Aura
A personal designer in every NRI pocket — the conversational fashion platform built for the global Indian community
Overview
For Indians living abroad, dressing for a wedding back home is a logistics problem dressed up as a shopping one. The outfit has to fit without a trial, clear customs without a surprise bill, and land before the sangeet — usually ordered from a boutique the customer has never met.
Aura is not a catalog. It opens with a conversation — “What are you dressing for?” — and answers with a stylist backed by a workshop of verified artisans. Every screen ladders up to that promise: occasion before object, fit as a guarantee, and every price shown next to a delivery date.
Role
Product Designer | Aura
UX Strategy, Information Architecture, Interaction & Visual Design, Design System, Prototyping
July 2026 - September 2026
Design principles
Aura is a conversation with a stylist who happens to have a workshop of artisans behind them. Every UX decision had to ladder up to that.
01
Occasion before object
Never open with a grid of products. Open with the moment — a wedding, a Diwali dinner, a temple visit — and let intent drive everything else.
02
Ask, then curate
A few sharp questions earn a small, hand-picked shortlist. Three considered options beat three hundred.
03
Show the human
Boutique names, artisan photos, city of origin and craft heritage are first-class content, not footnotes.
04
Fit is a promise, not a form
Every measurement flow ends with a guarantee. If it doesn’t fit, Aura fixes it — and that reshapes onboarding, checkout and delivery.
05
Time is the hidden currency
Every price lives next to a delivery window; every delivery window lives next to an event date. The biggest fear isn’t cost — it’s missing the occasion.
06
Make transparency the feature
Cutting, embroidery, quality check, dispatch — the customer sees each step with a real photo. Progress is content.
07
Design for two homes
US billing, India delivery, a mother’s measurements, a daughter’s preferences. Data, IA and copy all assume dual geography.
08
Personalization compounds
Every tap, save, return and measurement trains the Fashion Graph. The app should feel like it remembers — because it does.
Five NRI customers
Each persona sets specific screens, defaults and edge cases across the product.
Priya, the Bride-to-Be
“My wedding is in Hyderabad in five months. I have opinions but no time.”
- Budget
- $3,500 – $8,000 across 4 outfits
- Biggest fear
- The lehenga doesn’t arrive in time, or doesn’t fit.
Anjali, the Occasional Guest
“Two Indian weddings a year, and I refuse to wear the same outfit twice.”
- Budget
- $250 – $600 per event
- Biggest fear
- Paying $500 for something that arrives ill-fitting.
Ravi & Meena, the Family Planners
“Seven functions, four family members, one panic.”
- Budget
- $1,800 – $4,000 for the trip
- Biggest fear
- One outfit ruins the family photos.
Kavya, the Festive Regular
“Put-together for Diwali, Karwa Chauth, Onam — without spending my weekend scrolling.”
- Budget
- £200 – £700 per festival
- Biggest fear
- Looking like she tried too hard, or not enough.
Arjun, the Groomsman
“A sherwani that ships to Delhi, fits me at 6′2″, and doesn’t look like a costume.”
- Budget
- $800 – $1,500
- Biggest fear
- Standing out for the wrong reason in the group photo.
Seven jobs to be done
Every screen had to advance one of them — if a feature didn’t map to a job, it was cut.
- Help me look right for this moment
- Get me a fit I can trust
- Make my inspiration real
- Coordinate with my people
- Get it in my hands on time
- Prove the craft is real
- Remember me next time
Information architecture
Aura organizes around Moments (why you shop) and People (who you shop for), not categories. Category browse still exists — one tap below the surface.
| Tab | What lives here |
|---|---|
| Home | Occasion-first landing, the AI stylist entry point, upcoming events, reorder and wardrobe suggestions. |
| Discover | Curated collections, editorial stories, designer spotlights, inspiration and community looks. |
| Design | AI Personal Designer chat, inspiration upload, saved looks, designs in progress. |
| Wardrobe | Owned items, measurement profiles, family members, reorder shortcuts, alteration credits. |
| Orders | Live production tracker, delivery, returns, alterations, group orders. |
Global controls
- Ship to — persistent in the header; resets shipping and duties everywhere.
