Clothing Taskscape as an Approach Toward Assessment of User Needs

The CT

While the CT was initially inspired by Ingold (1993) and Kirsh (1996), designers and consumer researchers have honed practical applications of taskscape theory under the guise of customer journey or experience mapping (Richardson, 2010) to analyze “the larger context in which products and services are used in the real world” (Martin & Hannington, 2012, p. 196). Customer interactions can be assessed within activities that are “all performed together toward a common high-level goal. A task is an organized, cohesive set of operations directed toward a single, low-level goal” (Norman, 2013, p. 232). We propose the CT as a networked system of clothing, bodies, and contexts with intrinsic links between individual personal and environmental factors. The CT allows both macro and micro views of the complex relationships people have with the items they wear and offers an alternative lens to view and assess user needs.

The CT includes any environment, activity, or task that influences an interaction between the body and clothing worn. Generic activities include selection, donning, doffing, toileting, care, and storage; however, these activities may be customized for any environment. The CT shown in Figure 1 was based on observation of patients’ activities that influenced clothing choice and their dressing competencies in a hospital rehab facility (Tullio-Pow, 2016). It includes 10 activities—selecting, shopping, dressing, toileting, bathing, eating, exercising, sleeping, laundering, and storing—that each involves multiple task sequences or mini-taskscapes. For example, dressing includes donning, doffing, and specific actions that vary depending on garment fasteners (zippers, buttons, and ties). It involves threading one’s legs and arms into pants or tops and sequencing multiple layers of clothing (underwear, shirt, pants, socks, and shoes) on the body as well as the use of various tools to facilitate dressing. All the activities were deconstructed further into mini-taskscapes (individual actions, specific task sequences, and behaviors) that were examined either in isolation or combined with other associated activities and environments (Kirsh, 1996) to determine the necessary design criteria for clothing that facilitates dressing ease.

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Figure 1.

The clothing taskscape. Source: Tullio-Pow (2016, p. 158).

For example, bathing activities in hospital rehab are performed in different environments (e.g., in a communal shower room or at bedside); either way, people must gather clothing, carry and store it in the bathing area, remove clothing being worn and put it somewhere, wash and dry their body, and then don multiple garments (bra, underwear, pants, top, socks, and shoes; see Tullio-Pow, 2016). Specific mini-taskscapes associated with each bathing activity are performed differently depending on the location. Merely asking people about their clothing and dressing needs does not reveal the wealth of information afforded by observing bathing activities using the CT, which included many factors such as individuals’ ability to ambulate, move their limbs, and use supportive tools for dressing or mobility.

Lines connecting the icons shown in Figure 1 represent relationships between various activities within this CT. Exercising influenced clothing selection, shopping, dressing, toileting, and laundering, whereas eating had only one relationship (with laundering). Systematic observation and consideration of how an activity influenced another promoted rich description and detection of design criteria that might otherwise go unnoticed. Although this is a relatively comprehensive CT, it could be modified depending on the person and context; that is, while some activities are universal (e.g., toileting, bathing, eating, and sleeping), others (such as exercising) may not pertain to everyone. Relationships between taskscape activities may not be the same as those depicted in Figure 1, given this CT was specific to people with disability in hospital rehab. While many activities on this CT are generic, designing a taskscape must be based on the use scenario within a specific environment, which will vary on a given day, week, or year.

Using CT theory, designers are able to discern that people’s relationship with clothing is complex. Regardless of the clothing being designed—be it ready-to-wear or functional apparel—the CT approach changes the way user needs are viewed and assessed, and how design criteria are determined, thus shaping the design process. Clothing typically is taken for granted, yet the CT provides a way of seeing seemingly trivial and mundane aspects of people’s relationships with clothing in a different light. The CT goes beyond simply compiling a list of garment attributes; it also reveals the connection points among environments, activities, and tasks, as well as people’s behaviors and values, all crucial to understanding the design problem. In this article, we describe the CT and report how it was used in two case studies to more holistically examine contextual factors among people, their clothing, and environment to determine comprehensive design criteria to be used prior to clothing design development.

