OVERVIEW

Ulta Beauty's core strategy is to establish itself as a beauty expert on beauty trends and tips.

Ulta Beauty is well known for beauty product deals, and is also working to build customer awareness about prestige cosmetics, and Ulta Beauty services such as salon and spa services.       

THE OPPORTUNITY

The old Ulta Beauty App was text-heavy, listing app features without graphical visual cues.

As a result, guests weren't aware of the latest beauty products, tips & trends and other unique features, such as Virtual Try-On. Guests tend to focus their product search in-app primarily for replenishment purchases, while visiting stores for product trials, so they are visiting the app on a less frequent basis.

THE SOLUTION

Design an experience to cater to the beauty needs of guests with engaging content in context to serve specific mindsets: the mission-focused shopper, and beauty enthusiasts, who love to explore the latest beauty trends and tips.

PLANNING, DISCOVERY THROGH RESEARCH

The first challenge I faced was that Ulta is new to UX design and needed to establish a design thinking process.

I started by creating overarching project and research plans. I followed by gathering current app usage data, user surveys, and competitive analysis.

I led workshops and shared initial findings with key stakeholders and the cross-functional team. During the brainstorming session it also opened an opportunity for stakeholders to share their pain points and visions. Each group ideated a list of features based on initial research data to customize the shopping experience. As a result, we came up with an extensive list that required prioritization. 

Each individual had to list post-its that stated which features were important, based off the amount of efforts and impact for users. This allowed the group to visualize the prioritization for the app home screen.

I also collaborated with the visual designer and app developer to create a rapid prototype that runs on-device. I partnered with the research team to test 2 concepts in stores.

From the in-store studies, we identified 2 customer mindsets that we need to serve:

• Mission-focused shopper

• Beauty enthusiast explorer

After the initial research, we identified the need to restructure the iPhone App navigation, and developed content that needs to cater both mindsets throughout multiple phases.

DESIGNING THE SOLUTION 

I strategized on how to launch the initial redesign quickly to the market, create feature awareness for Virtual Try-On, Beauty Services, Tips & Trends, while continuing to learn from user behavior. 

I continue to collaborate with research, visual design and development teams to develop concepts to support future phases. I also continue to work with the marketing team to ideate content that can drive more engagement.