- Currency follows Ship to by default, overridable in Settings.
- Wearing for — the person selector that decides which measurement profile applies.
- Deliver by — an event-date pill that filters designers by feasible lead time.
Secondary browse, never front-loaded
The eight-stage NRI journey
From the moment an invitation arrives to the wedding photo on the fridge — each stage has its own screens, notifications and success metric.
01
Trigger
An invite, a festival on the calendar, a friend’s post. Aura shows up as a push, the occasion calendar, an inspiration upload.
02
Discover
“What should I wear? What’s the vibe?” — the stylist chat, look boards and occasion guides.
03
Decide
Narrow to two or three looks, match a designer, lock the palette. Video consults on demand.
04
Measure
Auto-measure, manual entry, tailor review, or a tape session on the next India trip.
05
Order
Landed, all-in cost. Delivery to the US or India. Pay in local currency.
06
Track
Cutting, stitching, embroidery, QC, dispatch — with real photos and estimated dates.
07
Approve & receive
Approve pre-dispatch photos, pick customs handling, unbox.
08
Remember
Wear, photograph, review, add to the wardrobe, restyle later.
The Aura loop. Stage 08 isn’t the end — every completed journey feeds the Fashion Graph and seeds Stage 01 of the next occasion.
The screens
Eight screens from the working prototype, each one answering a pillar from the specification.
Moments, not product tiles
The front door asks what you’re dressing for, never what you want to buy. Editorial stories set the tone; your own calendar sits right under them.
- Upcoming events — Navratri, a sister’s wedding in Chicago — carry their dates, so every look downstream is filtered by what can ship in time
- Collections are grouped by occasion — Bridal, Festive, Cocktail — before silhouette
- The “Ask me anything” bar is pinned to the bottom: text or voice, the stylist is always one tap away
From ten thousand products to three looks
“Tell me about the occasion — where it is, when it is, and how you want to feel in the room.” A few sharp exchanges later, the customer has a shortlist with a real path to purchase.
- Suggested chips under every reply — “Review wardrobe”, “Suggest 9 looks” — so nobody is forced to type
- Progressive disclosure: never more than two questions before a preview
- Explainable curation: each look carries a “Why this?” line citing weather, saved palette and budget
- Escalation to a human stylist when spend crosses $1,500 or the event is under three weeks away
Taste before inventory
Curated collections, editorial stories and a designer spotlight — browse that feels like a magazine, one tap below the conversation.
- Silhouette rail — Lehengas, Sarees, Anarkalis, Kurta sets — for customers who already know what they want
- Editorial stories explain the craft (“The story behind a Banarasi”) rather than just showing it
- Every tile routes back into the stylist, so inspiration becomes a priced, customizable order
The workshop behind the app
Aura warehouses nothing. It curates boutiques, artisans and weavers — and every one of them has a face, a city and a story.
- Each card shows rating, NRI order count, specialty, city, lead time and whether it ships worldwide or is GI-certified
- Ranked by fit-for-you and lead-time feasibility for your event — never by ad spend
- Craft filters — Bridal, Handloom, Zardosi, Menswear — surface specialists first
Verification is an explainable checklist, not a badge: business & tax checks, a workshop visit, a sample audit, NRI shipping certification and a quarterly review.
Priced the way it lands
Collections are named for how people actually shop from abroad — “Under $400, fully landed”, “Packs flat, travels far”.
- Filters by Occasion, Craft, Fit, Travel and Budget — the axes that decide an NRI order
- Prices are landed and all-in: stitching, shipping, insurance and duties in one number, in the customer’s currency
- The stylist bubble stays in reach to turn any piece into a conversation
A closet that remembers — for the whole family
The wardrobe turns Aura from a shopping app into a relationship: every piece, every measurement, every person you shop for.
- Sync calendar pulls occasion dates in and sets lead time on every commission
- Measurement profiles — a primary set plus one per family member, each with its last update
- Kids’ profiles flag “re-measure suggested — children grow”
- An empty Favourites state speaks in Aura’s voice rather than a blank grid
Five glass rooms
Trust is Aura’s largest barrier to conversion, so the production tracker turns opacity into a feature.
