Case Study

Designing an interactive, personalized beauty shopping experience for SS Beauty.

Role

Assoc. Sr. UX Designer

Domain

Luxurious E-commerce

Duration

Mar 2022 – Mar 2023

Type

Proposal

OVERVIEW

A proposal for a beauty experience that speaks to every Indian consumer

"The Indian beauty industry is expected to close USD 30 billion by 2025."

This case study was created for SS Beauty as an approach toward building an interactive, engaging, and personalized platform — enabling consumers of all demographics to have an easy, intuitive shopping experience.

It is a high-level proposal compiled after analyzing market inspiration and conducting secondary research, following a thorough discovery process that balances business needs, user needs, and technological constraints.

Rise of social media influencersDigitisationProduct innovation & awareness

RESEARCH

Product understanding

The pandemic resulted in a digital revolution in the skincare and makeup industry — one of the post-covid shifts was a collective surge in self-care and beauty.

From hyper-personalized skincare to AI cosmetics solutions, the industry is always looking to enhance the customer experience. With India's young aspirational workforce and growing smartphone penetration, multi-brand online beauty stores are seeing explosive growth.

Goal: to transform the beauty and skincare shopping experience for SS Beauty users through a perfect blend of digitisation, bespoke customisation, and personalised product solutions.

Full presentation

ANALYSIS

Competitive analysis

Benchmarking the state of the market to troubleshoot solutions and identify opportunities — learning from competitors for the redesign.

Competitor breakdown

Sephora

Sephora's unique open-sell environment features an ever-increasing range of classic and emerging brands across skincare, makeup, fragrance, body and hair care — a powerful beauty presence worldwide.

↑What's working

Neat and minimal in both aesthetic and information organisation

Easy to navigate due to relatively low cognitive load

Unique Assistive Technology Solution for personalised experiences

↓What isn't working

Not very engaging, lacks content integration for Indian consumers

Product details page is a continuous scroll — very content heavy

Limited filters and sorting options in search

Nykaa

India-based multi-beauty and personal care platform, receiving 1.5M+ monthly visitors. Covers women's beauty, men's grooming (Nykaa Man), and Nykaa Network for beauty enthusiasts.

↑What's working

Personalised experience — users share photos and reviews

High customer engagement with curated product looks and digital guides

Well-informed product page with ingredients, shade cards, and how-to content

↓What isn't working

Product details page is cluttered and very content heavy

Too many ads and offer listings

DESIGN

From reactive to guided

We recommended a design direction reflective of SS Beauty's values and attuned to its target audience — built around four strategic pillars.

Engagement

Allow users to upload images and tag products, helping others shop directly from the site. Buying guides, curated looks, virtual appointments with beauty experts, and how-to video integrations.

Personalisation

Skin Shade and Skin Type finder to help customers find their ideal shade. Match cosmetics and skincare with their selections. Show how products look on users with similar skin tone.

Educational

Product and shade comparison charts. Before/after images across different skin tones. Content integration — educational blogs, how-to videos, influencer outreach, and online consultations.

Interactive

Virtual Try-It-On using AR. Let users virtually try on products used by others with a similar skin tone. Integrate a check-nearby-store and offline pickup option.

Homepage

Try On — Lipstick AR Filter

IMPACT

Impact and learnings

Impacted onboarding of clients into the organisation for engagement and collaboration.

01Successfully onboarded stakeholder to the organisation by showcasing unique ideas and solving problems with innovative, intuitive design solutions.

02Gained understanding of business and sales pitches — ideas that can be generated within a week and how to pitch them to win stakeholder trust.

"Because beauty isn't just what you wear — it's how the experience makes you feel."