Understanding User Experience with Virtual Try-On and Design Implications for Online Fashion Shopping

Online fashion shopping is booming, yet high return rates persist as actual size and fit do not meet shoppers’ expectations. Virtual Try-On (VTON), rendering garments on individuals’ body images, promises to reduce such issues. To understand VTON’s impact on shopping behaviors and experiences, we conducted user study with 24 participants where they were asked to explore and purchase clothing online and then shared their thoughts on satisfaction, similarity, and return intentions after wearing items. Results show that VTON reduced exploration time and product detail views, while enabling clearer expectations of fit before delivery. Importantly, participants often used VTON for final verification, while some sought to discover new styles, suggesting VTON should provide adaptive support according to users’ tendencies. Participants also emphasized fit accuracy, highlighting the need for technical improvements and reliability cues such as confidence scores. Building on these findings, we suggest design implications for integrating VTON into e-commerce.