responsive experiences
My topic is: successfully thrifting clothing from thrift stores!
The main page would be a sort of introduction to thrifting, with a list of benefits that thrifting has compared to buying new clothes
The navigation would have a few different pages; with the first being the guide on how to have a successful thrifting trip with accompanying photos:
Step 1: Choosing a location; In the Northeastern United States, there are two main popular thrift store chains; Salvation Army, and Goodwill. These locations are great for finding items, but they do have some questionable business practices, and recently, price hikes. I like to go to smaller, local, consignment shops because they tend to have better deals and better local impact. It is worth considering the neighborhood of your thrift store; “richer” neighborhoods tend to have better quality clothing, but less “on-trend” items. Middle-class neighborhoods have the best clothing options, based on my personal experiences at thrift stores.
Step 2: Making a game-plan; If you plan on thrifting at multiple locations, you should make a game-plan. Plan out your different locations strategically, consider bringing drinks/snacks. You should also pack a tide stain remover pen to spot test any stains.
Step 3: Effective Searching; For most thrift stores, clothing items have little to no real organization. If you have the time, you should leaf through every item in a rack to check for potential items that could interest you. If you’re in a rush, you should look for unique characteristics that you may be looking for; for example, sweaters are thicker on a rack and have chunky knit textures.
Step 4: Quality Control; It’s definitely wise to check your thrifted items for any damage, stains, or general wear and tear. Some items have irreparable holes or rips, so it’s best to say no to those items. Small tears and snags can be fixed, so don’t scrap an item due to a tiny issue. You can spot test stains on an item with that handy-dandy tide pen to see if the item you’re interested in is able to be cleaned. If not, it’s up to you to decide if the stains are a dealbreaker or not. Some items may be worn thin due to general wear and tear. For example, jeans can tend to have worn knees or fraying ankles. You need to check if the wear is too extensive to continue the lifespan of the item. Most vintage denim is hardy, but it is smart to check those areas.
Step 5: Checkout; The cost of thrifted items has been rising due to the rising popularity of thrifting. If an item is marked at a certain price but it rings up at a higher than expected price, KINDLY (emphasis on KINDLY) let your associate know. In stores like Goodwill, items can be rung up at a different price depending on how the cashier categorizes the item in the system.
A “thrifting locations near you” page (with online thrift store links):
Embedded Google maps map; links to https://www.swap.com/, https://www.thrifted.com/, and https://www.thredup.com/
And lastly, a page with extra tips:
Sale Days: Some thrift stores have special sale days. Some locations will offer a calendar of these sale days, while some are a bit randomized. Generally, you need to frequent a location to get a grasp on their sales.
Price points: *Insert general pricing of different thrift stores here*.
Cleanliness: Thrift stores can be a bit… grubby. Especially in the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, you should bring hand sanitizer and/or disinfecting wipes to clean your hands and personal effects after your trip.
Etiquette: To put it bluntly, don’t be a pig at a thrift store! Put items back on the racks instead of throwing them on it or under it. Put your carts back instead of leaving them in the aisles. This should be common sense, but it still needs to be said.
Information Architecture:
Layout Sketches:
Persona:
Invision Prototype:
Style Tiles:
Homepage Mockups:
Subpage Mockups:
Development Plan:
To develop this site, I think I’ll probably be utilizing Webflow’s grid functionality quite a bit. I think it can be extremely helpful for most of the pages that I’m trying to make. Most of the content will be nested in divs to allow accurate placement, and scaling.
The colored block elements on my site will be made with divs, but I may encounter issues with the rounded corner/sharp corner blocks, so those may be images rather than divs. I’m not sure how Webflow handles that, so I’ll need to test it out and see.
My CSS should be pretty streamlined; I have limited text styles and consistent styling on elements that appear on multiple pages.
I hope I don’t have any huge issues with this development process… Fingers crossed!
