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Fitting Rooms - WORST Design Ever! #DES100

  • Writer: Emma
    Emma
  • Apr 8, 2020
  • 3 min read

Let’s face it, most fitting rooms are terrible. They’re too small with doors where your head’s poking out or curtains that never shut properly. I’ll explain how bad designs make a customer uncomfortable, create a bad experience and potentially lead them to not buy from a store.


The world of shopping is moving online. In 2014, 1.32 billion shopped online rising to 1.92 billion in 2019 and expecting to rise still. (Clement, 2019). Retailers need to provide a positive in-store experience for a customer, something more than online can, to keep them returning.

Shopping in-store gives you the chance to try clothes on before spending your coin. However a lot of fitting rooms tend to feel cramped. The design has gone wrong because the business is trying to solve their own problem, not the customer's. As Amy Ko states, “problems are inherently tied to specific groups of people that wish their situation was different.” The shop wants the maximum number of fitting rooms possible so many people use them simultaneously, therefore more people buying. This means the fitting rooms are crowded and small. The customer on the other hand, needs a service to provide a private room where they feel comfortable to try clothes on.


These changing rooms are so small and cramped as to fit in as many as possible.

Personally (I’m 5ft4), fitting rooms don’t give me room to move so I find myself banging walls, limbs flailing trying to fit into something. Very embarrassing and it makes me feel I am too big for the room and too ‘big’ to fit the store's demographic. The store has alienated me because of their fitting room creating an unpleasant shopping experience where I could easily switch to online instead. Fitting rooms also often have horrible doors such as curtains to provide a sense of ‘comfort’ and ‘luxury’. Many are designed where the curtain doesn’t fully close due to it being heavy or not wide enough, leaving the customer feeling exposed, vulnerable, not comfortable. A 2016 survey by Body Labs found that “46% “hate” trying on clothing in a fitting room”. (Cilley, 2016. p. 6) Changing where everyone can see you makes you feel self conscious and less excited. This isn’t beneficial for companies, “service design is all about making the services we use usable, easy and desirable.” (Design Council & Technology Strategy Board. p . 4) A customer may not bother trying clothes on if the fitting room makes them feel this way and the store could lose potential customers.


These curtains look hard to close due to the wide rungs they're on, there could easily be a peekaboo moment.

Now, let’s talk about my favourite fitting room design. Bendon creates the luxurious experience needed from a fitting room. To start, they are cut off from the rest of the store for complete privacy. It is easy to seek assistance by sliding a panel across the door. Full length mirror, space to move, decorative artwork... with a floor to ceiling door. Couches to sit on and wait. This is better quality than the other designs I’ve mentioned as it is centred around the customers problem, not the stores. It is user-friendly and creates a pleasurable experience where the customers want to keep coming back as they feel confident and good trying the clothes on.


The changing room as plenty of space to move around (middle), as well as seats to sit on while you're waiting out side (left)

To conclude, companies need to take a step back and think about customer experience, and the customer’s problem when it comes to trying on clothes.

Reference List

Borsuchenko, I. Shutterstock. Women's equipment rooms in the women's clothing store. Retrieved

Cilley, J. (2016). Apparel and Retail Survey Fit. Key Takeaways. (p. 6). Retrieved from

Clement, J. (2019, July 23). Statistica. Number of digital buyers worldwide from 2014

Design Council & Technology Strategy Board. Design methods for developing services. (p.

Holland, A. (2016). Defying Disability. Undressing Discrimmination. Retrieved from

Ko, A. Design Methods, How to Understand Problems. Retrieved from

Odc_creative_portfolio. Bendon Lingerie _ Various Retail Stores. Bendon Lambton Quay, Wellington _

Fitting Room and Anteroom Area. Retrieved from https://oliviacharles.carbonmade.com/projects/3008767/8370020

Thanadechakul, T. Shutter Stock. A row of Fitting room in a fashion store. Retrieved from

3ccChicago. Custom Changing Rooms with Customized Lighting and Doors. Retrieved from


 
 
 

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