PROJECT #4
Swatchcandy
COMBATING RACIAL BIASES IN THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY
Combating racial biases in the beauty industry
SCOPE
MY ROLE
User research
Product Design
Product & Brand Development
Design Lead, Product Lead
Planned and conducted user research activities
Owned product ideation and design activities
Created all brand and marketing materials
Managed development team to create MVP
COLLABORATORS
AI Engineer
Data Scientist
INITIAL PROBLEM DISCOVERY
People of color feel left out of the beauty industry
Racial biases exist both in store and online
There’s a lack of trustworthy resources available online when shopping for beauty products
78% don’t believe there is representation in brands or companies that are owned by and made for people of color.
65% think stores fail to deliver an equally-distributed assortment of products catering to different shoppers’ tastes and preferences.
INITIAL PROBLEM DISCOVERY
Pain points across all phases of the shopping experience
Discovery: Lack of representation on social media
Targeted Research: Exclusively negative reviews by people of color
Decisioning: Inaccurate representations of products on brand/retailer websites
RESEARCH: USER INTERVIEWS
Discovering Shopper Priorities
The number one thing that stops me from following through on purchases is not knowing if the product will look good on me.”
— Beauty customer
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👩🏼 👦🏻 🧑🏽🦲 🧑🏼🦰
1
PRICE
2
COLOR
3
SOCIAL MEDIA REVIEWS
4
PRODUCT INGREDIENTS
5
TEXT REVIEWS
Challenge
CHALLENGE #1:
Consumers are constantly disappointed when they try on products that were falsely or not at all represented on people that look like them.
CHALLENGE #2:
Modern makeup brands must earn back their customers’ trust by taking on the social responsibility of ensuring that inclusivity isn't an afterthought, but an intrinsic aspect of their brand.
PLANNING: INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Facilitating seamless decision making
Where in the user journey will the solution fit best to empower users and instill confidence in purchasing decisions in a non-invasive way?
STRATEGY
User centric is business centric
Leading brands that help customers make beauty purchasing decisions prioritize speed of adoption and winning marketing tactics over authenticity and accuracy.
ITERATION #1-#4
Embodying beauty without bias
Putting underrepresented users first
Approaching inclusivity from a new perspective
Customized virtual stores
Pairing recommendations
Curated social media reviews
Realistic virtual try-ons
TESTING
Shaping a realistic path forward
How do we create a unique solution that is both easily scalable and valuable to consumers?
Experimenting with proprietary data
Building diffusion models to redefine virtual try-ons
Utilizing OpenAI’s API to generate custom recommendations
SOLUTION
Using AI to find the perfect shade for anyone
Swatchcandy provides makeup consumers with a trustworthy tool hosted on e-commerce sites that seamlessly transfers true color and texture detail to any skin tone and gives shade recommendations in a matter of seconds. Swatchcandy establishes trust between beauty brands and new & returning customers, making it a catalyst for brand loyalty and unmatched customer satisfaction.
Insert Your Design Here
Macbook Pro
SOLUTION
Building a Brand
Our technology is proven to be 72% more accurate than leading competitors
Leading with social and environmental impact paired with higher conversions and lower returns drives high adoption
Outcomes
Press
Competition Wins
Customer Interest &
Recurring Revenue
