Prototype 1: CosmeChat Website
Our prototype is a website that we created through Wix. Through this website, users will be able to interact with blog posts, take skin care tests, and be a part of a cohesive community with other like-minded people wanting to take care of their skin and provide others with recommendations. The two biggest features we currently have on our website are the skin type test and the discussion forum post. The skin type test gives new users a chance to determine their skin type and get matched within a certain community. Our discussion forum post, enables users to post a description about an issue that is concerning them and receive feedback/advice from other users on what they think the user should do.
Feature 1: Skin Testing
Our website allows users to enter their skin types directly or test their skin types. They could test either by answering a series of skin type related questions or taking a clear selfie of their front faces.
Feature 2: Product Recommendations
Our website recommends several suitable cosmetic products to users based on their skin types. This could reduce the possibility of users having some skin problems due to purchasing or using cosmetics that don’t fit them.
Feature 3: Expiration Date Reminder
Our website allows users to enter the expiration dates of their cosmetic products by scanning the batch code or typing the code number manually. Then it will remind users to use their cosmetic products several months/weeks/days before their expiration dates by pop-ups.
Feature 4: Product Reviews/Ratings
Our website enables users to search for the cosmetic products they want to know more about by looking at others’ reviews in the discussions forum. Also, users could post reviews and ratings to cosmetic products they have used before.
Feature 5: Discussions Forum
Users are able to scroll through their friends list or discovery page to engage with reviews. Our website allows users to sort through reviews searching by price, brand, and top-rated reviewers.
Feature 6: Redeeming Rewards
Users of our website can refer their friends and get rewards such as cosmetic products coupons and free samples. Monetary incentives have a positive effect on repeating user behavior and encouraging social interaction.
Feedback
1
Likelihood to use or recommend
On a scale of 1(least likely) to 5(most likely), 10 users respond to our questionnaire. 8/10 users rate 3 and above.
2
How helpful we encourage collaboration
On a scale of 1(least helpful) to 5(most helpful), 10 users respond to our questionnaire. 9/10 users rate 3 and above.
3
How helpful we improve cosmetics using experience
On a scale of 1(least helpful) to 5(most helpful), 10 users respond to our questionnaire. 8/10 users rate 3 and above.
Pros
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All users think it was easy to interact with our prototype (10/10).
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Our prototype fit the majority of users’ expectations towards a live collaborative makeup session (9/10).
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Users were not able to publish blog posts.
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Our prototype is not very unique or socially interactive.
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Some features are similar to those of other cosmetic apps.
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The degree of enhancing people’s interaction with others are low.
Cons
What We Learned
Users think that our first prototype (website) contained too many tabs which made it difficult to navigate. It was confusing to use since they had to click and try out many tabs during our brief prototype testing session. They also expressed that it was not novel enough since they have seen other makeup websites with forums, blogs, and skincare testing. Additionally, we received input that it lacked interaction because it only contained commenting on blogs or the forum.
We learned the challenges that users encountered and wanted to address it for our second prototype. We had many goals and aspirations for our website, but we forgot to stand in our users' perspectives. Since we had a limited time to present and have participants try the prototype, it was challenging for them to learn and understand at such a short time.
Moreover, we noticed that some users did not fully engage with the website because of confusion or limited access. We learned that the blog post feature was locked for new members and some participants were unsure of where to go to participate. We received many valuable input and decided to tackle as much of these issues as possible in our second prototype to ensure it meets all those requirements.
What We Changed
After taking into account of what issues our users encountered we decided to:
Scrap the Website
We decided to change the website idea and dive into a new route to provide more novelty and interaction for our users.
Easier Format
The new prototype will be on one page and participants only need to follow the step-by-step instructions with examples included.
Build a New Prototype
We decided to create a live makeup session where people can meetup and collaborate to design makeup looks together.
More Fun, Less Work
Since our first protoype was confusing and seemed like a task to do, we decided to make the second prototype as fun and interesting as we can so users can enjoy it!
Increase Interactive Opportunities
Users are able to comment on figjam to ask their group about different products and speak about what they want.
Novelty
The live makeup session is more novel than the website because it allows iterative feedback in real time and participants have the same goal in mind.