Welcome to the story of how, I created The Ultimate space-saving clothes rack.
In a world where space is a luxury, I set out on a mission to create something practical yet stylish — a clothes rack that doesn’t just save space but does it with flair.
Choosing an outfit is the easy part, but the mess that comes after is the real struggle.
That’s where “THE ULTIMATE-SPACE SAVING CLOTHES RACK” comes in. It’s designed to help with cluttered wardrobes and messy bedrooms, making life simpler, tidier, and a bit more enjoyable.
💡What you will find inside?
- A fun dive into the making of "THE ULTIMATE-SPACE SAVING CLOTHES RACK," where design meets everyday magic.
- Discover what sets this rack apart and why it’s a must-have for keeping your clothes and wardrobe in tip-top shape.
- Learn how this rack saves space, helps you stay organized, and smooths out your daily routine.
- The hurdles I jumped over and the aha moments that made it all worthwhile.
Share your thoughts or ideas after reading — I’m all ears!
Let’s look at the ultimate space-saving clothes rack that I have designed.
I’m starting with the solution upfront to give you a clear picture of what “THE ULTIMATE-SPACE SAVING CLOTHES RACK” can do for you right from the beginning. You’ll know exactly what we’re talking about as we dive into how it all came together.
You must be wondering how the user is using this product?
Let me show you through a journey of a USER named AP who is using this product to achieve his goal i.e. to make it easy to choose and pick an outfit quickly from the wardrobe, minimizing time and effort, and to keep the area organized after the process, making each morning smoother.
Features of Clothes Rack used are:
- Extendable Individual Rods for Custom Fit:
The rods can be extended to different lengths, allowing users to adjust the rack to fit various clothing items perfectly. - Rotating Individual Rods for Easy Access:
The rods rotate 90 degrees on doors or walls and a full 360 degrees on the floor stand, offering flexible access to all outfits.
- Hidden Stand:
A button-activated tripod stand pops out from inside the main rod, keeping it compact and easy to store. - Portable Grip:
The main rod’s grip allows for easy detachment and hassle-free carrying or storage.
- Secure Bumpy Texture:
The bumpy texture on the rods prevents hangers from slipping off, ensuring clothes stay in place while using or moving the rack.
Let us look at the core problem because of which I designed this ‘Ultimate space-saving clothes rack’.
My solution is tailored to those who need to simplify their daily dressing routine, making it ideal for busy professionals, small space residents, and fashion enthusiasts.
1.Difficulty in finding and choosing outfits:
Users like AP feel confused and frustrated, leading to a prolonged and stressful morning routine.
Opportunity: A product that can display clothes clearly while picking or pairing the outfit can streamline the selection process.
2. Messy Outfit Trials:
Users like AP tries on different outfits for the perfect match, leading to a mess and stress.
Opportunity: A product that simplifies the outfit trial process and can reduce mess and make decisions easier.
3. Extra work after selection
Users like AP feel burdened by the task, detracting from the overall satisfaction of their wardrobe experience.
Opportunity: A system for easy organization can reduce this extra work and improve the experience of users like AP.
Why It’s Important: Addressing these problems will make the daily routine smoother, less stressful, and more efficient. By enhancing how clothes are stored and managed, users will experience a more enjoyable and effective wardrobe routine.
Look at my journey from identifying the problems in a bedroom to designing a space-saving cloths rack.
The first thing i did was just to go to internet and search about the products in the bedroom and how users are using the. I listed down 23 products that are usually used in the area, and problems that users might face while interacting with each product. I did this through secondary research and by my own hypothesis.
Secondly i started to prepare Questionnaire for Interviews.
When I did first 2 interviews I asked these questions:
- Tell me about yourself? Your Name, Age, Occupation, Hobbies? What you like to do most, where do you live? With Family or Alone? Have you ever lived alone?
- How many rooms or area space do you have at your place? Do you use all the room if it’s more than 1? And for what purpose?
- When was the last time you spend time in your bedroom? and for what purpose?
