Amy
Cai




UI designer in Seattle, WA



Email:
acai@uw.edu

Instagram:
@acai.des

a.cai • açaí • amy cai • 




amy cai

Interaction Design Student
Located in Seattle, WA




Projects:
Bone Appétit!
Makeup Mate AR
ATD Recruitment
Suko App


Graphic Designs





    
Projects         About        Resume

Makeup Mate AR




Project Overview

Makeup Mate is an AR glasses app that provides assistance for users looking to buy makeup at a drugstore.
A lot of newer makeup users tend to start with drugstore makeup products, so it is counterintuitive for there to be no assistance in the drugstore makeup section. Makeup Mate was specifically designed for drugstore and grocery store makeup sections to target this user painpoint.


Role:

Tools:

Timeline:
UX researcher, UI Designer

Figma, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Premiere Pro

2 weeks in Spring 2023




Problem:


Drugstore makeup users receive no assistance when figuring out what to buy.








As modern society continues to move towards a consumer based lifestyle, one of the most practical applications of AR glasses is at a store. Customers are always searching for the best items to buy, and often require the assistance of workers to properly gauge their decisions. This is especially common in the world of makeup shopping. According to a study from 2022, the global makeup market size was valued at USD 375.30 billion in 2022, and is projected to grow from USD 456.89 billion in 2023, and extend to USD 560.50 billion by 2030. 




High End Beauty Store V.S. Drug Store



The two main sources of makeup consumerism are drug stores/grocery stores and beauty stores. Although the online presence of makeup continues to grow, seeing or trying products in person can make customers feel more safe in their purchases. Newer makeup users often seek out assistance from more experienced users in order to discover what works for them. Unfortunately, these makeup-knowledgeable workers are only employted in beauty stores, which tend to be exponentially more expensive than drug stores. 

I decided to tackle this issue by imagining a world where AR glasses are able to provide inexperienced makeup users with the assistance and advice they need, no matter what kind of store they may be at.






Solution:

Makeup Mate: An AR app that helps drugstore makeup users make informed decisions.



Translating Ideas to Functionality


I started out by figuring out a practical and relatable way to represent how the glasses would be able to help out. One of the most common, yet complex makeup items that is commonly bought is foundation. It is often extremely difficult to find the right of foundation for each user’s skin shade and type, which can cause many pain points such as wasting money and disatisfaction with the product’s effects.




  • For this reason, I designed a pop-up style augment that will appear in the user’s field of vision
    when they hold a product up to their face while looking into any mirror. 



g







One pop-up will show the
user’s skin shade and type...
















=






While another pop-up will analyze the foundation’s properties.






Then, the glasses will determine if the foundation is a good match, or if the user should put it back and try another.


This straightforward system allows users to be more comfortable in their makeup purchases. Although this would be an ideal form of assistance, I recognize that drug stores and grocery stores can have inconsistent or bad lighting, which would be difficult for the glasses to factor in during the comparison analysis. 


Another way that I would imagine this design to be helpful to users is by offering a quick way to browse online reviews. When a user is holding and looking at a product, they can swipe up on the product to view more information, and a compiled list of online reviews. This way users can more efficiently compare items that they have trouble choosing between.




Paper Prototyping











As I believe that video is one of the best ways to present interactive desgns,  I decided to create a shot list to represent how my design works, and commmunicate my ideas quickly and directly.

The shot list helped me figure out what UI I needed to create and animate, as well as how the video itself should be directed.






I then recorded a low fidelity paper prototype video to better imagine how the design would function as a system. Although simple, the creation of this video helped me figure out the best way to present my ideas in a scenario.
Iv




Final Design




m


In my final video, I show a realistic scenario in which my design, MakeupMate, can be called upon to help a user in need. MakeupMate uses 3 types of user interaction with the AR glasses in order to function:



  • The mirror interaction serves as a simple and efficient way to initiate a comparison analysis.

  • The glow interaction allows users to view recommendations effortlessly. 

  • The swipe interaction provides an intuitive way to learn more about any product.


Overall, MakeupMate tackles important user painpoints that could hinder their enjoyment and efficiency in the makeup shopping experience. AR glasses technologies are incredibly useful and versatile, and I believe that the future of technology should continue to grow in a direction of user happiness. Creating MakeupMate has pushed me to think about what makeup users of different skill levels truly need, and it was extremely fufilling to create a design with such a specfic user group in mind throughout the entire process.