Context
Anastasia Beverly Hills identified the need to bring to market a mobile-first experience of the expert-level guidance usually only available in their trademark beauty salons. The brand began looking for a digital experience designer to create the go-to solution for customers who need professional advice in eyebrow care, want to get their perfect eyebrow shape and color, and are looking for a dedicated tool to rely on in their daily beauty routine.
Together with Anastasia Beverly Hills, we built an eyebrow grooming experience that meets all those expectations, while minimizing the need for in-person appointments with brow specialists.
Challenge
The main goal was to create an experience that enabled users to understand their ideal eyebrow look, and take the right steps in shaping, grooming, and filling their eyebrows based on real-time data, personalized guidelines, and product recommendations.
Taking Anastasia Soare’s Golden Ratio® Method into the mobile experience had never been done before. The main challenge in achieving this goal was to fuse Anastasia Soare’s patented brow shaping method into an algorithm that would measure the unique facial features of users, and recommend the ideal brow shape based on real-time user data.
Alongside the algorithm creation, we also had to uncover a series of consumer insights that were important for the application to nurture in the experience.
Solution
“Anastasia Beverly Hills: The Brow App”, which is already available on the App Store and currently in the pre-launch stage for Android users, empowers customers by delivering personalized, step-by-step guidance on how to recreate their perfect brow at home, and recommends what beauty products to use in their daily routine.
User insights
Prior to any design or development, we explored the place that eyebrow care takes in everyday life, and the challenges people encounter in getting the perfect eyebrow shape and color on their own. The user discovery stage helped us identify several opportunities to better define the product goals and business outcomes.
We validated user behaviors, attitudes, and preferences by conducting a series of surveys, collected hundreds of responses, and completed one-on-one interviews that consistently validated and updated the business idea, product vision, and value proposition.
Experience & features
By weaving together the user insights around knowledge and usage – with the value brought forth by Anastasia Beverly Hills – we started building the eyebrow-grooming experience that would create confidence, and fill the absence of professional guidance in the users’ current beauty routine. We made it available to iOS users in March 2021, and an Android experience is currently in pre-launch stage.
Onboarding
The learning curve for users starts with a quick quiz that analyses what their eyebrows look like, what they want them to look like and what experience they have in eyebrow grooming.
Face Analysis
The app uses the front-facing camera to measure the user’s facial features and analyzes them based on Anastasia Soare’s Golden Ratio® Method, which we turned into an algorithm that was intensely tested, trained, and refined through User Acceptance Testing (UAT) so that it can accurately recommend the most flattering eyebrow style.
Augmentation
Following the ‘face analysis’ stage, the user moves into the augmented try-on feature created through a special relationship with a specialized Augmented Reality firm. While in the live camera feed, the user can remove their existing eyebrows and toggle between Anastasia Beverly Hills custom designed shapes, based on the Golden Ratio® Method, as well as 12 colors included in the Anastasia Beverly Hills shade range.
Recreation
Once the user selects the eyebrow shape and color they want to recreate, they have access to stencils they can use for plucking, trimming and filling in, and receive step-by-step instructions on how to create the perfect brow. For extra guidance, the user can always book a virtual appointment with an Anastasia Beverly Hills specialist as well as learn about specific product recommendations for their chosen style.
Learning
While the eyebrow grooming experience is a mix of fun and learning, the app supports users with a variety of educational resources. The “Look” feature provides access to a catalogue of exclusive tutorials for specific shapes and styles. The “Mastery” feature offers in-depth make-up tutorials and Anastasia Beverly Hills product tours.
With the Anastasia Beverly Hills application live in the market and in the hands of users, the business is now able to listen to what features customers want most and will continue improving the digital experience across devices and environments.
Technologies
iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), Python, Serverless architecture, Machine learning, Computer Vision, Augmented Reality, CI/CD.
