SilkScarf
My Role: Design and market research, prototyping, UI/UX Design, videography
Materials Used: Adobe XD, Adobe Illustrator, Final Cut Pro X
Year: 2018 - Present
Project Type: Academic/Personal
About the Project
SilkScarf is a black haircare mobile app that provides a mapping of both hair salons and home-based mobile stylists using location-based data. Such a product would connect customers to stylists who specialize in black hair, effectively solving the issue of access to black hair salons for black women in various black diaspora communities. Because this app intends to serve a two-sided market (hairstylists), such a product may generate a stronger sense of community and economic agency for its users and may also reconcile feelings of displacement, and unease especially for black women abroad in communities with sparser black demographics.
The Problem
Finding an appropriate stylist for black hair is often a delicate balancing act, that conflates issues of location, price and expertise. As black hair has more specific needs, it is imperative that the stylist has experience handling such hair textures. However, with black Canadians making up a small percentage of the country’s population this can sometimes be hard to come by. Those looking for haircare often have to resort to word of mouth referrals and endless online searches in order to find a stylist. Creating an app that allows users to find one another eliminates this dilemma.
The Process
As a black woman, this app is targeted towards women of my demographic (20-something, entry-level to mid-level workers, with frequent social media usage). When gathering insight on potential users, I first started with my own lived experience. The idea for this project came from the frustration I have encountered when dealing with my own hair and witnessing the frustrations of others close to me. I thought of the pain points I had (i.e. cost, money, expertise) and I made an educated guess that the best way to resolve these issues would be through the implementation of a mobile app that utilizes location data. To validate these initial assumptions, I engaged in three forms of research: analyzing news pieces, analyzing scholarly articles and analyzing the habits of my assumed target market via secondary research.
The Product
The project is currently a high-fidelity prototype with plans for further development. The final version of this prototype features a bright colour scheme with matching illustrations for an overall cohesive feel. The bottom navigation includes chat, search, notification, and personal profile features. Visual refinement, breadth of functionality, depth of functionality, richness of interactivity were all of top priority when creating this project.