Freepop

Inspiration

We were inspired by the numerous reports about the extreme waste of fast fashion giants like Shein and H&M, which mass produce thousands of new items daily and commit environmental and ethical violations. Clothes are often trendy and buyers often only wear them a few times before tossing it or donating it to the thrift store. Because of the reputation of these brands, customers at the thrift stores often pass up on these items in favor of vintage clothing that stores like Goodwill price the same as items from Shein. On reselling apps such as Depop and Ebay, these fast fashion pieces are often difficult to sell because users can get the piece for nearly the same price new from the fast fashion giants. Freepop seeks to tackle the issue of clothing waste by facilitating clothing donations to ensure that your old fast fashion pieces don’t inevitably go from the thrift store to the landfill.

What it does

Freepop is a fast fashion clothing exchange app where all items uploaded by users must be free. The only fees applied are for shipping. We modeled our app after popular reselling platforms like Depop and Ebay with a social media like feed layout that is user friendly and geared towards younger people. Users who no longer want their old fast fashion clothing but want to make sure that their item goes to someone who needs/wants it rather than ending up in the landfill can upload it on Freepop into the category of tops, pants, skirts, dresses, shoes, or accessories. They can specify size, brand, and have the option of doing local delivery and/or shipping via USPS which the receiver will pay for. The option of local delivery/pickup within their preferred range allows users who live close by to skip shipping fees and do a truly free clothing exchange. Users can “follow” each other, send direct messages to ask about the pieces, and even add hashtags to find clothes that fit a specific trend/aesthetic. Additionally, if the receiver wants to thank the donor, they have the option of adding a “tip” at checkout but are not obligated.

How we built it

We drew out some designs with pen and paper and researched the UI of other platforms like Depop and Ebay for inspiration. We then used Figma to build a prototype that has a functioning and interactive flow interface.

Challenges we ran into

Some challenges we faced include the learning curve to using Figma, such as with building a drop down menu and figuring out the interactions. Additionally, thinking about all the components that we often take for granted in an app and incorporating them into our prototype was difficult but rewarding once we put all the frames together!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of our vision for battling fast fashion clothing waste while also prioritizing low income access to fashionable clothing. Additionally, we are proud of the UI of our app as the flow is user friendly and familiar to younger audiences that are accustomed to social media style apps.

What we learned

We learned to plan out the flow and user navigation in detail and think about the functionality of each component and button in an app. We also improved our skills in Figma with designing interactive components and creating a logical and intuitive flow.

What's next for Freepop

The next step is to go from prototype to fully functioning app available on iOS and Android! We would initially invest some of our personal funds into the cost of database services and developer kits for building out Freepop and after it is more established, we plan to move to advertisers. Running ads on Freepop will allow it to sustain the nonprofit model through ad revenue to ensure we never charge users.

Built With

• figma