After Facebook renamed itself Meta, the metaverse was brought to the attention of the public eye (Schram, 2021). Newspapers and other news sources started writing extensively about this innovation that would change the world forever. What the metaverse exactly is or might become as it doesn’t exist yet, one can only speculate on. One way to describe the metaverse in simple terms is the worldwide web breaking free of its two-dimensional barriers and becoming three-dimensional through an immersive experience, unlocking many potential possibilities for new customer experiences. In particular, the metaverse has also evoked the interest of the digital customer experience agency TBWA\X. TBWA\X’s mission is to become the agency of the future, so they were curious to explore and investigate what the metaverse could entail for them. With the curiosity and potential of the metaverse for TBWA\X as a main focus, the following research question emerged:

“How can a radical innovation such as the metaverse be used to design a new customer experience for fashion.”

The element of fashion was added to the research question to scope the project. TBWA\X has several clients that operate in the fashion industry. Furthermore, various fashion brands are already exploring the possibilities of the metaverse (McDowell, 2021), paving the way for TBWA\X.

The methods applied to structure the project and achieve the desired results are the double diamond model, the Vision in Product design (ViP) method (Hekkert & Van Dijk, 2011) and the DIVE method (Mejia, 2021). The ViP method was applied to structure the first diamond, the research part. In order to obtain the necessary insights for the ViP process, a literature study was conducted, interviews were held, observations were recorded, news sources were monitored, and informal discussions were held. Next, the research phase led to the design vision. The design vision gives direction to the second diamond, the design phase. In this phase, the last two steps of DIVE were completed to arrive at a vision concept and an implementation strategy. As part of the design phase, co-creation sessions were held, and the end result was evaluated by experts.

The design outcome is a vision concept in the form of a video and accompanying strategy plan. The vision concept is envisioning the online shopping experience in 2032: the VR fitting room. The VR fitting room enables consumers to choose an immersive context, or backdrop, to their liking to achieve a hyper personalized and satisfying experience. To enter the VR fitting room, the consumer has to put on VR glasses. The consumer then moves into a virtual space that contains a digital twin, in other words, a photo-realistic representation of the consumer. This digital twin can try on clothes and the surrounding space can be adapted to the moment the clothes are worn. For example, when someone wants to buy swimwear, the environment can be set to the beach. This means that both the consumer and the digital twin will find themselves at the beach where the consumer can inspect the digital twin from every angle. The literature shows that the richer the context, the better the consumer can estimate whether the clothing meets the needs of the consumer.

This vision concept is a steppingstone for TBWA\X to start creating immersive experiences in the metaverse. TBWA\X requested an outcome that can be applied to all client categories and emerging innovations. Although these requirements do not directly apply to the VR fitting room concept, the individual elements of the VR fitting room and the design process do apply to these requirements. Namely, the software that needs to be understood to create the vision concept is applicable to make immersive experiences. The methods used in the process to build the VR fitting room, are aimed at exploring the possibilities of an innovation for SMEs, such as TBWA\X. Therefore, this thesis can be seen as a concrete step-by-step plan for TBWA\X on how to deal with innovation, as the methods described are applicable to emerging innovations, and where especially the DIVE method is suitable for TBWA\X.

The implementation strategy to make the vision concept a reality is a starting point for TBWA\X to start exploring future possibilities with their clients for creating immersive experiences.