01
RESEARCH
Existing user journey
We mapped out an user journey of using multiple cosmetic products to visualize areas where pain-points might arise.
To find the best way to mark the expiration dates of the cosmetic products, we conducted 5 semi-structured interviews with makeup enthusiasts and created an online survey that received 25 responses.
Interviews & Discovery
To solve this problem, some people may ask: “Why don’t we just write down the date of opening on the cosmetics?” I tested that by writing the date of opening by hand and using stickers. Unfortunately, I faced some problems.
1) Most importantly, it was very ugly -
Product design and the overall aesthetics of the containers of cosmetics are very important for consumers. Writing opening dates with markers and stickers ruined the original design of the items.
2) It was very inconvenient -
Based on a survey from 10 makeup enthusiasts, it was difficult to find suitable pens and stickers to mark opening dates given the variety of materials used to make comestic containers. Also, they mentioned that it was difficult to find appropriate sticker sizes based on the shape and the size of containers. As a result, I started to think about an innovative way that is simple to use, looks good, and can be aesthetically pleasing.
Clue for developing the idea 1 :
Often times, unopened cosmetic containers have seals that must be broken to use the content. As I looked at those sticker seals, I began to think about potentially using these stickers to mark the date of first use.
Image Sources - IKEA website (MALMDressing table, white), blog.naver.com/yelinmok, blog.naver.com/onj1026
Clue for developing the idea 2:
Most cosmetic products are located below eye level on the dressing tables. For that reason, the part of the container that comes into contact most frequently with your eyes is the lid.
All those facts indicate that it would be easy and helpful to show the expiration date of the item on the top of the lid.
Insights
& Key Takeaways
03
IDEATION
idea 1
As a first idea, I thought about an indicator in the form of a physical sticker that can be attached to lids.
-Idea Sketch & Concept developing-
Then, I thought of a design that fuses the shape of a flower and a clock. Clocks have the function to keep track of time until the expiration date. In addition, I thought that flowers fit well with the graphical motifs and brand representations that cosmetic labels want to sell to their customers.
For a technical perspective, I thought printing can be changed to use variable ink which can chance color as it reacts to oxygen. I thought that the sticker seal on unopened items could be transformed to become a sticker that keeps track of expiration dates. By using this process, the expiration date can be counted from the opening date of the new item.
-Conceptual Thought-
-Sticker Design-
-The Critical Issue-
We collaborated with professor Semo Son, in the field of print engineering.
However, we faced physical technical problems. Therefore, we decided to develop this idea as an application using mobile devices.
Idea 2
Using a mobile app to develop the beauty clock based on AR technology.
-User Flow-
-AR Marker (Sticker Design)-
I designed this physical sticker as a marker for using AR on the mobile phone. This marker kit has 16 different combinations for AR scanning. People can select the proper sticker to check the expiration date of their cosmetic items.
For instance, if you put the 6 petals flower shaped sticker on the top of a facial cream jar, the beauty clock will be counting 6 months by using AR.
