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WeCare: Help women find the best haircare routine

Summary

Our study explores women’s haircare experiences and the pain points users encounter. Gain insights through user research and the design process to identify potential opportunities for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of haircare routines.

  1. Literature Review & Observation

  • Through concept map and domain survey, we find out that haircare is a key aspect of daily bathroom grooming and holds one of the largest shares in the global beauty market, second only to skincare.

  • The grooming gap refers to societal expectations on women’s grooming, affecting the time they spend and its impact on their lives. For the average woman, it results in a loss of 55 minutes of free time daily, equivalent to two full weeks each year.

  • Through role play, we discovered the complex emotions women experience during hair care: feeling relaxed and refreshed, but also finding it tedious and troublesome at times.

Hypothesis -> Women would like to figure out a more efficient and effective way to do their haircare.

  1. Survey & User Interviews & Findings

We conducted a survey to gain deeper insights into women’s hair care experiences:

Time-consuming is the biggest pain point

Untangling hair and finding the right products are the most challenging aspects

78.9% of respondents would like to figure out an efficient and effective way to care for their hair

Untangling hair and finding the right products are the most challenging aspects

78.9% of respondents would like to figure out an efficient and effective way to care for their hair

We interviewed 6 participants from diverse cultural backgrounds and age groups, understand the decision-making process and challenges encountered in cleaning, caring, and styling by asking users about their daily care routines.

Key Findings

- Identifying and classifying hair types with a guide enables users to personalize their hair care routines.
- Cleaning takes higher priority than styling.

  1. CoDesign

Objective: Dive deep into the initial insights we gain from interview and refine them, leading to a more practical product opportunity gap

- Does knowing their hair type help users personalize a better routine?
- How does a user’s hair care routine change when they have different time constraints.

Tool: The 12 hair types list, hair products, time slot cards

Participant Tasks:

  1. Participants first identify their hair type on the 1a to 4c scale, then review caring suggestions from the internet and provide feedback on whether they agree or disagree.

  2. Participants demonstrate their typical hair care routine when given unlimited time, followed by scenarios where their time is restricted.

  1. Persona & Journey Map

  1. Insight & Product Opportunity Gap

Insight 01.

It's an iterative process for women to refine their understanding of their hair type and care routine through trial and error, driven by uncertainty about what the “best” hair care truly is.

Users with the same hair type have varying routines and products due to detailed individual differences, such as oily scalp, dandruff, or hair loss, which also change over time.
Our interviewees already had a clear understanding of their hair types and a wealth of personal experience with their routines.

POG: Compress the iterative cycle by reducing both time and cost

Buying a new haircare product can be expensive. People tend to spend time researching before purchasing. If the product doesn't work, it results in wasted time and money.

Solution: AI-based hair type identification and tailored product trials

Users upload a photo for instant AI-based hair type identification and can specify special needs based on their current hair condition. They then receive tailored trial product suggestions to achieve their desired outcomes. If a product isn’t effective, they can refine their care plan with new trials. By offering small-size packages, we reduce the trial-and-error process and help users quickly find effective solutions.

Solution: AI-based hair type identification and tailored product trials

Users upload a photo for instant AI-based hair type identification and can specify special needs based on their current hair condition. They then receive tailored trial product suggestions to achieve their desired outcomes. If a product isn’t effective, they can refine their care plan with new trials. By offering small-size packages, we reduce the trial-and-error process and help users quickly find effective solutions.

Insight 02.

After learning their hair type, users often add more steps for optimizing the care process, which contradicts expectations of a more efficient haircare routine.

POG: Balance the efficiency and effectiveness of haircare

By providing solutions that streamline routines without compromising results, we can help users achieve better haircare outcomes while maintaining simplicity.

Solution: “All-in-one” haircare: solving multiple issues with fewer products

Offer flexible ingredient options to address multiple issues at once, allowing users to achieve great results with fewer products, balancing efficiency and effectiveness. For example, a personalized shampoo that provides hydration or volume boost, reducing the need for multiple products.

Our hypothesis is that “Women want a more efficient and effective way to manage their haircare.” However, from our co-design session, we found that efficiency and effectiveness often conflict when users try to improve their haircare. They tend to believe that using more products will solve more problems, such as reducing frizz and increasing smoothness.

POG: Balance the efficiency and effectiveness of haircare

By providing solutions that streamline routines without compromising results, we can help users achieve better haircare outcomes while maintaining simplicity.