- How much time in a day do you spend in your bedroom? And for what purpose?
- What do you think is the purpose of a Bedroom in your house? Is it efficiently used for that? If Yes, do you think it can be used for any other purposes too? If No, Then Why?
- State some of your Good/Bad or Both Experiences in a bedroom?
According to you what would be an ideal experience of a bedroom? - How much satisfied do you feel with your bedroom? Rate out of 10? What is stopping you to give a 10/10?
- What do you like the most in your bedroom? Why?
What do you dislike the most in your bedroom? Why?
After conducting the initial interviews, I realized there were some mistakes in my approach. Because the answers I was getting were either too vague or broad, some of them were dreamy and
To improve, I refined my questionnaire and took another three interviews.
💡Here is the list of my refined Questions for the Interview:
- Tell me about yourself? A short intro from your Name, Age, Occupation or hobbies? What you like to do the most? where do you live?
- How much area space do you have? How many rooms are there? Do you have your own bedroom or your share it with someone? How is your experience in any of the cases?
- Do you spend time in bedroom? Can you explain in brief what do you do there?
- What is your Morning to night routine in the bedroom? What do you do there?
- Do you have furniture’s in your bedroom? Can you list them? For what purpose do you use each of them?
- If you have some guests staying over in your house what do you do to manage the sleeping space?
- Do you use your bedroom for work or any other purpose? Can you recall and tell me your experience about it?
- What is the source of light in your room? Does it impact any of your activities there?
- To maintain your privacy what are the steps you take?
- Can you share a experience of yourself getting dressed for a occasion inside your bedroom?
(Asked multiple Follow-up Questions and tried to engage the conversation to get deeper details)
- During interviews, I focused on understanding user’s morning struggles with outfit selection.
- Users shared how frustrating it was to pick outfits from cluttered wardrobes, even when clothes were organized by category.
- They described the mess created when trying on multiple outfits, leading to stress and time delays.
These insights highlighted the core problem: chaotic wardrobes making daily outfit selection challenging. I realized that solving this would save time, reduce stress, and improve the users’ morning routine.
Some of Other Problems that I considered to solve were:
- Easy Access to Essentials: Users want to keep important items within reach while in bed, so they don’t have to get up repeatedly.
- Workspace in the Bedroom: Many use their bedroom for work or study, so having a dedicated, clutter-free workspace seemed important.
- Organized Storage: Ensuring clothes and accessories are stored neatly and protected was another focus, as bedrooms are personal storage spaces.
Why I prioritize Outfit Selection Process & Organization Challenges over others?
I chose to focus on the problem of quickly choosing and picking an outfit because it’s a daily struggle that directly impacts the start of the day. Unlike the other issues, a disorganized wardrobe can create stress every morning, making it hard for users to get ready quickly and confidently. Solving this would make their mornings smoother and less stressful, setting a positive tone for the rest of the day.
To solve the problem, I started with the “Crazy 8” technique,
where I generated 8 different ideas in 8 minutes. I did three rounds of this exercise, with each round yielding slightly fewer ideas as I refined my thoughts. In the first round, I came up with 8 ideas, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third.
At first, I felt accomplished, but I soon realized the real ideation started after “Crazy 8.” My goal was to create a solution that would truly help a business grow, so I had to go beyond surface-level ideas.
I spent time researching online, looking at competitors, and considering the constraints of time, resources, and knowledge. Through this process, I developed the idea of a rotatable rack that could be mounted on a wardrobe door.
To ensure my idea was on the right track, I scheduled group calls with my peers to present the solution and gather feedback. The main focus was to understand how usable the product would be for the end-user.
Feedback Received on my 4th Iteration:
Can we use or place the product in hanger section.
- My Idea: I initially added a hanger-like hook so the rack could be used without needing to install it on doors or walls.
- Issue: The hook had insufficient space to handle a heavy rack, leading to potential tangling with other clothes and making it difficult to manage due to the weight.
