Dollectoristas UX Sprint

Area of opportunity

Doll collecting can be a great hobby, yet it does have detrimental implications when left unchecked. While there is nothing inherently wrong with expanding one’s collection, concerns do arise when a perceived need to acquire new items leads to compulsive purchases. Here, the problem is not the act of collecting, but that of over-consuming, which comes with both personal and environmental complications.

The research statement this project aims to answer is as follows: How might we foster more conscious collecting behaviours in the fashion doll collecting community?

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Research Methods

Social Media Insights: Explore community posts and media from fashion doll content creators to determine collectors’ attitudes and behaviours.

Background Research: Assess the psychology of doll collecting in adults and evaluate the toy industry’s impact on the environment.

Competitive Analysis: Examine existing collection tracking apps to identify gaps in the market.

Survey: Acquire primary data on the behaviours, feelings and attitudes of doll collectors.

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Research Insights

The following insights were developed through a combination of secondary and primary data. The secondary data acquired through social media, videos, articles and competitors gave me a good understanding of current trends in doll collecting. The primary data acquired through the survey enabled me to gain in-depth knowledge of collectors motivations and collecting habits, thus filling the gaps left by the secondary data.

INSIGHT 1: Unlike many types of collecting, fashion doll collecting is a fairly involved process which doesn’t end with buying a doll. Rather, interacting with one’s dolls is an integral part of the hobby. This emphasis on interacting with one’s dolls could be used to help shift the focus from “getting the next doll” to “what else can I do with this doll.”

INSIGHT 2: Most respondents report experiencing discomfort with sharing their hobby with non-collectors. Most respondents also report having no real-life doll collecting friends and have expressed an interest in forming bonds with other collectors. Creating a positive community may contribute to shifting the focus of collecting away from over consumption.

INSIGHT 3: Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a pervasive issue in the doll community. Most survey respondents report feeling influenced by collecting trends they see on social media. This puts social media at the center of the problem. In order to reduce over consumption in the doll community, the amount of time spent on traditional social media must be reduced.

INSIGHT 4: There is a disconnect between collectors’ attitudes and actions with regard to sustainability. While most respondents report finding sustainability very important, almost half report purchasing several dolls each month, which points to a lack of awareness when it comes to supply chain pollution. In order to promote more conscious collecting behaviours, it is important that this information can be perceived and internalized by collectors.

INSIGHT 5: Currently, there is no doll-focused collection tracking app on the market, nor any that promotes conscious collecting. In fact, all apps encountered during the research phase put the emphasis on the monetary value and size of collections. Thus, a doll-focused app that promotes conscious collecting behaviours is yet unheard of and constitutes a gap in the market, as survey results have demonstrated a demand for such an app in the doll collecting community.

User Persona

Solution

My proposed solution for fostering conscious collecting behaviours in the fashion doll community is to create an app that facilitates interactions with other doll collectors and with one’s existing collection. This will encourage collectors to derive more enjoyment from the social and interactive aspects of collecting rather than from the anticipation of acquiring more items. The following are the solution’s four pillars:

1. Enhance focus on interacting with dolls already in one’s collection
2. Decrease time spent on traditional social media to reduce FOMO
3. Create a positive community to shift the focus away from collection expansion
4. Provide educational resources on conscious consumerism and sustainability

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Prototype

Prototyping for this project was done in four phases: first came sketched wireframes, then a low-fidelity prototype, a high fidelity prototype, and finally, a refined final prototype informed by user testing. Click here to try the final prototype for yourself!

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