- In production — a stage tracker per piece (“Stage 4 of 8 · Handwork”) with the artisan, the city and a delivery date
- Your approval — pre-dispatch photos wait for the customer before the box leaves
- Group order — a wedding trousseau across family members, each with their own status
- Delivery — “Duties prepaid — nothing to pay on arrival”
Fit as a promise, not a form
Fit is the number-one reason NRIs abandon Indian fashion sites. Measurements are saved once, reviewed by a real tailor, and backed by credits — not disclaimers.
- Bust, waist, hip, shoulder, sleeve and length in inches or centimetres, with an AI scan as the low-effort path
- Every AI estimate stays editable and shows its confidence
- Phone is “used only for delivery and fitting calls” — privacy stated where it’s asked
The fit promise: measure your way · reviewed by a real tailor · photographed before dispatch · free first alteration · store credit if we fail.
Design system
Warm ivory, deep plum and antique gold — a serif for warmth, a sans-serif for clarity, and motion that never touches a price.
#FBF8F3#F3EEE4#3B2A5A#C89B3C#1E1B2E#5A5468#FFFFFF#3F7A4B#B26B1A#A0304AMotion
- 200 ms ease-out for surfaces, 280 ms for sheets, 400 ms for hero image swaps
- Tracker milestones fill a gold hairline in 600 ms; the new photo cross-fades
- Never animate prices, totals or countdowns — they update instantly to feel trustworthy
- Reduced motion keeps only opacity fades
Accessibility
- WCAG AA minimum — plum on ivory passes AAA; gold is decorative only
- OS text scale respected up to 200%, tabular numerals keep prices aligned
- Every status encoded in icon + colour + text, never colour alone
- 44 × 44 pt touch targets; voice input on every text field
Designing for the hard days
Aura wins or loses on failure. Each scenario has a defined interaction pattern.
| Scenario | What Aura does |
|---|---|
| Event too close | Offers rental partners, ready-made with express stitching, or blouse-only with an heirloom saree. Never shows a designer who can’t ship in time. |
| Auto-measure below 80% | Routes to guided manual entry and offers a free 20-minute video with a tailor before confirming. |
| Family palette clash | A “palette debate” card shows both preferences, three compromise palettes and a one-tap vote. |
| Boutique misses a milestone | Proactive notice with options: accept the new date, switch designer, or cancel with a full refund plus $50 credit. |
| Damage on arrival | One-tap “report a problem”, an instant alteration credit, and a prepaid return or local repair. |
| Language mix-up | Every misread reply carries a “not what I meant” chip and an explicit language switch. |
Measuring success
| Pillar | Key metric | Year-1 target |
|---|---|---|
| AI Personal Designer | Session → shortlist rate | 55% |
| Perfect Fit | Fit-related refund rate | < 3% |
| Marketplace | Orders shipped on time | 92% |
| Occasion-first | Occasion → order conversion | 18% |
| Digital wardrobe | Repeat order rate at 6 months | 34% |
| Family shopping | Share of multi-item baskets | 22% |
| Trusted quality | Pre-dispatch approval rate | 96% |
| NRI-centric | Landed-cost accuracy | ±$3 of quote |
One number to rule them all: the share of customers whose second order is easier than their first — measured by time-to-shortlist and questions asked. Target: 90% by month 12.
Roadmap
Phase 1 · Months 0–6
Prove the promise
- AI Personal Designer
- Perfect Fit Guarantee
- 10 verified boutiques, 4 hub cities
- Landed-cost checkout, two-address delivery
- Production tracker + pre-dispatch approval
Phase 2 · Months 6–12
Family, inspiration, wardrobe
- Family basket, palette lock, split payment
- AI Inspiration from photos and links
- Digital wardrobe + restyle suggestions
- 40+ designers across 8 hub cities
- Community posts and ambassadors
Phase 3 · Months 12–24
The Fashion Graph compounds
- Graph-powered curation everywhere
- Predictive occasion calendar
- Cross-family wardrobe intelligence
- Live tailor video collaboration
- AR try-on for silhouettes
A stylist you’ll never outgrow.
Every returning customer should feel a sentence quieter — the fit already saved, the palette already known, the family already on the roster. That is how a fashion app becomes a wardrobe.
