ECHOS | AVON
When I was a student at the Design Thinking Specialization program at Echos Innovation Lab, we worked on a project for Avon. Their nail polish products were selling less then they wanted to, so the marketing department strategically wanted to build a connection with the manicures. Therefore, the inicial challenge was "How can Avon establish a relevant and constant relationship with manicures?"
METHODOLOGY
In the 6 weeks we developed the project, we cycled over the design thinking double diamond approach. We researched, observed, defined a point of view, and created and prototyped solutions.
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ROLES AND ACTIVITIES
– Team leading
– Desk research
– Conducting user interviews
– User journey
– Prototypes development and testing
– Graphic design and project documentation
– Client presentations
DISCOVERY
We started our project understanding a lot about the nail polishing and manicure world. Our research covered magazines, websites, academic studies and social media.
We also mapped out all the possibilities available whenever a woman needs to get her manicure, and all the scenarios a professional could be involved.
OBSERVATION
In our observation phase, we interviewed 16 people, from manicures to nail polish extreme users. An user persona was defined and her social roles were mapped.
#MYMANICURE
We soon found out that each woman has "her manicure", and that this relationship is personal (sometimes intimate) and based on trust.
JOURNEY MAPPING
The journey mapping was fundamental for the understanding of the social tensions that are lived throughout the service. We related each step with the power that the manicure – the specialist – had over the service.
SERVANT
Even though the relationship between the woman and "her manicure" is trustful and intimate, a hierarchy is established as soon as the service experience begins: the client is being served by the manicures.
FAMOUS?
Both the manicures and the hair stylists work at the same place and with the same purpose: to make the women look like divas. If I ask you to name 4 famous hairstylists out of the blue, you are gonna do it in no time. However, If I ask you to do the same thing with manicures, can you do it?
Don't worry, many manicures we interviewed couldn't do it either
POINT OF VIEW
We developed an analogy in order to establish a point of view. The manicure does the dirty and hard job, just like Cinderella. However, she does not want to take the princess place, because she just loves helping the princess shine. Instead, she would love to play the fairy godmother's role, who makes a princess shine, but doesn't do any dirty work.
The reframed problem was: "How might Avon help the manicures to be less like Cinderella and more like the Fairy Godmother?"
SOLUTION
We proposed a step-by-step plan to help Avon make the manicures feel more like the Fairy Godmother and establish a constant and relevant relationship with them.
1 – ESTABLISH MARKET REFERENCES
It turns out that star (and famous) manicures do exist. In our reseach, we found out that manicures had to handle their work as entrepreneurs, even if they work at a structure saloon. Therefore we proposed a first solution that would establish these well succeeded manicures, such as the J.Sisters as a reference for the other manicures in a way they could never forget: through expertise and experience sharing.
2 – CREATING NEW MARKET REFERENCES
The manicures are urging to have their work recognized. Avon already hosts several different contests for hair and make up professionals. The second step of our plan was this simple: create a contest were manicures could receive recognition in their market.
We prototyped it with a Wix hotsite that invited the manicures to pre-subscribe to a contest. In 5 days, the 72 manicures that had contact with the hotsite (that didn't even mention Avon), 43% completed the subscription.
3 – NAIL POLISH PERSONALIZED COLLECTION
Although the manicures would love to be recognized by their market, being hailed by her clients is just as important for them.
We created a really simple solution: the manicure could log in to Avon's website and order their nail polish with a customized label, with their names on it.
We prototyped it and took to some manicures we had interviewed. The pictures were on their social media in no time.
