Ulta Lens
Eliminate the hassle of scrolling endlessly to find the perfect makeup product.
ROLE
UX Generalist
STRATEGIES
User research, UX/UI design Prototyping, Usability testing
TEAM
3 UX Generalist
TIMELINE
2-Week Sprint
TOOLS
Figma, Trello, Maze
About the Project
Ulta is a popular beauty store in the United States. With over 1,300 stores located across all fifty states, Ulta has become a staple to many individuals. Ulta is unique because it sells numerous high-end and drugstore brands. The business mission is that beauty is for everyone, and they wish to create an inclusive environment for their customers.
As someone who feels more confident after putting on makeup, I appreciate Ulta for offering really affordable alternatives to luxury brands that are sought out. There used to be a trend on Youtube where influencers would share “the power of makeup.” I remember this being a peak moment for the beauty industry. Influencers started to push confidence with the help of makeup. However, there would be times when influencers would gate-keep products, which was infuriating for many people wanting to recreate their looks. There had to be a way Ulta could help alleviate this stress.
Process Breakdown
Problem
Research
Ideation
Implementation
Conclusion
PROBLEM
So many creators are coming out with looks that people want to create. It’s just really difficult to find what these creators are using, and if found, the products can be priced extremely high. Ulta has yet to come up with a way to help people gain access to similar products that are within budget.
Makeup has helped many people conquer all types of situations. From job interviews to social gatherings, makeup lets people feel good about themselves during these events. With influencers/creators being an outlet for inspiration, more people seek to recreate their looks.
RESEARCH
Survey & Interviews
Our team began by conducting a survey that received thirty-two responses. We needed to see the major deciding factors for why a product was purchased. Therefore, to dive deeper into better understanding our audience, we also performed five one-on-one interviews.
The team's first question set was to determine whether our feature was even necessary. We needed to see if our feature was strong enough for our target audience.
Users stated reviews were the primary deciding factor in whether they would purchase products.
69%
All but one user used mobile apps for shopping. It is easier to browse apps than shop in-store or on an e-commerce platform.
80%
100%
Social media is powerful. Every user interviewed shared they will purchase a product if an influencer says it works well.
With surveys and interviews, we slowly understood users’ pain points. However, the team wanted to unsolve why makeup was so powerful for people. How would this app improve people’s lives? Why was this app so important? We needed to understand the power of makeup to understand why users were hurting by Ulta’s current app.
Therefore the team posted on Facebook asking what does makeup mean to them?
“Makes me feel my best, motivates me to be productive and lets me be creative.”
“Form of creativity that allows the individual or artist to paint themselves their most beautiful self.”
“Makeup is artistry and self expression.”
This is where the team had our epiphany. Makeup was more than just brushing mascara onto eyelashes to darken them; it was powerful. It was a way to promote creativity and self-expression.
We then directed our research into competitors who went up against Ulta in the market. With this information, the team could piece what features are being prioritized. Ulta was not lacking features that were essential to users. What they were missing was a sense of community. Users couldn’t discover what others in the community were doing. There was no room to share growth and how makeup changed their lives with others.
Persona
After analyzing the data and connecting the dots, we acquired insights that assisted us in better understand and illustrating the problem. Based on these insights, the team assembled a persona to envision better the target users' goals, needs, and pain points.
To follow this, my team and I meticulously crafted a journey map to see how users who share a story like Jennifer would approach our new feature. This journey map allowed the team to consistently utilize empathy towards our users while we designed the new feature for Ulta’s IOS app.
Journey Map
Ideation
With the research, the team could draw sketches for the solution to our user needs, which we named Ulta Lens. We knew it was important for users to control what they could discover. Once sketches were completed, we jumped into creating mid-fidelity wireframes.
Explore Feed
No inspiration? That’s okay; users can explore looks through the new feature.
Upload Photo
Have inspiration? Users can upload images saved in their photo album.
Abundant Products
Want more makeup? Once images are uploaded, various similar products have generated that match a user’s budget.
User Testing
The team and I were understanding our problem more, and we knew it was time to send out usability testing. Utilizing the testing tool Maze, which showed us heat maps of where users clicked, we uncovered a few things.
“Tried to type into the search bar. Unsure if this would have been successful.”
Users questioned where the Ulta Lens icons was. It was hard to distinguish the search bar icon from the lens.
When the lens was found, users had no issue uploading and image to generate products. Users found the experience self-explanatory and simple.
“It’s very straightforward.”
Design System
Consistency is key. Ulta is a trendy brand with very distinguishable colors. To maintain consistency with the brand, I made a design system so that our team could closely follow the current app. Our goal wasn’t to redesign but to generate a feature that could be added to enhance the experience for Ulta’s customers.
SOLUTION
We prototyped hi-fidelity wireframes of the fixed pain points users had faced on the original Audwell website. View the prototype below!
Iterations
Since this is a brand-new feature, we assumed that this prototype would be the first-ever introduction of Ulta Lens. Therefore, we want it to gain as much attention as possible. So, we created popups directing the user from each page until they reach the Ulta Landing Page. We also made the popup messages shorter and to the point.
Onboarding
We changed the Ulta Lens color from black to Ulta’s signature pink. We wanted it to stand out and make new users curious about what it was.
Color
CONCLUSIoN
The next step would be to conduct more research on users who solely shopped at Ulta! With this being a 2-week sprint, our team did not have enough time to research people dedicated to Ulta.
This was such an exciting feature, and I want to see if people would use this daily or just for fun. I’m curious to see if this feature would increase sales and if users are comfortable with something new like this. Creating a feature and not redesigning an existing one was a great experience.
You Made It!
Thank you for reading about Ulta Lens!
If you enjoyed this experience, please click below to read about my next project.