Solution: “All-in-one” haircare: solving multiple issues with fewer products

Offer flexible ingredient options to address multiple issues at once, allowing users to achieve great results with fewer products, balancing efficiency and effectiveness. For example, a personalized shampoo that provides hydration or volume boost, reducing the need for multiple products.

POG: Balance the efficiency and effectiveness of haircare

By providing solutions that streamline routines without compromising results, we can help users achieve better haircare outcomes while maintaining simplicity.

Solution: “All-in-one” haircare: solving multiple issues with fewer products

Offer flexible ingredient options to address multiple issues at once, allowing users to achieve great results with fewer products, balancing efficiency and effectiveness. For example, a personalized shampoo that provides hydration or volume boost, reducing the need for multiple products.

Insight 03.

With limited time, cleaning takes priority over styling. Users enjoy the confidence and comfort that comes from feeling clean.

From our co-design session where we set a time limit, such as “You only have 15 minutes for haircare now,” we found that users tend to cut down on styling steps first and only later consider skipping hair washing. This suggests that cleanliness takes priority over styling, as women value the confidence and comfort that come from feeling clean.

POG: Time-efficient haircare solutions prioritizing cleanliness

Products that incorporate styling functions into cleaning products are useful when time is limited. While they may not achieve the same results as using separate styling tools and products, they do help users achieve mild styling effectiveness.

Solution:
Shower-to-Go: Water-free haircare products for quick cleaning and light styling

Create a hair care line designed for users on the move—specifically targeting those who value cleanliness but have limited time. The line could include portable, easy-to-use wipes or dry shampoo that clean and refresh hair quickly anytime and anywhere while also giving it a light style and fragrance boost to improve self-confidence.

POG: Time-efficient haircare solutions prioritizing cleanliness

Products that incorporate styling functions into cleaning products are useful when time is limited. While they may not achieve the same results as using separate styling tools and products, they do help users achieve mild styling effectiveness.

Solution:
Shower-to-Go: Water-free haircare products for quick cleaning and light styling

Create a hair care line designed for users on the move—specifically targeting those who value cleanliness but have limited time. The line could include portable, easy-to-use wipes or dry shampoo that clean and refresh hair quickly anytime and anywhere while also giving it a light style and fragrance boost to improve self-confidence.

POG: Time-efficient haircare solutions prioritizing cleanliness

Products that incorporate styling functions into cleaning products are useful when time is limited. While they may not achieve the same results as using separate styling tools and products, they do help users achieve mild styling effectiveness.

Solution:
Shower-to-Go: Water-free haircare products for quick cleaning and light styling

Create a hair care line designed for users on the move—specifically targeting those who value cleanliness but have limited time. The line could include portable, easy-to-use wipes or dry shampoo that clean and refresh hair quickly anytime and anywhere while also giving it a light style and fragrance boost to improve self-confidence.

02
Employ Search Bar and Sorting

  • Users can directly find case studies using specific keywords

  • By default, case studies are sorted from newest to oldest, catering to preferences for the latest updates

03
Implement Directory

  • All cases have been tagged with at least one label for users to filter

  • Improve usability for users to explore cases based on industry and tech category

  • Allows new users, who may be unsure of what to look for, to navigate easily

Longer Loading
Time

It took about 30 seconds to load the video cases, which created a poor experience for visitors.

Categorization
Deficiency

The lack of proper categorization on the page had made it overwhelming and difficult to navigate, which made users to struggle in finding specific information.

Visitor
Engagement
Challenge

New visitors tended to lose interest quickly as they had to scroll through a huge amount of content.

Cases
Scattered Across
Different Pages

One dedicated to videos and another for articles. Additionally, our Podcast, representing a new type of case study, was set to be released soon.

We discovered Directory, an independent AWS platform designed for storing and managing structured content. It offers tagging for categorization, enabling users to easily filter content, making it a viable solution for restructuring our information architecture.

  1. New Design v.s. Old Design

The original case study page was overwhelmed with video interviews…

  1. User Feedback

External Customers

  • Much easier to navigate and find a specific case

  • Willing to explore more cases

Internal Teams

  • Much easier to find and share a specific case

  • Can add (or remove) new cases more efficently

  • Has become a prime example of a page for requesting case studies from customers, minimizing the need for explanations

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