Wink n Blink is a lash extension business founded by certified lash technician Krystal Nguyen. As someone who felt a noticeable increase in confidence after getting lash extensions, Krystal opened her business to others in hopes of giving them the same positive experiences. Although her main interaction with customers is through Instagram, she quickly realized that she needed a website to keep up with demands.

Role

TIME

Responsibilites

TEAM

UI/UX Designer

Oct. 2023 - June 2024

User Research, UI/UX Design, Usability Testing, Prototyping

3 UI/UX Designers

Cut to the chase

Project goals

Company Goals

How might we design a visually appealing website prototype that increases appointment booking efficiency attracts new and old customers alike?

01. Research

Prioritizing client objectives

Before we began research, our team asked Krystal about her main objectives for this website prototype. Krystal narrowed down her priorities to:

Functional and pleasing

Optimize information accessibility

Establish brand identity

Combining beauty with usability reduces friction and allows new and returning customers to complete their booking journey efficiently.

Simplify the booking process to broaden our audience, increase user satisfaction, and boost conversions and repeat visits.

Aligning visuals with the brand's values attracts more visitors, encouraging them to book appointments with confidence in a consistent, high-quality experience.

User personas

We interviewed 12 users about their current experiences booking appointments with Wink n Blink or other beauty service websites. This helped us come up with two personas:

Competitive analysis

Our team chose these various businesses because they all offer general beauty services in the greater San Diego area. We studied each of these businesses' mobile and desktop websites for branding, key functionalities, site architecture, and content. These factors were organized into tables to examine the differences in each site.

Synthesizing our research findings

Efficiency is key

We got you!

Users need easy access to all website functions so that it isn't confusing to navigate.

Website writing should be welcoming and friendly to establish trust with users.

Personality matters

The proof is in the pudding

Wink n Blink's website needs to look good before they can help others look good.

The pudding being pictures, that is users need to see images of Krystal's past work to decide what services they want.

Brand identity

Our team held another meeting with Krystal to discuss how she wanted the website to look. We asked her to highlight which aspects of her competitors' brands and aesthetics she wished to incorporate into her own business. Krystal added that her current Instagram page has a warm color palette and abstract designs, so we made sure to keep the theme consistent with the website prototype.

02. Final Design

Lo-Fi user testing

After creating a lo-fi prototype, we conducted some user testing to see how intuitive our interface was. Some users did not like the larger chunks of text displayed on the informational pages while others had qualms about the overall look of the website since it felt too plain. Taking this feedback into consideration, my team and I created hi-fi designs and ran them by our client to lock in the final look!

Home

Mission statement at the forefront to establish personality and tone

Past work and customer testimonials in a carousel format allow more focus on a single element

Embedded map to show potential customers where Wink n Blink is located

Booking

Floating 'Book' button allows user to book an appointment at any time in the user flow

Interface displays services, prices, and availability clearly

The booking process separated into sections to reduce information overload

User is guided to informational sections at the end

Services

Included as one of the hamburger menu items for easy access

Brief description of what lash extensions are for newcomers

Photos and descriptions to describe what each type of lash extension is

Prices and extras listed for transparency

About me

Included as one of the hamburger menu items for discoverability

Gives users insight into the client's personality and values

Lash technician certification inked for transparency

Instagram account linked in the footer and carousel for more information

Desktop

Remains consistent with mobile layout

GIF highlights informational sections in FAQ dropdown menu

Chunks of texts are broken up into lists for clarity

Keywords and important info are bolded

Final Thoughts

key Learnings

Client Collaboration

Team Growth

It was extremely rewarding to work with a real client and bring her ideas to life! Not only were we able to interact in a more professional setting, but my team and I also communicated with our client to ensure that we were all satisfied with the product.

Everyone on my team was new to designing websites, so there were definitely some bumps in the road. However, it was reassuring to see that all of us were learning something new and that we could depend on each other. In the future, I hope to use what I've learned from this project and apply it to designing for a larger business or company!

key Takaways

Future improvements

We would have loved to collaborate with Krystal and a team of developers to launch this website! It would have been fascinating to see key metrics and data on website foot traffic and test for booking appointment efficiency as well. My team conducted a second round of user testing on our final design to receive more feedback on the website. Users suggested that we make our hamburger menus for mobile and desktop the same and that we could make use of more moving visuals. If we had more time, we would have loved to embed some behind-the-scenes videos from our client!

TAKE ME BACK UP

Check out my other projects!

Wink n Blink