By Will Cai, Cindy Xu, and Hansen Yi

Table of Contents

Introduction

Ready to improve your skincare routine? Introducing Clearly, an innovative mobile application designed to be your ultimate skincare companion. Our app is an all-in-one, intuitive skincare solution, that allows users to track their skin’s progress over time, organize their routines, and gain personalized insights and suggestions to achieve their skincare goals. Whether you're a skincare novice or a seasoned skincare enthusiast, Clearly simplifies your skincare journey, making it easy and enjoyable.

Motivation

Our motivation behind creating Clearly stems from recognizing the complex and often confusing world of skincare. In a market overflowing with products, each with different ingredients and claims, skincare consumers can find it difficult to understand which products are best suited for their unique skin needs. Dermatologists can be pricy and not everyone has the time, resources, or means to consistently seek out professional advice for their own skin. Furthermore, tracking the effect of various skincare products on one's skin condition over time can be a challenging task without the proper support or tools. We wanted to simplify this process and provide a personalized approach to skincare. By developing "Clearly", we aimed to empower users with knowledge about their skin and the products they use, ultimately helping them make more informed decisions in their skincare journey.

Our Approach

We began the design process by conducting user interviews to synthesize pain points and user needs of skincare consumers with varying experience levels. Through our user research, our team recognized a strong need for a personalized skincare solution, to level the playing field and provide all skincare consumers with the right resources to achieve their skincare goals. Based on the insights received, our team then iterated through several designs and prototypes, from wireframe sketches to high-fidelity Figma prototypes before landing on our final interactive prototype design.

Throughout the entire process, our team heavily relied on usability testing and user feedback to refine our interface and design a visually appealing, innovative, and multi-purpose solution. Overall, our prospective users love Clearly for:

  1. its clean and beginner-friendly UI/UX
  2. innovative and helpful features for tracking skin and organizing routines
  3. personalized, data-driven insights and suggestions

The Design Process

Stage 1: Need-finding

The first step in our design process was to define an apparent problem in the skincare space that could be addressed with a digital solution, by conducting formative user research. We initially conducted three user interviews with skincare consumers to more about their needs and pain points so we could design some preliminary solutions. The three individuals we interviewed were:

Interviewer A:

Interviewer B:

Interviewer C:

Interview Questions

Here were some of the questions asked during user interviews, consisting of both broad research questions to learn more about skincare consumers’ habits as well as specific interview questions:

  1. How long have you been following a skincare routine?
  2. What motivated you to start a skincare routine?
  3. What are your primary skincare goals or concerns?
  4. Ideally, how often do you do your skincare routine? Are you consistent with your ideal routine?
  5. Have you used any skincare apps or tools before? If yes, tell me about a recent time you used one:
    1. What kind of features did you like? Which features could be improved?
    2. How did you use the skincare app/tool in your routine? Walk me through how you used it.
    3. If the respondent hasn’t used any tools, ask: Is there a reason you’ve never used skincare apps or tools before?
  6. Walk me through the last time you used new products with your skin. Did you have any challenges with tracking how the product affected your skin?
  7. How long does it take for you to track whether products are effective?
  8. Do you assess your skin's condition often? If so, how often (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly)?
  9. Do you have any specific aspects of your skin you like to track (i.e. acne, hydration, redness)?

Interview Findings and Key Takeaways

Respondent One: Has been practicing skincare since her teenage years, focusing on maintaining healthy skin and good complexion. She chooses skincare products based on ingredients, scientific evidence, and reviews, and uses a skincare app for tracking skin changes. She assesses her skin daily and gauges product effectiveness by observing changes in skin texture and tone.

Respondent Two: Has focused on her routine for three years to address oily, sensitive skin and acne. Influenced by Korean beauty trends, she relies on TikTok for product recommendations, particularly valuing ingredients suitable for sensitive skin. She evaluates new products over two weeks, focusing on acne, redness, and hydration.

Respondent Three: Has started his routine to manage acne. He learns about products from friends and online platforms, prioritizing ingredients and affordability. He tracks acne and skin irritation but finds it challenging to determine the exact effectiveness timeframe of new products, recently experiencing increased acne with a new oil cleanser.

Key Takeaways: