Hello. This is Takita from the design department.
It's the second half of April and the temperature hasn't been stable for a while, but it's gotten a lot warmer these past few days! As you change into lighter outerwear, isn't it time to start thinking about this spring's fashion trends?
I would like to take my time to look around the stores, but when I'm busy with work I can't find the time, and I've missed out on this season's fashion... That's been happening a lot recently.
I want to keep up with the trends but I don't have the time - this is a common situation for working women.
That's where the app comes in handy!
In my previous article I talked about fashion magazines, but I think these days many people get their trend information from apps.
This time, we analyzed what you can experience through apps selected from the perspective of working women and the design that makes this possible.
The featured apps and users
This time, I will analyze the apps I will be taking up, dividing them into two categories: apps that are popular among women, and apps that you can use to easily gather information when you're busy. (These are the apps I actually use on a regular basis.)
1. Fashion coordination apps Busy women can check trends and shop at the same time! Linked to EC sites. (※We will also introduce apps with many male users!)
2. Lifestyle apps: From fashion to cooking recipes, the latest information is updated daily! Curated media has been on the rise in recent years.
For those who think it's for girls, hearts, ribbons and pink, right?
Don't be fooled, the event will also feature trendy apps that were selected for the Google Play Best of 2016 , which was held for the first time last year.
We've picked out some apps that are popular with busy women and are packed with useful features that you can use to take a break even when you're tired.
To give you a more concrete picture...
This is the image of a "working woman" who uses the app .
- Web production company design department member
- Previous experience working in apparel
- Wake up at 8am, leave for work at 11am (1 hour commute)
- Overtime about three times a week
- My hobbies are hot yoga, head spa, and occasionally gaming.
- Her favorite fashion styles are feminine, casual, and modern.
- I collect trend information from apps on the commuter train.
- They often don't have time to go shopping, so online e-commerce shops are more popular
1. Fashion coordination apps
"IQON" is like a fashion concierge that automatically delivers fashion items that match your tastes every day.
This is an app that allows you to freely collage fashion item images from affiliated e-commerce sites and post your favorite outfits. It mainly features fashion-related articles, but is also packed with information on cosmetics and beauty trends.
This app also won the grand prize in the Best Innovative App category at the Google Play Best of 2016 awards.
IQON App Store , Google Play
What you can experience at IQON
When the seasons change, you will notice a lot of fashionable people walking around town. When you see these people, you might feel like buying some new clothes.
But I don't have time to leisurely shop, and I don't have time to look for what kind of clothes are available. I don't have enough information, and I don't really know what's in fashion these days...
To sum up the feelings of such "working women"...
- I want new clothes because the seasons are changing.
- I'm too busy with work to check out this season's trends.
- I want to find items that are "modern" and "to my taste."
- I "kind of" want some clothes, but I can't think of any specific search keywords.
That's where IQON's "For you" feature, which recommends fashion items, comes in handy.
It analyzes your preferences from your favorite and purchased items and recommends 10 new items that suit you every day. (If you become a paid member, you can get up to 100 items a day!)
"For You" screen display
Even if you're not sure what you want, or you haven't checked out this season's trends and can't think of a search term, you can find something that suits your tastes among the latest items.
Also, the more items you mark as favorites, the more items that are displayed will be closest to your preferences, which will increase both your usage of the app and the accuracy of the recommendation function.
This function acts like a " fashion concierge " that can accurately find items that suit each individual's idea of "cuteness" from the countless tastes and diverse fashion styles.
About the design
While it has a simple and clean impression, the fonts and icons have thin lines and a variety of rounded edges, giving it a design reminiscent of a feminine women's fashion magazine .
For example, by using pink as the key color, it is clear that the target audience is women.
IQON VASILY, Inc. 
No need to try on! "WEAR" lets you see real images of the item on the go, making it easy to buy.
A fashion coordination app operated by Start Today Co., Ltd., the operator of the largest e-commerce shop, ZOZOTOWN.
Unlike the IQON introduced above, this one is also popular among male users.
In addition to posts from celebrities and models, there are also many images posted by popular ordinary people known as influencers, and there are plenty of affordable, easy-to-follow outfits to try.
WEAR App Store , Google Play
What you can experience with WEAR
During your break at work, you might find the perfect outfit while browsing fashionable outfits on an app. But you might have to work overtime today, and the store might be closed by the time you get home.
To sum up the feelings of such "working women"...
- I don't have time to try on clothes in the store, but the size and silhouette of the clothes are important.
