Fashion Rental Web
& iOS Application Redesign
Role: Contract UX UI Intern
Tools: Adobe Photoshop, Figma,
Timeline: 3 Weeks
Brief
The design brief requested a complete revamp of their outdated web and mobile platforms, emphasizing a modernized homepage, clearer navigation, and features that appeal to both investors and end users. The goal was to breathe new life into the brand’s digital presence while maintaining its focus on sustainability and accessibility.
The client is a B2B/B2C fashion SaaS company focused on designer fashion rentals as a way to promote sustainability and reduce clothing waste. The design brief asked for a full redesign of their web and mobile platforms (based on previous material they had), with emphasis on creating a fresh, engaging homepage and new product features to appeal to both investors and end users.
Problem
The client’s existing app and website lacked an engaging user experience, a clear rental journey, and compelling visuals to attract both customers and investors. In addition to that, a modernized version was needed to appear more digestible to potential consumers.
Solution
I redesigned the homepage with a focus on visual appeal and clarity, pitched interactive shopping features that allowed users to preview outfit combinations, and developed a rental process map prototype that visually guided investors through clothing drop-off and return cycles.
Impact
Identified a framework for an aesthetic emphasized with usability and accessibility that was able to be adapted to a live and running application.
Stakeholder Kick - Off
Key Insights
“Make sustainability obvious and credible , investors need to see the process.” — CEO, Looks for Lease
“We need both form and function: elegant visuals that don’t sacrifice discoverability.” — Creative Director
Feature Priorities
Should the redesign focus on aesthetic minimalism or functional accessibility?
How can we modernize the design without losing visual sophistication?
Sustainability Integration
How should sustainability be visually communicated across the site and app through storytelling, UI elements, or user interaction? Should data about garment impact or rental cycles be visible on the homepage?
Investor Readability
What features or visual elements best communicate the business model to investors while remaining intuitive for everyday users?
Scalability
With potential growth in designer partnerships and rental categories, how should the UI system scale to support expansion without overwhelming the layout?
After speaking with the CEO & Creative Director, I was able to narrow down what research needed to be done. Pertaining to the fashion aspect, mood boarding was something vital to showcase the vision that could carry out the story and tone the company wanted to show. Luxury with a very large hint of a minimal style was something important to the CEO, while also wanting to be original, so mapping things out was a must to be able to carry out the founder’s vision consistently.
Informed Design
Competitive Apps Studied:
ThredUp: Demonstrated how sustainability messaging can be integrated into browsing experiences through subtle reminders like “Give clothes a second life.” This inspired the use of sustainability badges and eco-conscious copy throughout the Looks for Lease redesign.
Rent the Runway: Showed how to balance rental flexibility with aspirational branding. The seamless wardrobe rental process informed the “Lease a Look” flow and the emphasis on curated outfit bundles.
Gap: Highlighted the importance of simplicity and consistency in navigation. Their clear filters and product preview sections informed the “Shop the New Look” feature for quicker outfit browsing and rentals.
Mood Board
I learned how to collaborate effectively with leadership, balance creativity with familiarity, and use research-driven design choices to create a cohesive, high-end user experience that aligns with brand goals. Being able to collaborate with the creative director helped in defining the main points the team wanted within the website as well as the iOS version of the application.
Information Architecture
Because this was a redesign, I noted down the architecture that could be added on to based off of the founder’s wants & needs. A big pivotal addition was the Rental Drop Off Journey, which was created within the half point of the 3 weeks so revisions were made to encompass the feature . In addition to that, I emphasized the need for product cards and the emphasis for a bit more visual information for the consumer including introducing a new potential feature for a “Shop The Look’ option after being informed that the website needed to have a section for a stylist curated look book or stylist curated product selection. This was accepted and so it allowed for more exposure from product to consumer.
Design Development
I was tasked with updating the brand kit, including the colors and deciding which colors had a greater approach to giving a minimal aesthetic. The logo was provided, the colors were a decision made after 2 meetings where everyone was able to make a consensus on the teal colors as well as the black and white aspects. The fonts were defined by the founder and creative director, and the icons were updated by me based on searching more modern repositories.
The branding kit update introduced button components in both static and hover states, producing a creative discussion between the founder and creative director primarily around the use of gradients. To defend a solid-color approach, I referenced the mood board to illustrate how minimalist, luxury, and modern design sensibilities typically avoid gradients, while presenting both gradient and solid teal button variations side by side to make the comparison tangible.
Information Feature For Homepage
The founder wanted hexagon concept to be kept but changed to a version that is more adaptable to a modern age for the quick action information section.
After several iterations and feedback, as well as brainstorming with the creative director, the finalized version was modern, kept the hexagon shape and while prototyping the hover concept** for a more interactive feature was explored.
Through speaking with the founder, the vision was to have a page that highlighted stylists entirely, to hear their stories because of the creative director of Looks For Lease also being one. However, the vision also included a page of designer that related to the stylists on the same page. With that, I was able to suggest the look of the page coming close to a “newsletter” feel, which is why any stylist mentioned would have their complete name and story on hand by view. Bringing up a list of stylists through A-Z, also coincided with having a page for designer names, making it even more easy to navigate into the consumer side for any potential buyer/renter.
Before
After
Redesigned product cards with updated fonts for improved readability and a modern, clean look, while also promoting the luxury style that was asked for.
During the redesign, the founder proposed removing the universal search bar in favor of a catalog-focused experience. After some creative discussion it was emphasized on my end to push back on this decision, advocating for accessibility compliance and inclusive design for about 4 days out of the 3 week timeline. Rather than simply disagreeing, I proposed an alternative - an AI-powered catalog-specific search that preserved the founder's vision while maintaining usability standards. The concept was accepted, and was one of the most important points for me among my time redesigning.
Added AI-powered search concept to make product discovery fast, intuitive, and user-friendly.
Refined buttons from rounded purple to sleek black-and-white straight edges for a minimalist, contemporary feel.
Feature Pitch
Gaining more perspective through research with the Informed Design I performed, analyzing potential room for consumers to be more engaged I pitched this feature solely based on the fact that the founder’s vision wanted to curate styles made by stylists, and so adding this feature within the ‘Stylist Selections’ tab was something that could combine everything for a quick and easy outfit rental.
Rental Drop Off Journey
The rental drop off journey was something the founder introduced on my third week of the timeline. Therefore having around 2 days to find a workaround to bring that vision to life I was able to think of pop-ups to schedule different kinds of returns based on the logistics the founder provided. This was a bit of a challenge but after completing more I was able to think of introducing the map into the equation as well as an extra touch to bring out an easier understanding among stakeholders.
Results & Feedback
Initially, feedback suggested excluding search bars for a cleaner aesthetic. However, I made the case for including them on each tab to ensure ease of navigation and accessibility. This decision ultimately allowed for a better user experience without compromising overall visual appeal. Ran quick prototype testing sessions where users navigated through the redesigned flows. Their feedback confirmed that the navigation felt easy and intuitive, since it was structured around familiar roadmaps that other popular apps already followed.
The final redesign presented a streamlined homepage, interactive feature ideas, and a clear rental cycle journey map. User testing confirmed that the navigation was intuitive and felt familiar, validating the decision to base it on patterns users already knew from other apps. The founder appreciated the originality and how the visuals elevated the company’s investor pitch. Stakeholders highlighted that the rental process map was especially effective in communicating the company’s sustainability-driven mission.
Overall feedback was positive and the application is live on the App Store. Prototypes and Video Walkthroughs were used for pop ups to teach people about the application and social media engagement.
