BeautEase

BeautEase Logo

What it does

BeautEase is an all-in-one platform that bridges the communication gap between beauty customers with disabilities and employees at beauty establishments. Through its user-friendly interface, the platform enables customers to communicate their specific needs, preferences, and disability-related requirements, allowing beauty professionals to better understand and accommodate them.

The application offers a comprehensive solution through three main components: the beauty user side, the employee side, and internal tools.

For beauty customers, the app tailors services based on a quiz determining their specific disabilities. Users can then easily search for BeautEase certified locations and employees trained to provide the necessary accommodations. This ensures a seamless and inclusive experience at the establishment.

Employees have access to a dedicated portal for training on disability accommodations and earning BeautEase certifications. This empowers them to better serve customers of all abilities. Features such as the messaging system and accessibility profiles allow employees to prepare in advance for customer appointments.

The internal tools, including the "pay on the spot" tool, request for help tool, and text-to-speech tool, further enhance communication and accessibility within the beauty establishments, making the overall experience more convenient and inclusive for disabled customers.

How we built it

After conducting user research via surveys, we identified our target audience and created user personas and a user journey map to create the outline / flow of our app. We also accounted for the accessibility design principles and demands of customers with disabilities from research.

In terms of the prototype, we designed BeautEase by creating a comprehensive wireframe of the platform using Figma, ensuring that it meets the needs of our target audience. Our team carefully considered the user experience to create a seamless and accessible experience for both customers and beauty professionals.

Challenges we ran into

During our user research phase, we encountered difficulties in obtaining comprehensive feedback from a diverse range of beauty customers with disabilities. This challenge pushed us to explore alternative research methods and engage with various disability-focused communities to ensure that our solution adequately addresses the real-world challenges faced by our target audience. We had to push outside our comfort zone to find a large number of participants for our surveys.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

As a team of college sophomores with no prior experience in UI/UX design or solution ideation, we are proud of creating a fully-functioning Figma prototype and an impressive pitch deck.

What we learned

Throughout the development of BeautEase, we gained valuable insights into the unique challenges faced by beauty customers with disabilities. Additionally, we acquired new skills in UI/UX design, user research, and wireframing. This project has also deepened our understanding of the importance of accessibility and inclusion in the beauty industry.

What's next for BeautEase

As we move forward with BeautEase, we plan to refine our Figma prototype based on user feedback, expand the platform's features, and explore partnerships with beauty establishments to ensure widespread adoption. We would like to add additional tools as well. Our long-term vision is to transform BeautEase into a fully-developed app, making it the go-to platform for accessible beauty services, fostering a more inclusive environment for all beauty customers, regardless of their abilities. We could potentially expand BeautEase beyond the beauty industry and improve accessibility across all service industries.