Problem Statement
Getting that one hair style, color that makes us say “WOW” is still a dream for many, but why should something soo simple as a haircut and color be soo hard to achieve?
In this project we will be taking about the problems, frustrations, Possible solution and most importantly my design process in problem solving.
Tools I used :
How Serious is the problem
Around 80% of the people feel that a bad haircut can damage their self-esteem.
53% of people dont want to go to the same stylist they had been previously.
Lot of people around 90% want to try out a new style, but do not know which
styles suite them the best.
“ I look awful” is something 40% if the population say after getting their hair done.
Solution for the problem
As users are facing a lot of problems and there is one problem “Users not able to visualize them in different hair styles”, is something that is like a root for all of those problems. So how can we show users different versions of themselves?
Generally when a user visits a stylist they will be seated in front of a mirror, so why can’t we show multiple versions of themselves in the mirror itself? we will talk about how this thing works and and the possibilities.
My Design Process
Discover
User Interviews
User Research
Market Research
Viability Test
Competitor Analysis
Define
User Persona’s
Empathy Mapping
Mental Modeling
Journey Mapping
Story Boarding
Ideate
User Flows
Card Sorting
Information Architecture
White Boarding
Design
​Low-Fed wire frames
High-Fed wire frames
Mood boards
Final designs
Prototyping
Test
​Usability testing
Feedback improvement
Discover phase
Empathizing with the user is something a designer has to do in order to design User-Centered solutions and with few techniques, I was able to empathize the user’s needs, motivations, and pain points.
User Interview's
“ When was the last time you
had visited a salon? and
what for ”
“ When was the last time you
got a hair cut and hair color
done? “
“ Were you satisfied with the
look you had after your hair
cut/color? “
“ Where do you generally get inspiration for your styling and how do you communicate the same with the stylist? “
“ What did you like and do
not like in your last visit? and
be a little bit more in detail “
“ Did you ever used image
filters in Snapchat to try
out new looks?”
“ As a hair stylist what are
the biggest challenges you
had to deal with? “
“ With such a fast paces tech advancements
especially in the areas of AR/VR, what do you
think the future of hair styling look like “
Key Insights from Interviews
80% of the users did not like the styling/coloring they had last time.
Lot of users said that they had very hard time communicating with the stylist on their required hair styling.
When user’s want to try out a new look they define this as “Very Risky”, as they do not know how how they can look like in a totally new look.
The same goes with hair colors, most of the users rely on friends or other people who got their color done recently.
Stylist’s want their customers to have a very good experience, but they have a very hard time to understand the customer needs and educate them on the do’s and do not’s of their hair.
Interview Sessions
Competitor analysis for the product
As this product can be considered as a futuristic, There is not much competition in this space, but there are few products
and patents out there that are closely related to this product, Some of them are:
01.
Wella Professionals Smart Mirror
This is a large brand which is a subsidiary of a bigger organization Coty where they launched the AR Smart mirror for hair salons in 2019 in a science expo and then made trails at a Wella hair salon in London.
Strengths
-
Accurate application of the hair color to the image.
-
Tracking the face geometry of the applicant and recommending colors best on them.
Weakness
-
The thing is not a mirror, it’s a digital screen.
-
The colors they are showing are full on colors like no streaks, e.t.c are not possible.
-
The user experience is not good as mirror is the only touch point for them.
-
Even though it’s a direct competitor it is not offering hair cuts.
Opportunity
-
As our project is primary focused on hair cuts and hair coloring with multiple options the idea stands ahead of the competition.
-
As the experience in this flow is given higest priority I am sure that we will stand ahead.
-
As we are trying to integrate the model with mirror rather than a digital screen, the rendering should be good.
Threats
-
This is a very big cosmetics manufacture and to mimic something which we are about to do is not a hard job for them.
-
Our MVP version should look different than the rest of the end products out there in the market, or we will be crushed.
Related Pictures:
02.
L’Oréal’s Style My Hair App
In 2018 Loreal acquired an AR startup named Modi face through which they have launched a feature called Virtual try on in all their applications, websites and even tried out using a physical mirror’s at few of their physical stores.
Strengths
-
As this is an aquisation of a startup, their technology real time color rendering is pretty accurate.