Apparel Designing Processes

While traditional clothing design for ready-to-wear markets begins with statistical information about people (e.g., consumer demographic and psychographic statistics) and incorporates seasonal color and trend forecasts, it does not feature direct contact between the designer and the target market (the user), whereas functional clothing design typically draws on information directly from the user in one-on-one interactions. Placing a higher priority on needs assessment promotes development of design solutions that enhance human performance (Norman, 2013; Rosenblad-Wallin, 1985; Watkins & Dunne, 2015).

Functional apparel is one way to integrate human-centered design principles because people operating within many of the functional clothing categories identified (i.e., disability, sports, protective, medical/therapeutic, and smart textiles) need to achieve optimal performance (Watkins & Dunne, 2015). Considering how clothing might optimize human performance helps conceptualize design, or more specifically clothing attributes that might benefit those who wear uniforms at work or people with disability who engage in winter sporting activities, and how such attributes could be integrated into clothing. Such questions are part of the CT because people are dynamic, and their interactions with clothing must be examined during their activity.

Apparel researchers have refined the functional apparel design process over the last 35 years. The conceptual frameworks geared to functional apparel design development are very similar, with minor differences corresponding to phases of inquiry and analysis (LaBat & Sokolowski, 1999; Orlando, 1978; Rosenblad-Wallin, 1985; Watkins & Dunne, 2015). Orlando (1978) first identified the fundamental difference between ready-to-wear apparel and functional clothing, advocating the need to systematically structure the design process. She presented a seven-step research framework adapted from a design process model created by Jones (1970). In so doing, Orlando (1978) articulated a fundamental departure from the established “black box” intuitive, designer-led creative process, advocating instead a “glass box” approach (p. 128), one that examines the clothing development process that divides the design problem into specific elements to facilitate analysis in a transparent and systematic manner. This framework for functional design emphasized interaction with end users through observation (i.e., activity and movement assessment) and interviews in addition to relevant literature reviews and market analysis in order to fully define the research problem. Orlando also proposed that designers chart, weigh, and rank criteria to prioritize essential design attributes.

The assessment of user needs was further enhanced by Rosenblad-Wallin’s (1985) nine-step design process, which provided additional clarification to focus on clothing research and analysis, namely through determination of user needs and the demands of the use situation, looking both at activities and objects. Rosenblad-Wallin emphasized the categorization of needs according to functional and symbolic values and elaborated how the designer might derive and better understand the user/clothing interface with a comprehensive list of methods that included interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, participant diaries, lab/field observation, literature search (archives and statistics), anthropometric measurements, and environmental mapping.

Defining user needs and the demands of the use situation are critical in order to explore the design context in a meaningful way. Lamb and Kallal (1992) refined use value and symbolic design attributes (Rosenblad-Wallin, 1985) and developed the functional, expressive, and aesthetic (FEA) consumer needs model. The FEA model unifies functional and fashionable design elements, providing a way to assess the contextual relationship between people, their clothing, and their environment. Many apparel scholars use the FEA model, and some have adapted it to explore user needs within diverse contexts (Orzda & Kallal, 2019). Chae and Schofield-Tomschin (2010) added regulatory requirements (R) to FEA considerations, thereby creating the FEAR model to determine design characteristics needed for snowboarding helmets. Stokes and Black (2012) revised the FEA model to assess the clothing needs of adolescent girls with disabilities. Kallal et al. (2002) combined the FEA model with the clothing purchase decision-making factors model (MacDonald et al., 1994) to create the apparel product appearance factors framework geared to the design of clothing for older adults.

All these design frameworks extend priorities in relation to functionality and performance through careful analysis; however, the models may be criticized because they attempt to simplify a multifaceted set of interactions. Sterman (2002) suggests that model boundaries create “invisible fences in the mind” (p. 511). Every person, regardless of demographic characteristics and categorization within a defined target market, has individual clothing needs, desires, expectations, and preferences that need to be considered. While design professionals understand the importance of the analysis of user needs in a variety of ways, we suggest that the CT provides a way to examine the use scenario more holistically.