- Just by looking at the product images, it's hard to imagine what it will look like when worn.
- I would like to know the length for my height, not the model's height.
- If possible, I would like to complete the purchase during this break.
"WEAR" presents all outfits with images of the clothes being worn , so you can more realistically imagine how they will look on you even without trying them on in the store.
In addition, the poster's height is always stated, so if you can find someone who is close to your height, you'll be able to get an idea of the actual size of items such as skirts and dresses, whose length you're concerned about.
When purchasing from an online shop, problems often arise such as "When I actually try it on, the silhouette is different from what I expected" or "The size doesn't fit." However, with "WEAR," which has images of the item being worn, the difference between the actual image and the actual product can be greatly reduced .
It complements the difference between the appearance when worn and the actual product, making it an essential item for online shopping.
A coordination page for Haruka Seto, a popular influencer on WEAR. She is a model who also works as the editor-in-chief of the free magazine "TiaraGirl."
Additionally, on WEAR, tags are attached directly to the items pictured being worn, so you can tell at a glance which brand the item is from.
If the image and brand name were displayed separately, you would have to compare the two, which can make it difficult to tell which item is which brand, so this method of display is very easy to read.
Furthermore, items with a blue basket icon link to the product detail page on ZOZOTOWN, making it easy to purchase the product.
By the way, the poster can set the placement of this tag, so it can be displayed in a place that doesn't interfere with their outfit.
About the design
The color scheme of the entire app is monotone, making it a unisex design for both men and women. The lack of unnecessary color also makes the images stand out, and the design shows consideration for the images posted.
WEAR STARTTODAY CO.,LTD. 
2. Lifestyle apps
"LOCARI" is a curation app that lets you see at a glance which messages are read and which are unread, making it easy to read, and allows you to check out trends in your spare time.
This app offers lifestyle suggestions incorporating the latest trends in a variety of genres, from fashion and makeup to love and DIY accessories.
We also introduce little tips that you can use at home, such as easy cooking recipes and storage techniques.
It is updated twice a day, so you can easily check it out while commuting to and from work.
LOCARI App Store , Google Play
What you can experience at LOCARI
After a hard day at work, you're relaxing in your room, opening your app and checking the trends.
It often happens that you open an article that interests you and think, "Huh? Have I read this article already?"
Realizing you've finished reading a paragraph and pressing the "back" button in the upper left corner of the screen can be surprisingly stressful if you have to do it multiple times.
To sum up the feelings of such "working women"...
- I check it out here and there in my free time, so I can't remember the titles of articles I read before, and I want to be able to find unread articles quickly.
- I'd like to know some easy beauty tips that I can do with just a little ingenuity, without having to buy anything.
- I want to read short, easy-to-understand articles that I can finish reading in a short amount of time, such as when I'm traveling by train.
On the LOCARI article list page, images and text of articles you have read are transparent , so you can select unread articles at a glance .
Some similar curation media apps implement this feature and some don't, but it's definitely more convenient to have it.
I sometimes use the app as a way to relax, so I appreciate the ease with which it can be used.
LOCARI article list screen
There are also efforts to make the articles easy to read.
For example , image sizes are large and are used frequently .
Whether it's an article introducing fashion items or a how-to article on simple storage techniques, both have many images, and they are arranged at a pitch of about one image per smartphone screen, or one image per paragraph.
Even if you're reading an article with one hand while traveling on the train, the images that catch your eye make it easy to expand your imagination.
Personal recommended points
The category I personally recommend is "Best Hits."
It may not be the latest information, but you can't go wrong with this! It's hassle-free and reduces mistakes! It summarizes such classic trends.
I want to wear my hair up today, but I don't have time to try out different styles...this is very useful for those mornings.
About the design
The color scheme of the header and key colors of the logo, etc. are set to change over time.
The background colors are all pastel colors such as pink, orange, yellow, and light blue, and the text colors match them.
Many other apps unify the color used in their icons with the key color on their pages, but LOCARI deliberately does not fix the key color, perhaps to convey the impression that it has a variety of content.
LOCARI Wondershake, Inc. 
"C CHANNEL" provides women with information they want to know, from hair and makeup to cooking recipe steps, in one-minute "vertical videos"
This app introduces the latest trends in styling and hair and makeup in one-minute videos . The videos carefully explain the detailed steps and points that you may not be able to understand even if you look at images or magazines.
And it's the only app from Japan to have won the Material Design Awards 2016 ! Like IQON, which was introduced above, it was also selected for Google Play Best of 2016 , winning the grand prize in the Best Design App category.
