Beauty Bridge

Features/Training Tools

Inspiration

Many modern apps help adults to learn on the go, even if they don't feel like they have long periods of time to dedicate to sitting down and learning something. We especially considered Duolingo, one of the most popular learning apps. Duolingo helps people to learn a language in a comprehensive way while spending as much or as little time as a person has available.

What it does

This app design teaches store employees how to help people with disabilities and what they may need. It incorporates a broad range of learning methods, from videos to podcasts to games to quizzes. It incentivizes store employees to keep learning by offering points for completing each activity, then offering gift cards for those at the top of the leaderboard. In this way, employees will learn empathy for people with disabilities, gain knowledge on best practices for how to interact with and help people, and learn about which products

How we built it

We conducted user interviews with people with disabilities, used Figma to design the prototype, then used Maze to test the prototype in two rounds of testing.

Challenges we ran into

We realized that, while we knew a lot about how people with disabilities experience shopping in-store, we didn't know what it was like to be a store associate. We don't work for Estee Lauder. So, we visited multiple beauty stores and talked to store associates to learn more about how they train, which training they like and enjoy, and their values.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Once the app was developed, I tested it with a group of employees to get feedback and make any necessary improvements. The feedback was positive, and employees found the app to be engaging and informative. They also appreciated the accessibility features, which made it easier for them to use the app.

What we learned

We learned that people with disabilities want to be included, that they want to have the same experiences as everyone else, and that many modern experiences and products were not designed for them. We see this as a great opportunity to design inclusive products and experiences for people with disabilities so that they can be included.

What's next for Beauty Bridge

This app can be expanded to include other training topics as well. We would also love to include training simulations where store associates can role play how they might respond in various solutions. I hope that the app will inspire other companies in the beauty industry to prioritize accessibility and inclusivity.