Design Anthropology

Designers continually look for ways to synthesize the complexity inherent in the assessment of user needs and the ensuing product development process. Design anthropologists (e.g., Gunn et al., 2013) use ethnographic approaches, employing observation methods that allow the researcher to become familiar with the use situation, emphasizing the interfaces between people and activities within their environment as a necessary step to formulate relevant interview questions. Norman (2013) reminds us that people are different, but how they perform activities tends to be similar; hence, designers should “let the activity define the product and its structure” (p. 231). Orlando (1978) underscores the importance of observing people engaged in activities to assess movement, while Rosenblad-Wallin (1985) similarly recommends that needs assessment include an understanding of people’s actions in relation to objects.

Design anthropology “emerged from the need for designers to know more about the stakeholders, contexts, circumstances, and environments of design situations in order to create better designs” (Strickfaden, 2018, p. 61). It is a hybrid practice that seeks interconnections between what people think, feel, and do in order to design products, services, and environments that are attuned to human nature (Millman, 2011). Ethnography is now commonplace in design companies (see Nova, 2014; Wasson, 2000). According to Salvador et al. (1999), design ethnographers “look deeper into what people do, what tools they use, and how they think to understand how to better make and sell products” (p. 35). Mariampolski (2006) advises that ethnographic methods are well suited to exploring people and situations the design team may be unfamiliar with, advocating that “moving from focus groups to ethnography is somewhat like moving from black and white to color: the immediacy of the smells, textures, tastes, heat, sounds, movements and muscular strain all stimulate an enriched level of understanding” (p. 17). Even so, using design anthropology and ethnographic methods are not enough when designers do not know what to look at or which questions to ask. Returning to Norman’s (2013) suggestion to look beyond the “symptom” (p. 217) reminds designers what they need to do but not how to do it. We advocate that design exploration is useful only when focus is present.

Two Case Studies Using the CT Approach

The CT is applicable to design projects to enhance assessment of user needs and facilitate innovative ideas and the development of comprehensive design criteria, particularly during the beginning of the design process. Innovation in design typically is characterized as a messy process that exposes designers to various elements or problems (IDEO, 2020) with the hopes of conceptualizing design solutions that fulfill users’ needs, wants, desires, expectations, and abilities. By applying CT theory, designers can focus on and engage in a process that helps determine how to look at the design problem. In the following sections, we describe two functional apparel design case studies to demonstrate how the CT may be operationalized. One researcher investigated the clothing needs of liquor store employees, and the other examined the needs of people with disabilities participating in outdoor winter sporting activities.

Case Study 1: Liquor Store Uniform

Data Collection

Data collection included 38 hr of observation, 52 interviews with staff, 12 hr of audio recordings, 197 pages of transcripts, 52 pages of field notes, and 200 photographs. Assessment began with indirect observation (Watkins & Dunne, 2015, p. 7), a physical review of the current uniform components, and staff photographs in the employee handbook. The uniform package included a name tag and a blue or white dress shirt worn by customer service representatives (CSRs) and product consultants (PCs), respectively, with an optional striped tie and black apron. Six shirts (short and/or long sleeves) were allotted to full-time (FT) employees. Part-time (PT) employees were provided with a prorated number of shirts based on hours worked, while temporary seasonal employees were required to purchase their own blue shirts. Other branded apparel (vests and jackets made from polar fleece or a knitted athletic-type fabric) could be acquired with earned reward points or purchased from a company website. Promotional polo shirts for a local charity were worn during two campaigns each year. Employees wore their own black pants and shoes. Communal high-visibility safety vests and jackets were on hand for employees when going outside.

The research team identified themselves to employees in four different store locations (the flagship, two urban, and one rural location) over 6 days. Observations were structured by shadowing employees while working, focusing on the nature of work activities, tools used, and environments within the store. Following this, go-along interviews (Carpiano, 2009; Kusenbach, 2003) were conducted with store managers and assistant managers (n = 8), PCs (n = 5), and FT, PT, and seasonal CSRs (n = 35). Questions probed employees’ opinions regarding uniform assortment and procurement, work activities, items carried, laundry routines, retailers used to purchase pants, shoes and base layers, and concerns and suggestions for improvement.