C CHANNEL App Store ,Google Play
What you can experience with C CHANNEL
It often happens that you want to go to the hairdresser soon, but your schedule is already booked up for the next week.
I want to do something about my hair that's starting to grow out, and just styling it can change my mood!
But even when I look at pictures of hair styles, I still can't get it to work...
To sum up the feelings of such "working women"...
- I don't have time to go to the hairdresser, but I want a stylish hairstyle.
- Even when I read articles about hair styling, it's hard to understand the detailed steps.
- I would like to compare some easy arrangement methods that can be done in a short amount of time.
At times like this, I watch how-to videos on hair styling on "C CHANNEL."
Actions that are difficult to explain in writing can often be resolved by watching a video.
Also, most of the posts are videos of around one minute, so you can pick out an arrangement style that you can do in a short amount of time.
C CHANNEL article list screen
Above all, the biggest feature of "C CHANNEL" is that it is Japan's first vertical video media.
When it comes to videos, horizontal format has been mainstream, but in recent years, vertical format has been rapidly increasing.
Until now, when watching videos, you had to turn your smartphone sideways to view them in full screen, but with vertical videos, there's no need to worry about that.
Also, when watching short videos in succession, it is very convenient not having to go back and forth between the list page and the video page.
Screenshot of the video from the C CHANNEL editorial department's article "Comparing denim by type"
Also, when it comes to showing the whole body when introducing an outfit, vertical video fits better than horizontal video and allows you to check the outfit in more detail.
You may be wondering, "Are they introducing fashion through video?" However, when you actually wear a skirt and move around, you can see the detailed movements that are hard to convey through images alone, such as the way the pleats sway and the texture of the material.
From the perspective of the person posting, I think another reason for its popularity is the smooth process of "taking a photo with your smartphone" and "posting it with your smartphone" without having to turn the smartphone sideways.
About the design
The key color is an eye-catching vivid yellow, which gives off an energetic impression, in line with C CHANNEL's concept of "creating a media outlet that invigorates young people."
Apps aimed at women tend to overwhelmingly use pink as their key color, so even just having a yellow icon makes it stand out quite a bit.
Additionally, the thumbnail images often feature vivid colors of fashion items or nail polish, giving the site an overall pop feel and making it clear that it is aimed at a younger target demographic.
C CHANNEL C CHANNEL CORPORATION 
summary
We found that apps that support the fashion sense of working women are using a variety of approaches to provide unique services and increase convenience.
Just by looking at these four apps,
- IQON 's recommendation function "For you"
→They select the latest items to suit each individual's tastes, meeting the needs of those who aren't sure what they want. - Coordination introduction with images of all items worn by WEAR
→You can more realistically imagine what it will look like when you wear it, which helps reduce mistakes when shopping online where you can't try on items. - Display of unread/read articles in LOCARI article list
→Even if you open the app multiple times a day, you can see unread articles, including new articles, at a glance. - C CHANNEL vertical video
→You can easily learn difficult hair arrangements and cooking recipes by watching a one-minute video. All videos are vertical, so you don't need to move your smartphone around to watch them in full screen.
You can see that they offer a wide variety of "experiences."
On the other hand, we can see that there are many similarities, such as the overall layout and button behavior.
for example
The header features a logo and a row of menu icons.
Tabs are placed under the header, and the text slides left and right to display.
Frequently used buttons such as the home button, search button, post button, and my page button are fixed horizontally at the bottom of the screen.
This shows that there are common rules for content that is easy to view and has an easy-to-use interface.
On the other hand, from a design perspective, you might imagine that just because it's aimed at girls, the background is pastel pink and it's decorated with sparkly motifs... but in reality, pink and vivid yellow are used as key colors for the icons, tags, and buttons.
It seemed to me that all four of the popular apps we looked at here expressed their branding through their content, and that the basis of their design was to prioritize "ease of viewing the content."
These apps are not just for browsing, but are used as "tools" for shopping and research, and are used daily for a long period of time. For that reason, the UI is based on common rules to a certain extent, and I got the impression that decoration for branding is kept to a minimum, with an emphasis on clarity and ease of use.
This time, we looked at the experience that can be had through the app and the design that makes it possible. It was a very educational experience for me, as I was reminded of the importance of both "branding" and "ease of viewing content", as well as the importance of balancing these in accordance with the user's goals.
When creating future websites, I will strive to create more optimized designs by reviewing the balance between "branding" and "ease of viewing content" from the perspective of whether it is in line with the "purpose."