Creating a social platform to connect the beauty and fashion community with industry-tailored content sharing, consumption and creation
This solo student project was completed as part of the Google UX Design Certificate. My assigned prompt was to "Design a website for viewing fashion and beauty tutorials". I acted as the sole UX researcher and designer for this project.
The digital beauty and fashion community lack a meaningful home to consume and/or create content.
Our goal was to create a social space for beauty and fashion content creators and users to share, interact and shop products they love.
A social platform built for the beauty and fashion community.
Photos, Videos, Albums (Accommodating Multiple Display Sizes).
Every content upload process includes the ability to add direct product links. Link cards are displayed below the description box on a post.
Allowing users to create counter and closet collections on their profiles using products.
Easy access to compensation on product sales driven from your profile.
I firstly wanted to identify digital spaces that currently house tutorials... I found they were used as selling assistants on e-commerce platforms, they were produced content across blogs and magazines, but ultimately they are most accessible, produced and consumed across social media platforms.
Beauty and fashion tutorials usually consist of a mix between product-sharing content and creator talent. Content creators often review new products, compare brands and put together complete looks. The most important and exciting information in these videos are the products being shared. A user can easily learn the technique through observation, but through these videos, are compelled to purchase the exact products to achieve the presented look.
When I began to analyze products directed to these communities, I found that most essentially acted as assistants to influencers to further monetize their platforms, so simple versions of CRMs to manage, track and apply to partnerships, sponsorships and review insights. Two competitor platforms that stood out were Shopstyle and LIKEtoKNOW.it.
The platform, LIKEtoKNOW.it challenges this format, as it allows for shoppable products and affiliate links through posts. However, currently the platform is limited and has been criticized for its non-inclusive membership guidelines, citing aesthetic, established and professional influencers only. Leaving out the idea of the “casual influencer”, which we see becoming more apparent on social platforms such as TikTok.
To begin my user research, I surveyed 20 Canadian individuals between the ages of 15 and 55 with at least a self-proclaimed "moderate-level" interest in beauty and fashion.
Through affinity mapping results of the survey, three major themes presented themselves...
"As a beauty lover, I am looking to be presented with new fashion, new products and tutorials all in one space so that I can stay up to date with the latest beauty and fashion trends and satisfy my personal passions and expressions"
Learn more tips and tricks in detail without having to spend too much time learning, Intuitively be presented with new trends and tutorials without needing to search, Be able to save products and purchase on demand, Be presented with different mediums of beauty and fashion content
"Sometimes, posts are missing product information. How am I supposed to follow the tutorial if I don’t know what products they are using", "With so many tutorials featuring sponsored products, I sometimes question an influencers opinion", "In the fashion and beauty tutorial world, platforms are often media-type specific, to view a short video I go to Tiktok, for something more in depth, I'm directed to Youtube and for Images, I either search Instagram or Pinterest"
Ava is a small business owner, producing and selling her own organic candles. Her passion for her business consumes most of the time in her days. But as a fashionable and beauty-loving young woman, getting dressed in the morning and sporting a makeup look help motivate her and help her feel confident. She often seeks to keep up with the latest trends and products. In the last 10 years, Youtube has always been her go-to for tutorials. In more recent years however, Tiktok has dominated in output of beauty and fashion content. Not only has Ava had to learn a new platform, but the short videos and limited text descriptions often leave her with questions, or sometimes, confusion on the name and purpose of the product entirely.
"As a fashion influencer, I am looking to produce more content at a higher quality level, so that I can grow a larger and more loyal following"
Make money off of sharing and influencing the purchase of any product, Keep audience happy, satisfied and entertained, Grow a genuine and loyal audience, Have fun and demonstrate my creativity across multiple mediums, Be as transparent as possible with my audience in the details of my content
"Sometimes, In order to make a living and pay my bills, I share a product or brand to my audience that I don't fully support", "If I fail to tag an item in the description box, I end up receiving backlash for deception", "I'm constantly engaging with my audience trying to figure out which platform they prefer. I only have so many hours in the day and can only produce so much content"
Maeve's social presence began at the age of 14 when she started posting fashion videos on YouTube. She later created an instagram and most recently a TikTok. Currently she produces content across three platforms reaching an audience of over 1 million total combined followers. Maeve has always been passionate about sustainable fashion and getting the look for less. She loves showing her audience how they can take ordinary items in their closet and turn it into something show-stopping. Over the years she has partnered with brands like Aritzia and Oak+Fort and she hopes to launch her own fashion brand in the near future.
Before jumping into design I was able to create three main "How Might We" questions as directives to driving solutions for the social platform...
This terminology was created to provide division between beauty and fashion products while also being inclusive to additional products that would otherwise not be considered under theses terms. For example, deodorant, it is not necessarily a beauty product but is a hygienic product that is beneficial to general wellness and can be found on your counter at home.
Throughout the design process, Glamgram underwent 4 major design improvements based on peer feedback.
The final prototype was created using Adobe XD.
The final version of the stylesheet to influence and implement on future pages.
Glamgram is a project that I am super proud of. Throughout the process I became more and more passionate about the needs of users and constantly iterated on my designs based on feedback. Reflecting on my experience, there are three major points I would like to identify...
Given the 8 week time period assigned for this project, I think it would have been a better use of time to narrow my scope by exploring one "How Might We..." design prompt. Though I am so proud of the work that I completed, I believe that in an actual design scenario, a version 1 roll-out of a product wouldn't include all of the features and designs created from three design prompts, especially with a budget to consider. I also think it would have allowed for more focus on nailing features for specific user needs.
For this specific project, I was assigned to create a website. But as I was embarking on this design journey, it became apparent that the appropriate platform for this product would be a mobile app, especially to fully satisfy my persona Ava.
If I had more time, I would have loved to create an additional research study for an "established" influencer. These individuals are celebrities within the community and it is extremely important to ensure that their needs are met with Glamgram, because after all they are influencers... and if they are using the platform, than there is a better chance for their audience to jump in. Although a persona was created to satisfy this type, more in-depth exploration is required to achieve a better experience.