Data Analysis and Taskscape Generation

Defining a CT begins with categorizing environments and activities/tasks. Field notes and photographs were grouped according to physical activities and store environments with consideration as to how those impacted the uniform. Further sorting grouped clothing problems related to fabric (this included pilling, static buildup, stains and soiling, and thermoregulation) and styling (fit, layering, brand identity, and color palate). Transcripts were checked for accuracy and annotated during multiple readings using the themes above. Additionally, generic CT activities shown in Figure 1 were considered (i.e., laundering, dressing, and selection). Other activities derived from the store’s duty roster as employees were scheduled to rotate through specific stocking activities in particular areas of the store (i.e., the beer fridge or wine isle).

Work environments were diverse and included warehouse, back cash, walk-in cold room, and retail floor. Employees could be dusting shelves or using a commercial machine to clean floors in the store and later doing tastings with customers or cashing out. Employees routinely moved from the front of the house (primarily retail) with customers to the back of the house (primarily warehouse). The retail floor also had distinct work zones: rows of cash registers located near doors and large windows, some had a walk-in cold room, while others utilized chest refrigerators. Larger stores had a tasting bar and service desk. Using the field notes and photographs, activities in the CT were conceptualized within various work environments, which enhanced understanding of uniform requirements to define subsequent design criteria.

Transcripts were thematically reviewed according to deductive and inductive identification of activities. Stock keeping was a major activity that was broken down into component activities based on distinct physical motions including pulling and filling, carrying, recycling cardboard and plastic, squatting, standing, sitting, kneeling, reaching, facing up (aligning stock to fill the front row of a shelf), transporting stock, and moving pallets. Employees also worked on cash, customer carryouts, the tasting bar, and disposing of returns and broken cans/bottles. Other activities included uniform selection and laundering. The research team analyzed the data independently, creating preliminary themes and then jointly to discuss and define themes to ensure intercoder reliability, identifying 18 activities used to create the liquor store uniform taskscape. In the final phase of analysis, the research team reexamined the data collectively to identify problems related to comfort, mobility, and professional image in addition to defining employee behaviors and values to generate design criteria required for each activity in the CT. Themes included uniform styling, fit, fabric, branding, and visual identity.

Results

Branding and Visual Identity

Employees suggested that branding and clear visual identification of who was working in the stores was important. Current uniforms include a variety of garments, not all of which had a visible logo, especially when garments were worn layered. Because employees wear their own black pants, they could be indistinguishable from people shopping in the store who might also be wearing black clothing, which sometimes confused customers seeking assistance.

Employees suggested that logo placement, in addition to color palette and possible use of textile prints to camouflage dirt and ink transfer, be considered for the new uniform. Store interiors featured a royal purple and gray color scheme. Given that the uniform is an extension of the brand, new styling should harmonize with colors used in the stores. Creating a distinct visual identity for various employee categories was also highlighted. CSRs wear blue shirts (affectionately referred to as their “prison shirt” due to its similarity to the shade of blue worn by inmates) and PCs wear white shirts. PCs train extensively for their role and possess specialty knowledge regarding fine wine and premium spirits. Employees and managers recounted stories of mistaken identity, in that customers perceive the person wearing a white shirt to be the manager. Managers wore their own business apparel, yet assistant managers are part of the company’s union and they wore the same blue shirts as CSRs, which created a problem. When the manager is not in the store, assistant managers are in authority; however, customers do not recognize their distinct management role because they are wearing the same shirt as the CSRs.

Managers mentioned concerns about the brand image. While FT employees had a full week’s rotation of shirts, PT workers did not. Uniforms were not provided for seasonal workers; they were required to purchase their own shirt in a similar shade of blue; thus, only their name tag officially identified their employee status. This diluted the brand image, caused financial hardship for new employees, and elicited feelings of unworthiness and not belonging. FT employees recounted stories of giving their older shirts to new staff. Employees often donned an apron to protect their uniform when working at tasks where they expected to get dirty, and most employees changed their uniform daily. While laundering frequency was expected to maintain brand image, it created a hardship for PT and seasonal employees who had a limited number of uniforms. Many employees working in the downtown flagship store lived in apartments without laundry facilities, mentioning how time-consuming it was to go to a laundromat. Some resorted to washing their uniform shirts in a bathtub as a solution to this problem. In sum, problems and related activities identified using the CT were categorized according to themes including uniform styling and fit, fabric, visual identity, and branding. Each activity prompted identification of design criteria as shown in Figure 2.

