Observations & Interviews
Person A:
Wanted to make cosplay outfit.
Choose which patterns were ones desired and that fit silhouette from pattern book.
Calculated pattern.
Described difficulty of adjusting patterns without mathematical knowledge of patterns.
Person B:
B is a young college female with minimal previous sewing experience (knew only the back stitch). B was making a plushie dog from a DIY kit purchased in Chinatown. The kit came with paper patterns, pieces of felt, stuffing thread and needle, no instructions, and labels written in Korean that she couldn't read.
B cut out the paper patterns and felt pieces from the paper patterns, but had difficulty putting the pattern together after that point. She describes it as a "3D puzzle, but 2D", and that she had difficulty visualizing which pieces whent where and how they came together to form a dog. She eventually vaguely figured out what to attach where to form a dog shape, but not very well She "ended up attaching the neck at one point, so how the dog has a broken neck". Eventually she sewed everything together and stuffed the dog, only to realize AFTER sewing it all together that she needed to have turned everything inside out before stuffing so that the seams would be on the inside and therefore not visible.
She had difficulty doing the sewing, since she needed to realign the fabric and ended up twisting it a lot. She wishes the kit came with more pictures, and "more specific instructions" such as the flipping inside out and how to sew the head on.
Person C:
C is a young college male who participated in a sewing workshop for his first sewing experience. The workshop taught the basics of using a sewing machine.
Despite having a face-to-face instructor helping him, C still had difficulties with "threading the machine so the thread wouldn't fall off" and "making sure the fabric was moving at the right speed." He wishes that he had better instructions on how to set the sewing machine settings and access to fabric that was neither too thick nor too thin.
User Groups
People interested in sewing as a hobby and want a way to start
Characteristics:
- have lots of free time!
- want avenue for creativity
- want to start a long term relationship with sewing
- tend to be female
Needs/Goals
- find an interesting project that is appropriate for their skill level
- have very detailed step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow-- detailed to a level that would frustrate more experienced sewers, but may be necessary to avoid beginner mistakes
- acquire the beginnings of a well-rounded skill set that they can build on in the future to allow them to take on more difficult projects in the future
People who want to learn how to sew for a specific goal in mind
Characteristics:
- need sewing only to accomplish a particular task
- how involved this task may be varies-- could be just a simple repair or making a specific costume
- generally wants to not spend as much money
- not as female-skewed as the want-to-pick-up-as-hobby group
Needs/Goals
- have straightforward but clear instructions to complete the specific task
- easily find a fix given a specific problem (instead having to browse through things)
- have a easy-to-navigate reference (including common gotchas)
- learn how to solve basic sewing-related problems/categories of problems themselves for future quick fixes
Other considerations to keep in mind:
- age groups (small kids? old folks?)
- physical capabilities (unsteady hands? bad eyesight? dexterity?)
- monetary considerations (have more or less money to spend on a project?)
- technological savviness