Close Knit

Building Connections through Fiber Arts

Timeline

Nov - Dec 2023 (6 weeks)

Responsibilities

UX Research
Sketching
Prototyping

Tools

Figma
Miro Board 

Highlights

Exploration

Challenge

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.

Opportunity

Many beginner knitters struggle to find useful resources for learning yarn skills and finding inspiration. Currently, They rely on social media for ideas and solutions to their knitting challenges, which let getting the right information become difficult and time-consuming, leading many to eventually give up on knitting.

Background

Overview

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.

The process

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.

Research

Problem Space

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. Besides, 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.

Survey Results

See what we have got!

This multi-pronged approach resulted in a remarkable response, with a total of 303 survey results collected within just 2 days.

Research Analysis

Data Analysis

Let's first identify the barriers that prevent beginner knitters from progressing

Through my research, I identified four common patterns where beginners often get stuck.

Cost of Material

The most frequently mentioned barrier, with 112 respondents expressing concerns about affordability of materials.

Material Avaliability

Highlighted by 67 respondents, sourcing materials is a significant issue.

Lack of Inspiration

Cited by 32 participants, creativity blocks impact engagement.

Time Constraints

Many think it is time-consuming to find inspiration and useful skills from online community.

So, how might we address these barriers?

Ideation

Low - Fidelity

Based on the design concepts we have came up, we brainstormed our sketches and then started developing our low-fidelity wireframes.

Feature 01: Granny Hotline & Personal Space

I designed a feature that allows mentor connections between knitting beginners and masters.

Feature 02: Local Yarn Stores and Material Introduction

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.

How can we evaluate if our design works? I then conducted a heuristic evaluation to identify esthetic issues.

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.

Final Design

Reflections

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.

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