May 2023
LAY MORI WEBSITE
Lay Mori is a cozy little beauty salon in Lisbon, Portugal. Picture a one-woman show where the owner wears many hats – from answering calls and messages to keeping the place clean, and even curating the online presence. However, there was one hitch – clients sometimes must wait for a late reply. That's why she needed a website that makes the booking process easy and practical, so the customers can skip the wait and have a smooth experience.
Roles:
User Experience Designer
UI Designer
Tools: Figma, FigJam & Notion
Device: Mobile & Desktop
Platform: Web
Sector tags: Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Beauty & Personal Care, Appointment Booking, Customer Experience.
THE CHALLENGE
Design a user-friendly website that provides a comprehensive overview of Lay Mori's services, including detailed descriptions, pricing, and duration. Crucially, implement a seamless booking system that empowers customers to schedule appointments without the need for direct communication with the owner. This enhancement aims to streamline the booking process for an enhanced customer experience.
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RESEARCH STAGE
Step 1. Interviews
Interviewees: Lay Mori's owner and 7 customers.
My biggest issue is managing my agenda because I am by myself, and I have to do everything. I have to pick up the phone, clean the establishment, make payments, read and reply to messages, do the online posts, make appointments, etc. Usually, I can only read the messages 4h after I receive them, which is sometimes too late.
- Lay Mori's owner
To customers: What do you find most frustrating about your experience with beauty services?
“Having to phone call and over the phone discuss different possible times and dates that suits us both.”
Step 2. Secondary Research
Based on the following articles: Surprising Benefits of Online Booking For Salons When Done Right and The Advantages of Online Client Scheduling for Your Salon.
Step 3. Comparison
Features Comparison
“Most of the time the professional doesn’t answer the phone because she is busy with other clients and when she answers she talks to me super fast for the same reason.”
Also, in the comparison, any of the salon require early payment.
Information about the services and prices are important.
“Back and forward conversation, that could be avoided - would be so much easier to see the available slots somewhere.”
70%
of salon and spa customers prefer online booking over calling-in
32%
of salon bookings are made outside of store hours
22%
of sales increase, with two additional appointments per year for each client that books online.
Step 4. Insights Organization
Services and Prices Comparison
Most of the websites compared don't offer the same services than Lay Mori, which make it easier to the establishment show up in the market.
When compared to the salons that offer the same services, Lay Mori offer a cheaper option.
80% of Lay Mori's Salon are women;
The cutomers would like to have a booking online option;
A website would help Lay with the management of her time;
Creating a website would increase business sales and customer satisfaction;
Customers would rather pay after the service is complete;
Customers are not aware od services offered and their prices.
USER PERSONA
About her
Rafaela is a 35 yo busy hard-working woman that works in an office 5 days a week. She usually goes to Lay Mori Salon for the eyebrows threading services, but she also does laser depilation full body and sometimes massage. She visits the salon about 3-4 times a month.
“I would like to be able to book my appointments online as I don’t like calls, and WhatsApp cack-and-forward messaging is tiring.”
DESIGN PROCESS
The design process started thinking about how to fullfil Lay Mori's owner needs and the customers desires and expectiations.
Lay Mori's owner was questioned
What are some must have features that you would like to include in your website?
Answer: About me, Service description, Prices, Booking and Confirmation, Easy Cancellation and instant available slot, Leave messages/questions - observations, suggestions, reviews, like “tell me anything” related to services.
What are your 3 most sought-after services?
Answer: Face cleaning, Laser hair removal and Eyebrow threading.
Customers were questioned
What features do you value the most when visiting a beauty salon website?
Answers:
Scheduling, prices (clearly stated), very complex information about services now, could be clearer, especially for those who do not go often. Like to see actual pictures of what have been done;
Info on price displayed, info on services provided with description on what they're used for, on who, benefits, etc., possibility to book online in which I can see the time slots available. Once booked, I like to add the booking directly to my calendar;
Calendar with the available dates, prices, which kind of services they offer, WhatsApp contact (but if they had a book now option, I definitely would use it), info about the treatments (like what they are, how they work, pre and pos-procedures - body reactions), pictures of the services.
Step 1. User Flow
Step 2. Usability Testing Results - from LO-FI to MID-FI
List of services:
The list service started being a long scroll list, that to MID-FI was condensed to category cards.
Review booking:
Previously, after clicking "Confirm booking” the booking would be complete, but, considering that user could make mistakes, a review booking was added for a quick check before confirmation.
Icons:
A search icon was added to facilitate user searching avoind to many clicks and the UK flag was removed to not defined a language to a just one country.
Step 3. Usability Testing Results - from MID-FI to HI-FI
P.S.: Lay Mori's had its own visual identity and the owner wanted to keep it.
Footer:
The footer just with icons was changed to a more detailed and direct to point one. Also, the FAQ stick icon changed to a Contact Us section.
Booking details:
It was added the user's personal details - with edit option - and more information like map of the adress and a note about the payment.
Services page:
The services cards were changed to drop down list, so the services would keep condensed but if clicked would show in the same page, avoind unecessary clicks.
Home page: The homepage shows the customer the most valuable features - Navbar, See Services call to action button, Featured Services, All Services divided by category, shortcut to social media, Contact Us section/Footer.
THE FINAL RESULT
Services: On the Services page the user can read information about each service, for example, description, pre and pro-treatment, duration, and price. All the services added appears in the cart on the nav-bar.
Booking Process: After adding the services in the cart, the users can check the availability on Lay Mori's Calendar and select the day and hour preferred. The user can log in, create an account, or continue as a guest. All the information is in the review booking and after confirming the user receives an email and can also add to their own calendar.
NEXT STEPS
Conduct usability testing on the HI-FI version of the website;
Design the customer's profile page and the calendar's integration.