UI/UX Design · Columbia University Prototyping in Urban Tech
Capstone, advised by Michael Krisch — featured on Columbia GSAPP's thesis archive
Led research and end-to-end design of a blockchain-enabled fashion reuse app focused on extending garment lifecycle through traceability.
NFC-backed garment identity, a companion app for reading and updating custody history, listing flows (condition, materials, pricing), and incentives that keep pieces in circulation rather than landfill.
Someone reselling or donating a tagged item needs a trustworthy handoff: show what the piece is made of, how worn it is, what it cost versus what it should list for next, and who has owned it before—so the next person can decide with confidence.
When these garments leave the closet, the impact does not end there.
Around
15million
garments arrive in Ghana every week.
Nearly
40%
become waste.
Purchase
Worn briefly
Discarded
Exported
Landfill
cycle repeats indefinitely
Approach
I ran research with 50 Gen Z users (ages 19–26) to understand how and why they let clothes go, especially when the item was still wearable.
Most people were replacing pieces to keep up with trends, not because the clothing had failed physically. That suggested the friction wasn't mainly wear and tear; it was weak emotional attachment and little perceived long-term value.
respondents surveyed
ages 19–26 (Gen Z)
The setup, raw responses, and charts from that survey are below.
Understanding Behavior Survey
Survey responses from 50 Gen Z participants on clothing consumption and disposal habits
of young consumers' wardrobes consist of fast fashion items
The dominance of fast fashion in modern wardrobes reflects accessibility, affordability, and the rapid trend cycles that drive consumer purchasing behavior.
PASSIT ON is framed around three patterns from research: fit, how "worn out" clothes feel, and social visibility, not only damage or quality.
What this proposal responds to
Other factors people cite
Included for context. The design story below centers on fit, wear fatigue, and social visibility, where the product can change behavior without leaning on repair-only narratives.
Key takeaway
The challenge underneath the data
Early exit
Pieces leave rotation while the fabric still has life.
Invisible history
Ownership, care, and impact rarely show up in everyday tools.
New gets the spotlight
Trends and feeds make replacement feel easier than reuse.
Size issues and wear fatigue pull still-wearable clothes out of use. Social feeds shorten how long an outfit feels "fresh." PASSIT ON targets that gap: make history and handoffs visible so keeping or passing something on can stand up to the default of buying new, not only so people can fix what broke.
Most unwanted clothing never leaves the home, stored away rather than recycled or donated. This "closet purgatory" represents a significant opportunity for sustainable fashion interventions.
Most abandoned clothes are not worn out. They stop being worn because they no longer fit, have already been posted on social media, or feel overexposed. They pile up in rooms, unworn but not unusable.
Challenge behind the purchase drivers
People replace still-wearable clothing because it no longer feels valuable, even when nothing is wrong with it.
What if clothing could carry its memory?
Would that change how we value it?
PASSIT ON is my bet that when a garment's history is easy to see, worn can feel as compelling as new, so I design for a visible chain of custody instead of another shop-new funnel.
Part of the spark was hand-me-down Abercrombie kids' clothes with names scribbled inside: cousins and siblings signing in wobbly kid handwriting, which made each pass-down feel human in a way a fresh tag never could.
Design intent
From there, I focused on a system that could raise the perceived value of garments over time by making their history visible and shareable, so keeping or passing an item on could compete more fairly with buying new.
Live prototype · NFC
I shipped a working web build on Vercel and linked it from the physical NFC tags. The storyboard below is how I explain the handoff from label to screen; the phone frame is the actual hosted experience.
Storyboard: scan to story
Hold the phone near the NFC chip in the care label.
The tag launches the garment URL in the browser. No app install.
Same screen as after the scan: materials, history, next steps in the live build.
From there they can follow the record or imagine passing the piece on.
To use real storyboard art later, add frames under public/images/ and replace a step with Image.
Hosted experience (live)
Same URL the NFC tag resolves to. Open full tab if the preview is blank (some browsers block embeds).
Repo: github.com/sh4771/PassitOn
This Next.js app is what loads after a scan. I use it to demo the idea with a real URL on real tags, not only static mocks.
01
High-fidelity designs for extending garment lifecycles through transparency and engagement
Columbia Urban Tech
Course prototype frames for listing condition (with purchase vs. suggested resale) and for material disclosures tied to the garment chain.
Circular pricing
Each handoff lowers the list price so the next buyer can afford the piece. Earlier owners can earn a small share of later sales; the platform can use membership or per-sale fees to stay sustainable.
The Urban Tech hi-fi condition screen (above) shows purchase versus suggested resale in the listing flow.
Track ownership history, earn rewards, and build your sustainable fashion profile
Tracks item transfers and visualizes carbon footprint savings
Awards ReLeaf points and suggests eco-friendly care tips
Displays ReLeaf points, rankings, and sustainability achievements
Scanner Interface
Material Detail View
Scans clothing tags to reveal hidden health and environmental impacts of garment materials.
I tested an early version of the flow and saw people lean in when a garment's story surfaced. Small details, like where it came from or who owned it before, started to reframe the piece.
I also saw that information alone is not enough. How that story is experienced over time matters just as much as what is on the screen in one moment.
I would push the chain of custody to feel more active and ongoing, and test prompts for people to leave messages and keep the story moving.
I'm curious how small interactions, repeated over time, could reinforce value beyond a single reveal.
I want to move past the prototype and try this in a real setting, where I can watch how people live with garments over weeks, not minutes.
The open question for me is whether this system can shift behavior, not only how the piece is perceived in the lab.