I participated in L'Oréals annual "brandstorm" competition with a focus on digital innovation in the beauty industry. My team and I wanted to address the gaps in the current industry, especially on how people interact with e-commerce.

Project Overview

Researching the beauty market and personalizing skincare and makeup to empower people's daily lives

HueID

Project Type

Timeline

Role

Design Competition

Jan - March 2024

Team Lead | UX Researcher

Problem

The beauty industry has continued to grow and reached 31.7 billion dollars in 2023. Despite the performance of the market, there has been increasing barriers consumers face

Need for personalization

79% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product if the products are recommended for their specific needs and skin type but often times do not find products that suit them exactly

Improve diversity

64% of women in the United States want more diversity in the beauty market and 70% of Black women feel as through there is not enough representation in products and marketing

Digitization of beauty

There is a shift into the digital world for the beauty industry and apps need to keep up with the movement and trends

Solution

A mobile application utilizing AI technology to improve diversity and inclusivity in digital beauty

  1. Low confidence level with skincare and makeup knowledge

•User input of skin type, concerns, and needs


•Face scan technology for personalized review of user's skin

02

Beauty Routine and Analysis

•User tracking of products in their daily routine


•Skin details from face scan analysis


•Personalized tips for skincare and makeup

03

Personalized Product Recommendations and Tips

•Skincare and Makeup products for each person


•Sort products by user's analyzed skin concerns


•Unique tips for beauty routine for

Research Process

I wanted to learn more about the market as well as understand the needs of people better in order to have a better picture of current gaps and room for improvements. I focused on research methods including surveys, formal interviews, and competitive analysis.

Online survey with 50 respondents

  1. Reliance on the internet for information acquisition

  1. Request for recommendations and better information display

Most people rated their confidence in their knowledge and neutral or low

People rely on the internet and other platforms when conducting their own research on different beauty products and skin concerns

People want to have recommendations that are tailored to their specific needs while also having access to more information when they do their own research

In depth interview with 4 participants

I conducted four interviews via zoom with participants ranging from 20 to 40 years old. The interview questions focused on assessing their knowledge, information acquisition, barriers, and opportunities. This allowed my team to synthesize the findings and understand the gaps in the current beauty market

Analysis of popular beauty websites and apps

I looked at popular websites and apps that offer some features participants have mentioned from both the surveys and interviews. I evaluated their strengths and weaknesses and looked at potential areas for a new mobile application.


  1. Whether the website/app recommends products for individual needs


  2. If there is the capability for skin analysis to identify needs


  3. Does the website/app contain specific description about ingredient use/benefits


  4. If it assists users in building a routine

  1. Overwhelming number of products on the market


    "I think it's just like there are so many products like I have so many choices I can choose from"


  2. Strong focus on individual product research


    "If I do enough research and it looks good, then I'm set on using this and I buy it"


  3. Wanting more guidance on building a routine


    "I wouldn't know how to fit a product into my routine and the product description or the how to like doesn't tell you"


  4. Not knowing how to address their individual skin type/concern


    "I wonder can I safely use this on my skin…and if it actually addresses my skincare needs"

Design Process

My team and I utilized the double diamond process to develop the final prototype. We held multiple design sprints and ideating phases where we brainstormed separately and then came together to make final decisions.

Skin scan result pages


Goal:


•Concise way to display all necessary information

•Focus on visual display


•Simple navigation to learn more

01

In-Depth Skin Scan

Personalized Product Recommendation


Goal:


•Ability to filter based on concern

•Easy to read list of products


•Incorporate makeup, skincare, and other products

Onboarding


Goal:


•Manual input of skin type/concern

•Simple login and start process


•Visual appeal with simple navigation

  • Initial Conceptualization

    •More face angles for scanning


    •User assistance


    •Progress bar if needed

    Iteration 1 of 3

  • Low-Fi Development

    Features

    •More face angles


    •Visual assistance

    Changes Needed

    •Progress bar


    •CTA button


    •Text guide

    Iteration 2 of 3

  • High-Fi Development

    Features

    •Incorporated progress bar


    •Text assistance


    •CTA button to scan


    •Onboarding page

    Iteration 3 of 3

Face Scan Feature Development and Iterations

Conceptualized a face scan feature that is integral to the product functionality and iterated it over time with a focus on the following:

•Assistance of how to scan face


•What angles of the face should be included


•How to make the flow smooth and simple


•Guide users without cluttering the pages

Homepage and Skin Analysis Development

Designed the homepage layout as well as the pages that contain the skin analysis details and focused on these issues:

•Interactive homepage for better user engagement


•Ability to build and customize routine and for tracking


•Simple display of skin analysis details


•Incorporate more information about skin concerns for users who are not familiar


•Typography and color to suit that of a beauty app

  • Low-Fi Development

    Feedback+Changes

    •How to add routine


    •Separation between makeup and skincare routine


    •Make the skincare journal tracking more clear


  • High-Fi Development

    Features

    •Makeup vs skincare routine


    •More personalization in the daily journal


    •CTA with adding a daily face scan


    •Clear separation of information and images/icons


Recommendation Page Development

Focused on creating a page dedicated for personalized product recommendations and beauty tips that would assist and empower users in their beauty routine:

•Categories for both makeup, skincare, and tips


•Ability to sort products based on user's specific concern


•Easy to read layout with all products


•Simple display of images and information

  • Low-Fi Development

    Issues

    •User had to navigate all the way back to change preferences


    •Wanted to add filters while simultaneously browsing


    Iteration 1 of 3

  • Low-Fi Iteration

    Changes

    •Consolidated first page (from initial wireframe) into the recommendation page


    •Filters found on top to allow for usage while browsing


    Iteration 2 of 3

  • High-Fi Design

    Features

    •Filter feature integrated within each page to use while scrolling


    •Simple display of products as well as product information


    •Personalized tips categorized with each skin concern


    Iteration 3 of 3

Next Steps and Reflection

Next Steps

My team and I developed a visually appealing mobile application that we hope would empower users in their approach to their beauty routine and help them feel confident. With that, there are steps to take in the future, even after this project competition

Conduct further usability test with the high-fidelity prototype and watching people from different demographics interact with the app

  1. Usability Test

  1. Discussing with stakeholders

Showcase the project to stakeholders, especially people in the beauty industry and understand how well the app aligns with the work of these companies

What I learned

This was the first time I worked with a beauty related company and created a product for this type of industry which provided many learning opportunities

  1. Understanding a new customer base

I focused heavily on research for this project in order to better understand the beauty market as well as this new user group that I haven't had experience with before

  1. Working with a vague prompt

The beauty industry has so many avenues for innovation which made it difficult to focus on one specific area for our product as my team and I tried to incorporate as many as we could

Connect with me!

Jason | Design Researcher