The short story
My broke college friends started getting haircuts at a local barber college that charged only 1/4 of the price of a barbershop. When I realized that these visits benefitted both the client and the barber student, I designed a responsive web app that allows college students to get haircuts at nearby barber colleges at a bargain price.
I started out knowing JACK SQUAT about barbering…
So, I visited Bull City Barber College to conduct an ethnographic study. I ended up interviewing barber students, barber college admins, and cold-calling 3 barber colleges to garner more insights on client sourcing, retention, and demographics.
I also interviewed Duke college students to learn more about their barbering experiences.
Role
UX/UI researcher & designer
Timeline
5 months
"I used to refer barbers to my friends before they got expensive..." • Duke student quotes •
"Students just don’t know about the barber college." • Duke student quotes •
"The barber I went to consistently got really expensive after COVID hit." • Duke student quotes •
"I ended up cutting my own hair" • Duke student quotes •
"I used to refer barbers to my friends before they got expensive..." • Duke student quotes • "Students just don’t know about the barber college." • Duke student quotes • "The barber I went to consistently got really expensive after COVID hit." • Duke student quotes • "I ended up cutting my own hair" • Duke student quotes •
How might we
bridge this gap?
Broke college students can’t afford $30+ per month for their barbering needs. On the other hand, barber students need diverse clients in order to log 1500 hours for graduation.
"I advertise my barbering services on IG." • Barber student quotes •
"People come to me through word-of-mouth." • Barber student quotes •
"I struggle with cutting straight hair because I’m not very practiced at it." • Barber student quotes •
"On a slow day, we sometimes find people on the streets who want haircuts." • Barber student quotes •
"I advertise my barbering services on IG." • Barber student quotes • "People come to me through word-of-mouth." • Barber student quotes • "I struggle with cutting straight hair because I’m not very practiced at it." • Barber student quotes • "On a slow day, we sometimes find people on the streets who want haircuts." • Barber student quotes •
My initial solution
I organized my interview findings in assumption trackers and an affinity map. After SWOT analyses of other barber booking apps (GlossGenius and TheCut), I pinpointed my product’s unique niche in the barbering world: barber students.
I set out to design an analogous booking software for broke college students to book individual barber students.
That’s when I hit the first roadblock…
Oops. That’s actually illegal.
Unlicensed barbers in NC are not allowed to practice (nor receive payment for) barbering outside the context of the school.
Should a designer be able to design without legal constraints?
No, especially since I don’t have a legal team. 😅
Thus, I pivoted from designing a platform for barber students to run their independent business to a booking app for barber schools to draw in clientele.
Let’s build this.
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User persona - barber student
Derek needs a way to get more (diverse) clients at his barber college because he needs to log 400 more hours of haircutting in order to graduate and desires to practice on a wide range of hair types.
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User persona - college student
Jake needs a way to get an affordable haircut because he is a broke college student and his home barber is far away.
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User journey map
By identifying pain points, I can pinpoint opportunities for my app to address them along the way.
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User flow
I drafted three user flows from my user journey maps.
Here’s how I translated major user needs into screens
*for simplicity sake, I focused on designing client-facing interfaces.
Putting it to the test
I compiled data from 6 usability tests and drew out
insights to incorporate into my high-fidelity prototype.
Hairstyle filter – drawer or pill?
None of the users used the filter button and opted for the pill filter option, so I removed the drawer filter for simplicity.
BEFORE
AFTER
Connecting a Venmo account
3/6 testers expressed uncertainty that their Venmo accounts were connected successfully, so I added an interaction that takes the user to an external Venmo page and then auto-moves the user to the end of the flow.
BEFORE
AFTER
Did the reservation go through?
Users took a long time to select a carpool time and wasn’t sure when the carpool was confirmed. Therefore, I made more space for the radio buttons and added a confirmation page.
BEFORE
AFTER
