Nimeesha Gulati

Styling Station

a unique mall experience

Challenge

CF Toronto Eaton Centre lacks a public realm that delivers engaging, experience-driven retail, limiting its ability to meet the evolving expectations of a diverse consumer base—including students, young professionals, families, and seniors—who increasingly seek socialization, convenience, and memorable experiences beyond traditional shopping.

Skills

Service Design, Design strategy, Wireframing, Model Making, Design Research, Human Centered Design

My role

Service and UX/UI Designer (Team Project)

Duration

12 weeks

Year

2024

Solution

A mall is more than just products

The Stylist Station aims to revolutionize the shopping experience by integrating personalized fashion consultancy with a modern retail environment. This innovative space will feature dedicated areas where shoppers can receive expert styling advice tailored to their individual preferences along with a socially interactive lounge experience and a luxurious fitting room experience.

Appointment

The user will first book a stylist appointment on the Cadillac Fairview website. The profile screen includes fields for the user’s name, email, contact number, and event type, helping stylists better understand the purpose of the appointment.

At, the user shall receive a Unique Appointment Number as a confirmation of their appointment.

Touchpoint 1

Users book online, receive a unique ID, and input style data. This prepares the stylist and reduces anxiety.

Appointment

At, the user shall receive a Unique Appointment Number as a confirmation of their appointment.

Touchpoint 2

A dedicated "Third Place" for community interaction. It’s not just a waiting room; it’s a social hub to observe trends and relax.

Lounge Experience

The user will begin their dynamic experience by checking in with their unique appointment number and then heading over to the lounge area.

The lounge area within the Stylist Station is designed to foster community interaction by creating a welcoming environment where shoppers can comfortably engage with one another. As individuals wait for their personal styling appointments, the open layout encourages them to observe and connect with others.

Shopping Experience

After the stylist consultation, the user must choose whether to shop by themselves or get a personal shopper to shop for them.

In case the user decides to shop by themselves, they will be provided with a personalized mall map and shopping cart -highlighting the stores and the products chosen during the consultation.

Otherwise, they user may sit back and relax in the lounge until their shopping bags arrive.

Touchpoint 3

Mall navigation made easy through personalized mall maps; easing the path to "discover" new stores.

Touchpoint 4

A luxurious fitting room experience makes the user feel like the "Star of the Show".

Fitting Room

The fitting room layout encourages self expression and fosters a relaxed social atmosphere where users can share styling tips exchange and collaborate on outfit ideas.

All fitting rooms are operated through a card just like in a hotel. Inserting the card into the respective placeholder of the rooms provides power in the room. This specification creates a sense of luxury and unique experience for the client.

The rotating platform outside of the fitting room is allows the client to get a 360 degree view of their outfit. This has been created in line with current trends and makes the client feel like they are the “start of the show”.

Research

Goal

To transform the CF Toronto Eaton Centre from a transactional hub into an experience-driven destination.

Meth0dology

Conducted 12 in-depth interviews and stakeholder brainstorming sessions.

Insights

Social Interaction

Users visit the mall to socialize, but there are no non-food-court areas to sit and hang out without pressure to spend money.

Awareness Gap

Commuters and students use the mall as a transit hub and are completely unaware of events or new store openings.

Experience over Product

shoppers today want "Exceptional Customer Experiences," not just products on shelves.

Ideation

How might we design spaces & experiences within the mall that foster social interaction creating a vibrant community atmosphere while enhancing retail experience?

How can we create awareness among the masses and fuel their desire to explore and discover what more Eaton Center has to offer?

How might we design an exclusive experience within the mall that fosters a sense of belonging & community, making the mall a distinctive - retention driven- destination?

Ideation

Concept

Development

Brainstorming sessions led the development of two concepts.

Landmark Experience

The team decided to not move forward with this concept. Upon testing we realized that this is overcomplicated and users did not respond well during the concept testing.

Styling Station

The team decided to move forward with this concept. Upon testing, our user group's interest leaned towards this concept as it directly addresses the need for "personalization" and "luxury" while solving the "discovery" problem by guiding users to new stores they wouldn't find themselves.

Concept Development

Prototype

Prototyping

Lo-Fi Prototypes & concept testing

Created first prototype using paper and cardboard. This allowed for concept testing on full scale through role play. The testing was carried out through a role play with 7 out of the 12 interviewees from the first set of interviews.

User feedback

“It would be nice if I could put in my store preferences and budget as well. To make sure that you know what I am looking for.”

"I don't like the long wait times in walk services……"

Moodboard

This formed the basis and inspiration for CMF of the next phase of prototyping.

Mock up Prototyping

Client Feedback

Cadillac Fairview loved our Stylist Station. However, they requested that we create a third party arrangement so that they do not have to implement the Stylist Consultations, and so we brought in Better Styled Inc.

Better Styled Inc, a Toronto-based personal styling company, would function as an independent tenant within CF properties. This arrangement ensures that CF does not own or directly manage the consultancy, thereby mitigating potential conflicts of interest with existing retailers.

Implementing this model would mean:

No Implementation and Maintenance Costs
No Operational Complexity
No Conflict of Interest with the Retailers
CF will not be responsible for recruiting and managing a panel of expert fashion stylists.

This approach fosters a collaborative and balanced ecosystem, benefiting both CF and its retail tenants while enhancing the overall shopping experience for customers.

Service Blueprint

Service Blueprint

Reflection

This project taught me that a great user experience must also be a viable business model. Pivoting to a third-party partnership was key to getting stakeholder buy-in. I learned to design not just the physical space (fitting rooms) but the intangible time-based experience (booking, waiting, consulting). If I were to continue, I would develop the "Better Styled Inc." inventory system and run a live pilot in a pop-up space to gain better understanding of the space operations.

Reflection