Seamless is a speculative service design project developed in collaboration with IBM and the Student Service Design Challenge (SSDC) as part of the University of Waterloo's GBDA capstone program.
Over the course of the project, we moved from exploratory ethnographic fieldwork through iterative prototyping, delivering a high-fidelity mobile application concept: a measurement-driven virtual try-on platform that converts user body data into a personalized 3D avatar for inclusive, accurate online clothing fit.
The problem
Fashion retail has long been built around a narrow conception of the body, and the data backs it up. Our field study, survey, and secondary research all pointed to the same conclusion: the industry is leaving a significant portion of its consumer base behind, both in representation and in fit. We distilled this into a single problem statement that anchored our entire project:
Individuals seek a fashion retail experience that is inclusive, hassle-free, and ensures accurate clothing fit, addressing the frustration and anxiety caused by limited body portrayals.
THE MARKET OPPORTUNITY
Fit-related issues drive return rates of 20–40% in online fashion, and 77% of Canadian shoppers have returned clothing due to poor fit. The virtual fitting room market is projected to double from $7.05B in 2025 to over $14B by 2029 — yet existing solutions fall short.
Competitor analysis revealed four players in adjacent spaces, each with fundamental limitations: insufficient body measurement inputs, in-store-only deployment, a B2B rather than consumer focus, or AI imagery that sacrifices accuracy for convenience.
The gap for a consumer-first, mobile-native, inclusive virtual try-on platform was wide open. Seamless projected a serviceable user base of 612K–1.2M within two years, and a breakeven threshold of just 180 monthly customers.
Research
To design a winning service, we went deep. Our research spanned a structured field study across nine Eaton Centre retailers, an online survey with 47 respondents, five in-depth user interviews, and extensive secondary research across market reports, consumer behavior studies, and stakeholder analysis.
The survey told one story: 83% of respondents struggled with inconsistent sizing across brands, 72% couldn't determine how clothes would fit online, and 68% wished they felt more confident in their body type. But the interviews told a more nuanced one that changed everything.
Initially, we assumed that poor body representation was the central pain point. However, I discovered that although representation was an annoyance, interviewees would actually tune out mannequins and models entirely when shopping, having learned over time that these representations bear no useful relationship to how clothes might look on them.
What they actually needed in their shopping experience was reliable fit accuracy — the ability to trust, before buying, that something would actually fit.
This insight fundamentally reframed our problem and sharpened our solution: rather than building a platform about representation, we built one about fit confidence.
brand identity
Our teammate created the hero graphic that became the visual seed of the project, which I took as my starting point to build the Seamless brand identity.
Seamless was designed to feel modern yet approachable to speak to our primary audience of younger Millennials and Gen Z, who expect visual polish for digital-native products but respond to brands that feel human and accessible.
To emphasize the human element, the brand uses a personable 2D illustration system that makes every experience feel playful, warm, and easy to trust. This signals that Seamless is a platform anyone can join, regardless of how they look or their size.
product
Mobile app
Our hi-fi prototype has several main flows: onboarding & avatar generation, personalized marketplace exploration, and post-purchase feedback loop. Three rounds of iterative testing with ten participants each shaped the final experience, continuously refining the onboarding flow and sharpening the core value proposition: that anyone, regardless of size, can shop online with confidence.
marketing
Organic social media
ugc paid ads
We built Seamless out as a complete go-to-market concept. I designed and ideated a conceptual marketing mix for the Toronto launch strategy: organic social media content, UGC content, and a pop-up event where users get measured in person and build their avatars, turning the digital product into a physical brand experience.
Every asset was designed as a direct extension of the brand identity, carrying its visual language into a multi-channel context.
outcome
Seamless received a final mark of 92 as part of the IBM × SSDC Student Service Design Challenge, but the most valuable outcome was what I learned about how good design actually begins. Rigorous early research and continuous pressure testing of your idea is integral to designing a service that is a genuine solution.
The project also strengthened my systems thinking and gave me a deeper understanding of how operational constraints shape product. Building out a full business plan alongside the prototype made it clear that a feature's feasibility is also a logistical, financial, and organizational question.