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Figure 2.

The liquor store uniform clothing taskscape and resulting design criteria.

Case Study 2: Outdoor Winter Sporting Garments

Data Collection

Data collection occurred each year across a 3-year period as part of a university senior-level design research course. Each research session lasted 3−12 hr for a total of 19 hr of observations (field notes, sketches, and photographs) and 22 interviews. The resulting data set included observation checklists, 22 pages of reflective field notes, 102 pages of observational field notes, 6 hr of audio recordings, 49 pages of transcripts, and 580 photographs.

The research team engaged in trail riding for the first two research sessions at a river valley park where the group took multiple short hikes (2−3 km) and another 12-km hike. During the third session, the research team engaged in sit-skiing and observed sit-skating on a weekend at an outdoor lodge run by the not-for-profit partner. The research participants involved persons with a range of disabilities including quadriplegia, paraplegia, multiple sclerosis, a person who had no limbs, and several people who were seated but did not disclose their medical conditions. Other participants included spouses, children, professional caregivers, and recreational therapists who were present to take part in the activities and/or support the person with a disability.

Go-along interviews (Carpiano, 2009; Kusenbach, 2003) were conducted with seated clients (n = 7), family members and friends (n = 5), professional caregivers (n = 6), and recreational therapists (n = 4). Observations, including observation check sheets, documented how bodies interfaced with equipment, abilities and capabilities, and activity levels. Interview questions probed participants’ relationships with clothing for sporting activities, procurement of garments, special needs related to participants’ alternative body silhouettes, and suggestions related to types of garments they would like in the future (because no products on the market supported people engaging in winter sports between −10 °C and −30 °C [14 °F and −22 °F]). Photographs that did not identify participants were taken during the outdoor activities to document what was worn including sleeping bags, blankets, and other makeshift clothing options. Assessment continued through postactivity reflective note-taking, team discussions, and further discussions with our agency collaborators who had extensive caregiving experience.

Data Analysis and Taskscape Generation

Similar to the Case Study 1, raw data were organized following guidelines established by Creswell (2009) and analyzed independently, and then, findings were jointly discussed among the research team members to ensure intercoder reliability. First, the data from the field notes based on observations and go-along interviews were aggregated and thematically categorized into various themes involving the character of the sport activities, such as the outdoor terrain, sports activities and equipment, tools used, and stakeholders involved. These were further analyzed and categorized based on the generic CT activities outlined in Figure 1 and then augmented by acknowledging activities that did not fit into these categories. Specific categories that were not part of the generic CT included garments needed to be layered due to extreme temperatures, garments sometimes shared by people who did similar activities at different times, interfaces with specialized equipment such as colostomy bags or prosthetics that impacted clothing options, transfers required from wheelchairs to the sporting equipment, and seated clients who sometimes were completely independent and sometimes required assistance from caregivers.

The second phase of analysis involved thematically analyzing photographs to better understand the different sporting activities and bodily relationships to equipment and to begin to understand clothing requirements for seated clients to engage in winter sporting activities. The photographs were key to understand mobility requirements, variations in the sporting activities, the diversity and complexity of designing standardized garments for deviant bodies, and to identifying the abilities and capabilities of seated clients and their helpers. The third phase of analysis involved cross-referencing researchers’ reflective notes with the first two phases.

To complete data analysis, two researchers reexamined the data to identify specific needs, wants, desires, and expectations to prioritize garment ideas and design features. Themes included features related to procurement, garment styling, fit, branding, visual identity, storage of personal effects, storage of large-sized garments, and laundering practices. As shown in Figure 3, the outcome of the data analysis resulted in establishing the 17 activities related to outdoor winter sporting CT that would inform the creation of a detailed design criteria to guide development of garments for outdoor sporting winter activities.

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Figure 3.