-
Technology used for tracking the face geometry of the applicant and applying the best makeup styles which the user has choose is pretty 
accurate.
Weakness
-
The usability of the application totally depends upon the camera the person is using on.
-
They are not focusing on hair styling.
Opportunity
-
The idea for me to make this product viable on a physical mirror is different.
-
The flow which they are following is also not an ideal flow with highest user experience.
-
The hair style suggestions they are giving is for whole hair coloring treatments, they are excluding
streaks functionality and in depth color variations.
Threats
-
This is a very big cosmetics manufacture and to mimic something which we are about to do is not
a hard job for them.
-
Our MVP version should look different than the rest of the end products out there in the market, or
we will be crushed.
-
The tracking system they are using is pretty solid and that part can be a potential threat.
Related Pictures:
Define Phase
After discovering the User’s pain points and frustrations, I now defined those data to help me to understand the needs, goals, and behaviors of their target users. I will primary be focusing on User Persona's, Mental models and Story boarding.
User Persona's
01.
For Customer’s
This is ”Captain Costa Rica” like Captain America
“ waiting for that moment where I can walk out from a salon feeling good ”
Age: 25
Location: Austin, Tx
Education: MS degree
Job: Software system’s professional
Goals
-
At times when looking for haircut and goes to a salon I should get what I want and look good.
-
I want to properly communicate with the stylist regarding my needs.
-
When wanting new hair colors, I want to pre-try on how I can look like and see possible colors for me.
-
Getting everything right is crucial,
Frustrations
-
I will not get exactly what I wanted even though I take a reference like a picture.
-
I don’t know which style suits me the best and several options I can choose from.
-
A lot of filter apps doesn’t show accurate results and all variations of colors.
-
I don’t know why but every time I go to a salon I have like a small disappointment.
02.
For Hair Stylist's
This is ”Mr. Marvel” like Mrs. Marvel
“ I want my customers to have the best possible experience when they walk out ”
Age: 37
Location: Austin, Tx
Job: Sr. Professional Hair stylist
Goals
-
Customer experience and satisfaction should always be on top priority.
-
When shows a picture and wanted a similar hair style I try to explain the do’s and cant’s.
-
Always to educate customers when they want a certain color to be applied.
-
To be able to show customers different versions of hair colors.
Frustrations
-
Customers not able to communicate properly what they wanted to us.
-
It’s very hard to always meet the expectations
-
lack of knowledge to customers is a very big issue we are facing.
-
Customers not being very open and will not disclose a lot of information about their hair.
-
Un matched reality as customer’s come in with a reference photo, where that style will not practically be possible on the person.
Empathy Map
01.
For Customer’s
Does
Primary uses Pinterest, Instagram or other social
media platforms for references to show to the Stylists.
Asked friends on their experience of salon visit they
had done recently and visit that stylist.
Goes to a salon, assuming everything will be right.
Says
“ The one wonderful hair cut and color is something I
still am trying to achieve.“
“ It would be great if I can see myself in different
hair styles that can suite me the best. “
“ I need a new hair style as the current style I have is
horrible.”
Thinks
If I can look myself in different hairstyles that can suite me the best, it would be great.
I Hope I would be able to communicate the style I
want to the stylist this time.
What if the treatment I am getting right now, doesn’t
look good on me?
Feels
How can I go to my collage with this haircut, it looks
so awful.
Uncertainty about the haircuts/colors I got is dose this really looks good? maybe other styles can be good.
Why can’t this stylist understand whatever I am trying to say? is something wrong with me?
01.
For Hair Stylist’s
Does
Looks at the references the customers show and
through that they will get an overview.
Suggests different styles if a particular style does not
go good, but sometimes the customers are stuborn.
Tries the best they can to give customers the best
experience possible.
Says
“ I completely understand whatever you are trying to
say, let me do the magic for you. ”
“ What, you need spikes for your curly hair, actually
that style might not suit you the best. “
“ I will make sure that you get that one style which
can make you say AWW.”
Thinks
I don’t know what the F this person is trying to convey. Maybe I think I should just say yes.
Why don’t people research a little bit about their hair
? It would be easier if they do that.
It would be great, if there was a technology that would be able to understand to show possible variations.
Feels
Will the customer be satisfied by the styling they got? What if they were not?
My manager has assigned some sales deadlines, I
am a stylist not a sales man.
