CHALLENGE:

Identify areas of opportunity for improvement in the application.

METHODS: Cognitive Walkthrough | Contexual Inquiry | Low-fidelity Prototype | Interactive Prototype

TOOLS: Sketch | Invision

The Challenge

 Searching for the right hair stylist, nail tech, aesthetician or other beauty industry professional can prove to be a challenge. People have their own unique style, preferences and price points, so in order to find the right match, many just call around and hope they happen to find a good fit.

Knowing there must be an easier way, a Twin Cities beauty industry professional created TopKnott - a service that connects clients with beauty professionals. Potential clients can see photos of recent work, learn about various types of services, a bit about their personality and style, price range, location and also read reviews.  All of this facilitates clients finding the right match, and hopefully a “forever stylist”.

Although TopKnott was pleased with the initial launch of the app, they desired more feedback to identify opportunities for improvement.

The Approach

With this in mind, each member of our team conducted a Cognitive Walkthrough of the application to discover any usability concerns.  We also held Contextual Inquiries with several current beauty industry professionals. The goal was to gain insights into stylists’:

• Priorities when interacting with clients

• Current client acquisition model

• Perception of how the TopKnott tool would affect their business model.

Research & Findings

The walkthrough of the app found a few places where the on boarding process could be improved. The page to add services was not clearly laid out to inform a stylist that more than one service should be selected before submitting. However, this could be addressed with an “add more services” button. Additionally, the My Messages page is not populated when someone on-boards, however exactly how their messaging system operates was not well explained. This pain-point, along with others, could be eased with the addition of an On-boarding Tutorial to help a new user navigate and understand the app features.

Our interviews with beauty professionals, yielded some valuable insights. Stylists are busy people but they enjoy what they do; making people happy. They want a client to feel fabulous about their style when they leave the salon, AND also feel happy with the personal interaction they had with the stylist.  Creating good rapport with a client is highly related to client retention. Part of creating this rapport is remembering details about client; what they like to drink, what is going on in their personal life, etc.  Usually remembering these details is left to the stylists own recollection, which can be difficult months later at the return visit. Also, stylists ask clients to let them know if there is anything they discover that needs tweaking with their cut/color in the following days. Sometimes they call or email to follow up, but mentioned they don’t always have that contact information in a handy place.

 In addition to keeping current clients happy, beauty professionals need to attract new clients as well.  As the creator of TopKnott learned, this isn’t always easy. Mostly it’s done via word of mouth, but many think they are missing out on a larger pool of potential clients. 

When our research stylists were introduced to the TopKnott app they were impressed with the premise of connecting stylists with new clients. They enjoyed the clean look and the fact it was mobile friendly, as they primarily use mobile devices while working. They liked the fact they could post photos of their work, and tell a bit about themselves. It seemed good for the initial connection of stylist and client, but was missing a way to keep that connection going.

Recommendations & Prototype

After concluding our research, I recommended some enhancements to the application, including UI changes to the Add Services page and the addition of an on-boarding tutorial to assist a new stylist when joining TopKnott. 

Additionally, I recommended a feature that would make TopKnott not only useful for finding new clients, but retaining them as well; My Client Notes. This offers a space within the app for a beauty professional to

• enter basic contact information

• the date of last service

• what service was performed

• personal notes about the client 

  Now stylists don’t have to rely only on their own recollection but can quickly refer back to in app notes, helping them recall personal information to reconnect with returning clients, and continue the rapport needed for client retention. 

See prototype here.

Final Thoughts

As TopKnott endeavors to connect beauty professionals with clients, with the goal of finding a “forever stylist”, I hope the addition of My Client Notes will help stylists in retaining “forever clients”.