The outdoor winter sporting clothing taskscape and resulting design criteria.

Results

Discussion

By cross-referencing the liquor store uniform and outdoor winter sporting clothing case studies, it is apparent that the use of the CT revealed important details that are not otherwise apparent when using other needs assessment frameworks. Deciphering information gained from activities, environments, problems, values, and wearers’ bodies yields comprehensive, highly detailed design criteria that may then be translated into garment attributes providing insights for designers to propose innovative styling, fabric, and fit solutions. For instance, in the liquor store case study, the physicality of work was evident through observing employees standing, squatting, bending, and carrying while wearing what essentially was a dress shirt. Analysis of these activities on their own yielded clearly defined styling design criteria and fabric requirements. Further analysis of the different environments that people worked within (e.g., the warehouse or chest refrigerator) illuminated additional criteria related to thermal regulation as well as fabric shades and textures that camouflaged dirt. Detailed analysis of tasks completed while facing up revealed that a rolled-up shirt cuff acted like a hook and caused breakage, soiled uniforms, and slipping hazards. This suggested that an alternative to the button-up shirt cuff was essential. Wine stains and yellowing from perspiration prompted certain behaviors; employees valued portraying a professional image and wore their jackets regardless of thermal discomfort.

Likewise, with the outdoor winter sporting clothing case study, many aspects of the use scenario are overlooked when using existing frameworks to assess the needs, wants, desires, and expectations of seated clients with disability. Functional design attributes typically relate to comfort, donning, and doffing and are usually included in user needs assessments; however, toileting, garment care, and storage are not. Analysis of activities in this case study emphasized the importance of considering eating, caregiving, transferring from wheelchair to sporting equipment, and accessing the body to monitor temperature or change colostomy bags. The details of these activities proved to be highly important for seated clients who have a range of (dis)abilities and who need functional garments to augment their physical limitations. For instance, the need to be safely helped into and out of garments, to be helped to urinate into a bottle, or to ensure that hands/feet are not too cold are not simply desirable; such factors are necessary in order for seated clients to engage in sporting activities. Further detail revealed by using the CT was that participants wearing outdoor winter clothing valued safeguards against being exposed to other people’s body fluids and thus required easily laundered waterproof liners.

Conclusion

Clothing is by nature a complex thing that people require, live with, get frustrated by, rely on, are protected by, identify with, communicate through, and become attached to. Although using the CT supports an examination of the intersections between people and activities that highlight problems, compensatory behaviors, and human values, there are several limitations to engaging in this approach. Researchers need to dedicate considerable time collecting data and, from an operational standpoint, must work in teams. The large data set collected can seem daunting. Identifying design criteria is the first step of product development, and it may be difficult to prioritize what must be integrated into a design. From a business viability standpoint, it may not be cost-effective to integrate such extensive, and perhaps idealized, design criteria. Ultimately, until the product is prototyped and evaluated for use, there is a limit to knowing the efficacy of the comprehensive design criteria generated. Future case studies that examine other users during activities in various environments are needed to advance how user needs are assessed and used to innovate functional clothing design.

The use of the CT provides a systems approach that “enables the designer to move from an endless succession of unique cases to broad explanatory principles that can help to solve many kinds of problems” (Friedman, 2003, p. 515). Future research may also focus on development of generic CTs for specific clothing categories that may be modified for specific contexts. The CT provides a rich data set to holistically explore interactions between people, clothing, environments, and objects. Assessing the use scenario through the lens of the CT also reveals problems that may not be immediately evident to designers. By examining people and clothing during activities, it is possible to reveal details that influence performance that might not be obvious with more traditional methods. Combining field observation with interviews allows design scholars to compare what people say and contrast it to what they actually do, teasing out important details about behaviors and values that impact design solutions. Previous studies in functional apparel design have focused on assessment of user needs, analysis of required design attributes for specific use situations, and evaluation of design effectiveness in apparel products created to mediate specialized needs (i.e., what to look for and how well a design intervention works). The CT highlights how to look at and assess use. We encourage other design researchers, educators, and students to adopt CT theory to explore its effectiveness in informing the design process and developing comprehensive design criteria.