- Decision: I removed this feature to avoid space and usability problems.
The feedback I received helped me refine and improve the final product, ensuring it was both practical and effective.
Here are some of the important decisions that I took during the course of the project.
I'm highlighting this section in my case study to show how I made key choices that shaped the final solution. Instead of just going step-by-step, this approach helps you see how I tackled challenges and refined the design, giving a clearer picture of my problem-solving process.
Here is why I changed my interview questionnaire 2 times when I interviewed users.
Let me take you through an important decision I made during my user interviews. Before I started interviewing, I prepared a questionnaire to guide the conversations. As I conducted the interviews, I quickly realized that some of my initial questions were too broad or led to one-word answers, which didn’t give me the detailed insights I needed.
By refining my questions, I was able to dig deeper into the user’s journey, uncovering challenges that broad questions wouldn’t have revealed. This process of iterating on my approach ensured that I gathered the most valuable information, ultimately shaping the direction of my project.
Here is why I prioritize this problem statement over others while identifying root problems from the insights of user interviews.
Let me take your focus to an important decision I made while defining the user problems. Initially, my goal was to address the general problems that users face in their bedroom area. But after conducting several interviews, I realized that I needed to narrow down my focus to something more specific and actionable.
From the interviews, it was clear that people were really struggling with how messy and time-consuming outfit selection was.
I chose not to focus on broader bedroom issues like these mentioned below:
What I did to prioritize the problem:
This decision was crucial because it allowed me to create a solution that directly targets a specific, everyday problem. By focusing on outfit selection and organization, I aimed to develop a product that would genuinely make mornings smoother and more efficient for users.
Here’s why I adjusted features and accepted limitations during prototyping. I focused on essential needs and practical constraints to make the prototype work effectively.
Reason: This feature was removed due to space issues and potential handling difficulties, which could lead to clutter and frustration for users. I realized this when i incorporated this in the Journey of User.
Reason: I decided against using slabs to prevent clutter and breakage. Users might leave clothes on these slabs, creating a mess and risking damage.
I had to omit some advanced features, like a fully automated adjustment mechanism for the rod, because of time constraints. Instead, I focused on a manual but effective solution that could be developed quickly.
Moments of Doubt During Prototyping My Final Idea
How User Feedback Shaped Final Design Adjustments:
During Feedback, I didn’t expect the feedback about the tri-leg stand being hidden inside the main rod. Initially, I thought users would prefer a detachable stand, but they pointed out that having it hidden would make the product more compact and user-friendly.
Yes, there were several iterations. One major change was replacing the holes on the individual rods with a bumpy texture after realizing that not all hangers would fit into the holes. This change was crucial because it ensured that the product could accommodate various hanger types, improving usability.
I prioritized feedback that clearly improved the user experience and addressed key pain points. For instance, adding a grip to the main rod was a straightforward decision because it made handling the rod easier without disturbing the clothes.
I didn’t include the automatic spreading of individual rods on the tripod stand because it needed more time and technical skills, and it wasn’t essential for the overall user experience.
What would I do if I had to take this project further?
- Explore new use cases: Consider adapting the rack for different room layouts and designing complementary accessories.
- Refine user experience: Focus on making the product more user-friendly and visually appealing.
What I Learned While Working on This Project:
I’d love your input to help improve my project. Please share your thoughts on the following:
- Review the changes made to the prototype, such as the grip on the main rod and the integration of the tri-leg stand.
You can check under (IMPORTANT DECISONS WHILE PROTOTYPING)
Kindly Answer: How effective do you find these modifications in enhancing usability? Are there any other usability issues you think should be addressed?
2. The feedback incorporated from testing, the adjustment of rods and the bumpy texture.
You can check under (IMPORTANT DECISONS MADE AFTER USER TESTING)
Also Answer: Do these changes effectively solve the issues they were meant to? Is there anything that still feels off or could be improved?
Please leave your comments on my Medium post or LinkedIn post. Your feedback is crucial for refining and enhancing this project!
