitting Room Lines
Virtual try-on reduces reliance on physical fitting rooms, improving flow and efficiency in-store.
Hybrid Retail Experience
A connected experience spanning mobile at home and AR in-store meets shoppers wherever they are.
Product Direction
Based on these insights, the solution needed to let shoppers:
- 01Create a personalized digital avatar
- 02Preview clothing using augmented reality
- 03Experiment with complete outfits
- 04Transition seamlessly between mobile and in-store
- 05See what they already own at home while shopping in-store
04 — Mirror Experience
Designing for
Designing for
a new surface
I had experience designing vertical touchscreen kiosks, but had never designed for a six-foot mirror. Unlike a kiosk where the screen is the primary focus, a mirror requires the user to see themselves clearly, overlaying UI elements across the body would directly interfere with the core experience.
This meant the interface had to live at the edges of the mirror, keeping the center completely clear for the AR visualization.
"A standard kiosk assumes a standing adult at arm's length, a mirror is used in place. I had to design for shorter users, children, and wheelchair users who may not reach controls placed too high."
Then I realized, a touch solution wasn’t the answer either. A large touch mirror interface in a public space would accumulate fingerprints immediately and ruin the premium experience. I decided on gesture-based navigation as the primary input method. Gestures felt like the natural fit for this surface. It kept the experience hands-first rather than screen-first, which aligned with how people naturally behave in front of a mirror.
This turned out to be one of the more interesting findings from user testing. Going in, I expected gesture navigation to be the biggest point of confusion. But testers picked it up quickly and found it natural. The friction was elsewhere, which led to the QR code checkout solution. It was a good reminder to not make assumptions about your users.
Edge-Anchored UI
Navigation and controls anchored low and to the sides, center stage reserved for the body and AR overlay.
Accessibility-First Layout
Gesture navigation enables for a fuller range of users including shorter individuals, children, and wheelchair users.
Gesture Navigation
Gestures kept the experience hands-first rather than screen-first, aligned with how people behave at a mirror.
No Tap Navigation
Touch navigation on a large public mirror accumulates fingerprints across the UI immediately, gestures solve this.
05 — Mobile Experience
Try on at home,
Try on at home,
shop with confidence
The mobile experience lets shoppers experiment with clothing and build outfits at home. Users first generate a personalized digital avatar based on body measurements and reference photos — creating a simplified 3D body model that represents their shape.
Once the avatar is created, shoppers can browse items and preview how they appear. Rather than focusing on individual garments, the experience encourages experimenting with complete outfits and exploring new styles with less risk.
- Virtual try-on at home
- Digital wardrobe organization
- AI-generated style suggestions
- Outfit building and planning
- Fit visualization insights
06 — User Testing
Three friction points.
Three friction points.
One elegant solution.
Testing revealed three clear friction points in the mirror experience. The pattern pointed to a single root cause: the mirror was being asked to do too much.
01
Checkout Confusion
Users didn't know how to complete a purchase from the mirror interface.
02
Remove an Item
Users couldn't figure out how to remove a garment, and honestly neither could I.
03
Wanted More Detail
Users asked for totals, tax, and payment details, all on the mirror screen.
"More information on the mirror sounds reasonable, but on a large public screen it would clutter the interface, extend session time, and create longer lines."
The solution was the QR code handoff. At the end of a try-on session, the mirror generates a QR code. The shopper scans it with their phone, and checkout completes on their own device, privately, quickly, and without occupying the mirror.
It solved the privacy concern, reduced session time at the mirror, and gave users the detailed checkout experience they were asking for, just in the right place.
One unexpected finding: gesture navigation, which I expected to be the biggest point of confusion, was actually picked up quickly. Testers found it natural. A good reminder not to make assumptions about your users.
Version 1
What would happen if they had 10 items in their cart? Would they have to scroll a life size screen?
Version 2
the outcome
Completely eliminated the “cart” screen, and moved everything to the mobile experience via QR code
07 — Business Model
Value for retailers.
Feasibility
Value for retailers.
Value for shoppers.
Consumer Value
Reducing Try-On Friction
TrueStyle streamlines the try-on process through virtual fitting both at home and in-store, helping shoppers make more confident decisions.
- Preview complete outfits before purchasing
- Explore styles with less financial risk
- Seamless mobile-to-mirror handoff
Retailer Value
Faster Try-Ons, Better Efficiency
Virtual try-on reduces reliance on fitting rooms, helping shoppers move through the store more efficiently while engaging with more products.
- Reduce fitting-room congestion
- Increase product engagement
- Improve in-store conversion rates
From in-home to retail
Feasibility
Pivot
My initial concept positioned the AR mirror as an in-home product. After evaluating feasibility, I realized the hardware requirements alone, totaling $2,500–$8,000, would make it inaccessible to the average consumer. That shift led me to reframe the concept for in-store use, where the technology could be shared, costs distributed, and the experience integrated directly into the retail environment.
Hardware total: $2,500 – $8,000
TrueStyle is designed as a B2B SaaS platform for apparel retailers. Retailers lease smart mirror hardware and pay a recurring software subscription for access to the platform, including avatar technology, AR visualization, and content management tools.
08 — Next Steps
As part of my
As part of my
Master's Thesis…
Marketing Video
Produced & edited by Melissa Lisi
Interested in the process? View my process below