Hope the customer comes again.
Story - Boarding
01.
Before AR mirror
Me
Danggg! I think I need a hair cut very badly, last time the hair cut I got is really bad. Let me try a new stylist this time.
Call’s and visits a hair stylist near by
Hair stylist
Hey, How are you doing today, How do you want me to style your hair?
Me
Can I get something that suit’s me the best? I actually have a friends wedding to attend, So I need to look awesome.
Hair stylist
(Ohh shoot, how should I do the styling right now, what if the customer doesn't like it?) Sure I will give you an awesome cut.
After hair cut
Hair stylist
Hey, how did you like this hair style?
Me
(Thinking “I should never come back here again”). I looks Awesome, I am pretty sure that my friends gonna like it. Have a great day.
02.
After AR mirror
Me
Danggg! I think I need a hair cut very badly, last time the hair cut I got is really bad. Let me try a new stylist this time.
Call’s and visits a hair stylist near by
Hair stylist
Hey, How are you doing today, This is a Ar mirror which shows the best styles that suits you, browse through and let me know which one you liked.
Me
Looks like I am finally getting my dream hair cut, I really liked this style can I have this done?
Hair stylist
I too liked this one, you look awesome in this style, let’s start styling now.
After hair cut
Hair stylist
Hey, how did you like this hair style?
Me
You sure are a magician, I look totally cool in this style. I will now make a great look at my friends wedding.
Ideate Phase
As I had Empathized and Defined the problem we are solving, Its time to idea on the best way to solve that problem and through this process I get to understand Goals & Objectives, Identifying User Needs, Creating a Clear Structure, Improving usability and Saving time and resources.
Task Flow's
01.
For Customer's
01.
For Stakeholder's
Design Phase
I had taken all the observations and learnings so far on this project to design a digital experience. The visual design process is a critical aspect of user experience (UX) design because it plays a significant role in shaping how users perceive and interact with a product or service.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
01.
For Customer's
Hair Coloring & E-commerce store
01.
For Stakeholder’s
Final Designs
Getting to know screens
Face Scanning Screens
Face Scanning Screens
Hair Coloring
E-commerce store
Testing Phase
After such a lot of resources being spent so far on the project, It is now the time to test the solution I came up with, so testing which is an essential part of the UX design process as it helps me create products that are more usable, intuitive, and enjoyable for users, which can ultimately lead to greater user satisfaction and increased business success.
Usability Testing
Conducted testing on the solution with 5 different participants including stylists and customers. This is a test in which I had
test In the Usability test I had asked participants the below questions:
Which hair style’s would you like to get in the below one and what makes you choose it?
After choosing a hair style can you proceed to the checkout?
Now, can you add products to your cart after looking at how
useful they can be for you?
Apply hair color to the style and add some medium intensity
to your hair.
Can you add a new customer to the wait-list and delete that
person again?
Outcomes of the test
-
As the interface and experience is totally new, they got a little excited on the interface and also were mostly able to complete the tasks with almost 100% task completion rate.
-
When asked to choose a particular hair style that suits them the best, most of the participants has choose to explore different hair styles that suits them the best and then proceed with the one they think is the best.
-
The stylists were also excited with the project as they could see most of the problems they had to face on a daily bases is solved with this interface.
Testing Scene
“Wow, this is incredible”
“I wish I can use this solution
from tomorrow”
“Finally, a product which
really cares for my hair”
Challenges on way
This started as a start-up idea where I really wanted to start a product out of it, but I had to face a lot of challenges on way, few challenges are:
The hair styling technology is still not that sophisticated to generate accurate styles that are practical.
Rendering is one of the biggest challenge in this system as the models will be high quality 3D models, which will demand high processing speeds.
Cost of the system is also one factor which we had to consider as, the price skyrocket’s after adding up the
Mirror development, Processing systems, Model making and lot more.
Key Take-aways
This project taught me a lot of thing, few learnings and lessons I made during this process are:
-
How hard would it be if a person put lot of efforts into the project and which could not be taken off due to lot of challenges.
-
When user’s say that the solution is awesome and solves their problem, I felt that I achieved something very big.
-
When solving problem using futuristic technology is something I had done for the first time and I learned a lof of concepts and importance of UX concepts used in this project.
