SKINCARE
UX Research | APP CONCEPT DESIGN
THE PROBLEM
As an estimated 100 billion dollar industry with growth expectations compounding at nearly 5% in the next four years, the global skincare industry occupies a large portion of consumer spending habits.
Built to accompany this growing industry, the Skincare app aims to support its users' skin goals through a single, highly usable application interface.
THE PROCESS
THE GOAL
Skincare is an app designed to help users streamline and organize their skincare routine, with the ultimate goal of healthier, happier skin.
Users can compare products, schedule routines, cross check potential negative interactions, and more through a single interface.
my role
I was responsible for ideating and completing all levels of this application including:
Market & User Research
Determining Functional & Content Requirements
Establishing Information Architecture
Constructing Wireframes
Designing Prototypes
Developing Visual Design System
TOOLS UTILIZED
Figma
Lookback.com
Adobe Illustrator
PROCESS & OBSERVATIONS
To determine the full strategy behind the application, market and user research was conducted. This included reading articles and other publications, extensively browsing the App Store and Google Play Store, and interviews were performed.
This allowed me to determine the gaps in the current offerings and afforded the opportunity to make significant user experience improvements to the application in development.
Some applications only offer ‘clean’ beauty products as part of their catalog (which lacks regulatory oversight), some do not offer the ability to add ‘drugstore’ products (which can be perceived as a discriminatory tactic), and many lack a robust scheduling platform to fully accommodate the users needs.
Once the strategy was developed, the scope was then laid out. It was determined that Skincare will feature several avenues to log, explore, and learn about all things skincare. The user will have the opportunity to explore each feature at their own pace. The more they input and interact with the application, the more valuable feedback they will receive. This will come in the form of suggested products and skin progress statistics based on user input data.
The appLICATION WAS THEN DETERMINED TO FEATURE THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS:
A log of user input information including:
Building routines
Determining skin type
Logging products used
Skin progress
App generated information including:
Glossary of common terms
Possible ingredient/product interactions
Quiz component to explore or expand product knowledge
Product catalog
Both the homescreen and the task of creating a routine can be seen in the wireframes below:
FINAL PROTOTYPE
After the wireframing was complete, the final step was to determine the visual look of the application as well as develop the visual language for it. The application took its visual language queues from current design trends while still retaining a highly usable experience and not compromising function for form.
The prototype version of the application varied slightly from the wireframes mostly in regards to layout and a few distinct features, specifically the ‘back’ arrow provided. There were also some spacing inconsistencies that were resolved.
VISUAL DESIGN SYSTEM
The creation of the visual design system was critical as so much of the application had yet to be developed. For future build-outs, it was important to establish a strict design system to ensure that the robust application felt cohesive through every step and iteration.
Lessons LearneD & Next Steps
Looking towards the future for Skincare, ideally the next steps would be to continue the build-out of the application through all necessary pages and user paths.
Following the completion of the remaining application pages and sections, prototype testing would be the logical next step in improving the efficiency and usability of the proposed application prototypes. Finding real users would be critical to provide accurate insight on future improvements.
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