GloMirror
Overview
Approach: Goal-Directed-Design
Team: 5 members
Tools: Figma, FigJam
Idea: GloMirror, a smart mirror that assists with your beauty needs.
Role: UX Designer
Duration: 13 weeks
GloMirror is a prototype of a smart mirror that caters to a user's makeup and skincare routines. It offers a range of features, including makeup assistance, skin care analysis, skin tracking, lighting control, tracking, and color matching. Our team created this prototype as part of the Capstone class at Kennesaw State University, with me and three other team members. The development of GloMirror followed the Goal Directed Design methodology.
Introduction
I was 14 when I first started applying makeup; however, truth be told, I had no idea what I was doing. Eventually, with tons of research via YouTube videos and articles, along with tons of practice, I slowly got better over time. Throughout the learning process, I wished for more interactive and hands-on help.
So, when we were tasked with splitting into groups for our semester-long capstone project, I was immediately hooked on my teammate Jessie's idea - a smart mirror that could help with beauty needs. I knew this was something that I desperately needed when I first started learning to use makeup.
For this project, we followed the Goal Directed Design (GDD) methodology. However, as this was in a class setting, we had to tweak and omit some parts of the process, but at the core, the GDD process remained intact.
Meet the Team
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Jessie Wu
Team Lead
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Tyler Hayes
Team Member
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Keya Mehta
Team Member
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Nicole Kadom
Team Member
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Sarah Subero
Team Member
Method
The Goal Directed Design process, created by Alan Cooper, is a design process that places a heavy emphasis on user goals. This is accomplished by following Cooper's four key steps: research, modeling, requirements, and frameworking. The GDD process enables us to identify the users' goals and needs, which ensures that the design is user-centered.
Research Phase
The research phase of GDD is one of the most critical parts of the Goal Directed Design process. During this phase, we completed a kickoff meeting, literature review, competitive audit, and user interviews. The purpose of the research phase in GDD is to gather as much information as possible related to the smart mirror design. This step was crucial for us as through research and user interviews, we were able to transition smoothly to the modeling phase, where we created personas. This, in turn, helped us identify user goals more effectively.
Kickoff Meeting
The Kickoff meeting is a critical part of the GDD phase where the team typically meets with the stakeholders to discuss the idea and ask essential questions. As this was a group project for a class, we did not have real stakeholders to consult with, so we simulated the kickoff meeting using a worksheet. The worksheet included questions that are typically asked during a kickoff meeting. Since we were the ones who had created the idea, this allowed us to ask ourselves as many questions as possible about the project.
Literature Review
The literature review is a critical part of the GDD process where we extensively research and gather information on any literature related to the idea. This was important for us as it enabled us to become more knowledgeable about topics related to the beauty smart mirror, such as beauty, skincare, and the use of mirrors. Additionally, we researched general information about smart mirrors, as we did not have sufficient background knowledge on their functionalities. Some of the most informative key insights we gained from the literature review that influenced the design and direction of the smart mirror were:
Mirrors can help people overcome their insecurities rather than reinforce them.
Smart mirrors can have self-cleaning functions.
Smart mirrors can have the capability to connect through WiFi and Bluetooth.
The most common smart mirrors today have lighting and magnification features.
Competitive Audit
During the competitive audit phase of the GDD process, we discovered information about potential competitors in the market who shared similarities with our idea of a beauty smart mirror. This step was critical in enabling us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of smart mirrors in the market. Since smart mirrors are not yet popular products, we broadened our scope to include competitors in the smart mirror industry as a whole. Despite this adjustment, we still gained valuable insights that ultimately influenced the design of our product. Initially lacking knowledge about the functionality of smart mirrors, we divided our competitive audit into two sections: physical features and digital features.
Through the audit, we learned a lot that impacted the final design. For example, we learned that many smart mirrors use AR, which is well-received by users. As a result, we also incorporated this feature.
Subject Matter Expert (SME) Interview
SME interviews are interviews conducted with Subject Matter Experts. In conducting our SME interviews, we aimed to obtain information specific to smart mirrors and beauty. We spoke with an esthetician, a makeup artist, and an individual who had created a use case for a smart mirror.
Sandeep Mehta / Senior Solutions Architect AWS
Key information from the interview:
It is important not to overwhelm the users with UI
Suggested features : AR, tracking, planning, guidance
Carefully plan how to use real estate of the mirror
It is important to incorporate the normal use cases of the mirror as well, such as weather, time, date etc
Rita / Esthetician
Key information from the interview:
Different lighting can help people get ready for different events
Average skin care routines are 25 minutes
Skincare is more important in a beauty routine than makeup
Biggest mistake people make when using skincare and makeup is not removing makeup at night
User Interviews
The next step in the GDD process is user interviews, which involve conducting interviews with individuals on topics related to the beauty mirror to gather relevant information. For our team, we asked numerous questions related to makeup, skincare, and mirror use during these interviews. We conducted a total of 8 interviews for this project, using a hybrid online and in-person format. We ensured that each interviewee gave their consent and signed a consent form.
