HairFlex
Connect with salons and black hair experts – discover, book, and enjoy convenient hair care!
Product Experience
Problem Background
According to a study by The University of South Florida in 2021, the flexibility of finding salons online and booking appointments makes it easier on guests. Women with disabilities, little social support or busy schedules also find it difficult to fit haircare into their busy lives. It is crucial to explore a much innovative way for them to achieve their desired hairstyles without the limitations of traditional salon visits.
Problem Statement
The problem that this product will address is that black women need an effective way to find and book appointments with salons and independent home hair experts because they are looking to save time on the search and to have more flexibility when they are in need of a hair service.
Research Insights
User Pain Points
I conducted a survey with 15 participants and a follow up user interview with 7 of them.
Based on my survey research and user interviews, 100% of participants I interviewed that identified as black women experienced significant challenges when searching for hair professionals and also booking hair appointments in advance; this is usually a long process for them. 71.43% of black women interviewed had a lifestyle of searching online and booking on the salon’s website, most of these women avoided calling the salons. It was interesting to see that most black women today will rather book online than over the phone. Despite their willingness to book appointments, they explained finding a stylist or salon a long process.
90% of black women surveyed and interviewed embraced the idea of home hair professionals especially when they are running on busy schedules, in case of an emergency or with their personal hairdresser being unavailable. 3 out of the 7 participants explained they will pay extra if this was the case.
Work from home mothers, women with disabilities and other women who run on busy schedules will also benefit from having an app that allows them to find home hair experts and book ahead of time.
Feedback
My research let me know the main pain points of users which were identified to come up with a solution. The two main pain points were the long process of finding salons that specialise in making black hair and customers not being able to easily find professionals to make their hair in case of emergencies or busy schedules.
Landing on the Solution
Based on our target users’ pain points, we knew we wanted to work on the following features:
- The app’s ability to find customer’s current location
- The app’s ability to view all Hair Salons and Home Hair Professionals specialising in black hair near customers
- The app’s ability to view the profiles and services the Hair Salons and Home Hair Professionals specialise in.
- The app’s ability to allow you view the schedule of the hair salons or home hair professionals
- The app’s ability to allow you book with hair salons or home hair professionals
- The app’s ability to recommend hair salons or home hair professionals while customers are on a trip away from their home location.
Explanation of Solution
HairFlex offers a comprehensive solution, leveraging location services, detailed profiles for hair salons and hair professionals, scheduling features, and personalised recommendations to streamline the process of discovering and booking hair care services for black women.
Future Steps
Possible problems to address are security and safety. These might be concerns for customers interested in connecting with Home Hair Professionals. A form of verification/security check will be required before the black professional stylists and salons are officially uploaded on our app.
My Further thoughts are that the HairFlex app will be better implemented in Nigeria, Africa, as there are less competitors for HairFlex within that geography area. Also users will have a variety of salons and home-hair professionals willing to showcase their talent and connect with potential customers.
My future steps are as follows:
- Gather developers, designers and other cross functional team members to work on the app deployment.
- Finalise mockups and prototype of the HairFlex app
- Finalise Salon and Hair Professionals database from Lagos, Nigeria
- Quality Assurance
- HairFlex Advertisements
- Expansion to other countries
Marketing Images
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Tumi Adegoroye
Co.Lab was a very interesting experience for me because I was able to learn from others and get feedback from an experienced product manager. It was also somewhat self paced. A truly amazing learning experience.
Designer Learnings:
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
&
As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
&
As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
&
Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
&
- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
&
All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
&
I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.