Building Connections through Fiber Arts
Figma; Miro Boards; Google Sheets; Google Form; Python
UX Designer and Researcher
Nov - Dec 2023 (6 weeks)
Close Knit is an application designed for both novice knitters and experienced knitting masters. It serves as a nurturing platform where mentorship connections can thrive, providing a space for beginners to find inspiration and for experienced knitting experts to showcase their projects. Additionally, the app enables experts to recommend materials, whether online or offline, fostering a supportive community for all knitting enthusiasts.
Many beginner knitters struggle to find useful resources for learning yarn skills and finding inspiration. Currently, They often rely on social media for ideas and solutions to their knitting challenges, but finding the right information can be difficult and time-consuming, leading many to eventually give up on knitting.
Let's first identify the barriers that prevent beginner knitters from progressing
To gather quantitative data to identify the problem space, I conducted a survey with 10 questions about participants' knitting experiences. The survey was distributed online across major yarn-related social media platforms such as Ravelry, the Reddit crochet community, Facebook groups, and Instagram, , as well as locally within the Santa Cruz area.
I reached out to the local community by visiting the Santa Cruz local yarn stores and placing survey forms at bus stops throughout Santa Cruz.
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This multi-pronged approach resulted in a remarkable response, with a total of 303 survey results collected within just 2 days.
Through my research, I identified four common patterns where beginners often get stuck.
The most frequently mentioned barrier, with 112 respondents expressing concerns about affordability of materials.
Highlighted by 67 respondents, sourcing materials is a significant issue.
Cited by 32 participants, creativity blocks impact engagement.
Many think it is time-consuming to find inspiration and useful skills from online community.
Based on the design concepts we have came up, we brainstormed our sketches and then started developing our low-fidelity wireframes.
I designed a feature that allows mentor connections between knitting beginners and masters.
To reduce costs, we created a community that allows knit lovers to share the remaining materials and find available yarn materials from verified shop page.
After finished low-fidelity wireframes, we conducted a usability test to evaluate functionality of our low-fidelity wireframes and receive feedbacks to iterate on our design.
After finished low-fidelity wireframes, we conducted a usability test to evaluate functionality of our low-fidelity wireframes and receive feedbacks to iterate on our design.
I'm excited about the design process and passionate about contributing to a community I’ve only had limited experience with. Working in such a supportive team has been a great opportunity. As a UX designer, I created surveys and conducted interviews, which has been a valuable learning experience.
However, time constraints made it hard for us to dive deeper into the project. If we had more time, I would focus on refining our design through multiple iterations and gathering more feedback to ensure we truly address the community's challenges.