During the interviews, we took notes and used affinity mapping to identify patterns among our users. Affinity mapping involves the team grouping their notes to discover commonalities among users.
We identified several prevalent patterns that had a significant impact on the final prototype. These were:
Lack of product expiration date and skin tracking
Prevalent media use when applying makeup
High value of varied lighting when getting ready for the day
Upon completion of the user interviews, we had successfully accomplished a kickoff meeting, a literature review, a competitive audit, stakeholder interviews, and SME interviews. With the insights gathered from each step of the research phase, we were able to move forward to the Modeling phase, where we identified the user's goals. Thanks to our comprehensive research, we felt confident in our ability to accurately identify and address the needs of our target users.
Modeling Phase
Following the completion of our research, we entered the modeling phase of GDD, where we crafted personas and identified our users' end and life goals. Personas are fictional characters that represent an amalgamation of our research findings. Creating a persona is a critical step in helping us understand who we are designing for, as well as in communicating our design choices to stakeholders.
For this beauty smart mirror project, we developed two personas: one primary and one secondary. To create these personas, we held a team meeting to evaluate the main behavioral variables we had uncovered during our research. These behavioral variables were created after noticing patterns during affinity mapping. We then plotted these variables and identified patterns that helped us develop our personas.
The primary persona we created was a 22 year old barista named Jamie and a 30 year old wedding planner named Tatianna. As Jamie was the primary persona, he was the main persona we designed for, while also keeping in mind the needs of Tatiana. We made sure not to compromise Jamie's user experience while addressing Tatiana’s needs. During our user interviews, we gathered key information about Jamie, such as his interest in learning more about his overall skin health, despite being a beginner in makeup.
Requirements Phase
During the next phase of GDD, our main objective was to establish the requirements for our prototype. To accomplish this, we developed a context scenario that outlined the steps the user would take to use the app. This scenario was extremely helpful in identifying the necessary requirements. Additionally, we included details about our personas in the context scenario, which aided us in comprehending why they would make certain choices within the app. By documenting our context scenarios, we ensured that the entire team was aligned and working towards the same goals.
After identifying the necessary requirements for our prototype using Jamie (our primary persona), we narrowed down the keypath requirements. These refer to the most commonly used features and functions of the app. In addition to this, we also identified the validation scenario requirements, which corresponded to the pathways in the app used by our secondary persona. Additionally, we incorporated general feature requirements that were applicable to both personas, based on our other research.
Frameworks Phase
Wireframes
Prior to developing the prototype based on the requirements we had gathered, we opted to create a preliminary version on Figma. We generated a rough design that offered a basic preview of what our prototype would entail. This step was crucial since, as although the design was not yet interactive, we obtained a general sense of each frame. This was a valuable part of our process, as the creation of rough drafts in the initial stages would aid in the refinement phase later on.
Prototype
Once the wireframe was complete, we moved on to the prototyping phase. Each team member was assigned specific sections of the wireframe to develop. During the prototyping phase, we ensured that we used redlining to ensure proper spacing of elements and to establish consistency. We also selected text and color styles to be used throughout the app to maintain consistency in the design.
In particular, I was responsible for designing the general features of the mirror in the prototype. This included creating all of the pop-up widgets, designing the casting functionality, and developing the settings section. I had to prototype with components and overlays as the general features utilized lots of components and overlays. I didn’t have a lot of prior experience with this, so this was an enjoyable learning experience for me.
Refinement Phase
Once we had a functional prototype, we opted to perform usability testing to evaluate its effectiveness. Usability testing involves conducting a series of tests on the prototype, where the participant is given specific tasks to complete and asked to provide feedback on the prototype's features. To conduct our usability tests, we employed the TAP protocol along with A/B design testing.
Following the completion of our usability testing, our next step was to refine the prototype based on the feedback we had received from the test participants. We carefully reviewed the feedback provided by our usability testers and made necessary changes to the prototype accordingly. Additionally, we went through the app multiple times to identify any minor issues and made further tweaks as needed. These steps were instrumental in helping us finalize our prototype.
Conclusion
Overall, the process of designing the Glo Smart Mirror was a positive experience. Working with my team throughout the entire GDD process was enjoyable, as we were all actively involved in researching, modeling, establishing requirements, and framing the project. I found each step of the process to be engaging and valuable, as it allowed me to gain new insights and expand my knowledge base.
Lessons Learned
Have more communication with SMEs after our interviews, as throughout the design process, we still had questions relating to beauty and skin care.
Talk to a wider demographic during user interviews, such as males who use beauty and skincare.
Highlights
More usability tests - In this project we decided to do 8 usability tests as with each test we were able to get more feedback as we designed and ultimately helped create a better prototype.
Red boxing - This project was my first experience with red boxing and although it was a challenge to learn, it helped make the design consistent and even.
Account for physical aspects in the design - As the team didn’t have much experience with smart mirrors, it was extremely beneficial for us to research during the he Lit review and competitive audit stage of the research process, This helped us determine what functions a smart mirror can actually do so we know what can be incorporated into the interface.