Non-Tox Beauty Application

My Role

Research Question

How can a technology-based product or service help people choose and find information about safe beauty products based on their preferences?

Fun Facts

●Health and beauty products often contain unsafe chemicals (parabens, sulfates, formaldehyde) that are dangerous to our health (Bergfield, Belsito, Marks, & Andersen, 2005)

●Exposure to such chemicals can lead to potential health risks like infertility, pregnancy issues, cancer, and neurodevelopmental disorders (Zota and Shamasunder, 2017)

Observations

Five participants; 4 females, 1 male

• Completed two fictional scenarios:

• Find and select a non-toxic facial moisturizer

• Find and select a non-toxic foundation

• Four themes: ○Searching

• Exploring ○Reviewing ○Negativity

Interviews

Four participants; 3 females, 1 male

• In-person interviews; about 30 minutes

• Asked questions on past experiences finding personal care products, how users research products, and what technology is used to find products

• Transcribed the interviews, open coded the scripts, and organized into themes via affinity diagramming

Process Flow Chart:

Statistics

• Majority of participants (69.23%) reported researching ingredients in their skincare

• With user’s last purchased product, 47% reported not researching, 27% spent > 10 minutes, 23% spent 10-30 minutes

• The majority of users (42.86%)shopped in-store for their personal care products.

• The majority of users do not easily have access to ingredient or ingredient safety information.

• Majority used Google searches and beauty blogs to research (78%), followed by reviews (44%)

• Participants reported that the most influential factors to purchase a product are Effectiveness, Price, Recommendations, & Reviews

Personas

Journey Maps

Features Matrix

Design Implications