Case study:
Access to Beauty
An increasing number of men are leaning towards looking well-groomed & drawing greater self-confidence from looking good.
The modern man is taking a keen interest in caring for his skin.
Statista pegs the estimated size of the global male grooming market to be worth about US$ 29.14 billion by 2024 revealing the potential the industry holds as well as the rising global demand.
The increased exposure brought on by the age of social media plays a significant role in consumers putting more stock in looking good at all times. Men are becoming more aware of self-grooming, body image and hygiene.
The problem:
How can we improve the experience for & the demand from – male clients wanting traditionally female beauty services?
I was asked by a local beauty salon to work on increasing their client base with a focus on reaching a more diverse range of clients. Recent research shows that the demand for beauty services from male clients is rapidly growing.
First, I ran a quick solo assumption dump workshop, I spent 30 minutes getting all my immediate assumptions down on post it notes. This gave me focus on what to look for when observing, experiencing and interviewing.
What I did:
​
-
Step One: Contextual observations >
​
-
Step Two: Experienced the service >
​
-
Step Three: Conducted user interviews >
​
-
Step Four: Created journey maps >
​
-
Step Five: Crafted moments that matter >
​
-
Step Six: Ran ideation sessions >
​
-
Step Seven: Prototyped & blueprints >
Step One: Observations...
Next, I Observed & documented local beauty salons & services.
​
-
Document perception of salon / service store-fronts
​
-
Perception of all client touch points (website, email, phone)
​
-
Observe staff (client greeting, before, during & after service)
​
-
Observe clients (before & after service)
Step Two: Experience the service...
The best way to understand how the service feels is to experience the service yourself. Put yourself in the shoes of the people you are trying to improve for. So some of the things I did were:
​
-
Visit salon and ask staff about services offered
​
-
Book a treatment online
​
-
Call to re-arrange appointment
​
-
Attend treatment
​
-
Buy product (aftercare)
Step Three: Talk to them...
After experiencing the service, I set up some quick 15 minute interviews. The goal was to understand the perception of men taking part in beauty services. I talked with:
-
Female clients
​
-
Male clients
​
-
Traditional men (non-clients)
​
-
Staff
​
-
Business owners
​
-
Salon product suppliers
Step Four: Journey map...
Next, I mapped the journey looking at the service before, during and after. Using the data from my observations, service experience and interviews I created a service blue print.
Current service journey map, emotion line & experience notes
Step Five: Moments that matter...
With the journey mapped, I crafted some moments that matter to help get stakeholders aligned and focused on the problems to solve.
Bringing moments that matter to life
I then generated some questions around each moment to take into ideation stages of the project. These are a few of the questions created:
​
-
How might we … make male customers feel that this service is for them?
​
-
How might we … Improve the salon experience to attract a more diverse client base?
​
-
How might we … tackle discrimination / stereotyping?
Step Six: Ideas time...
Keeping the moments that matter and the questions created around them in mind. I ran several ideation sessions.
​
To keep the participants thinking I generated a list of extreme prompts and restraints and used them randomly during sessions.
What’s the slowest/fastest way that we could deliver this moment?
​
What’s the most dangerous, or absurd?
​
What could we do if we only had £10? or if we had £10,000,000?
​
What would happen if we combined this service with _____(completely unrelated service)?
​
What would this moment be like if it were all digital?
​
What if it were done only in person? Or over the phone?
​
What if we removed certain elements of the space?
Remember:
Diverge, Converge, Prototype,
share & repeat
Step Seven: Prototype your moments...
Once I had diverged and converged a few times with participants from the ideation sessions it was time to prototype the new moments. For this project the budget was tight, so I opted for a storyboard for the first prototype. This allowed me to test out the ideas and get quick, valuable feedback in a very low-cost way.
Storyboard prototype for a new improved moment
I recruited participants for some usability sessions, all paper-based, I played the computer. The participant pressed the screen and I manually changed it to the next screen.
​
As with all projects the diverge, converge, prototype and test stages were repeated several times. The potential solutions were then turned into moment that matters blueprints and shared with stakeholders.
One of the projects moments that matter service blueprints
Why not read Service Design – Journey Mapping >