UX Case Study: Barber Shop Appointment Application

Introduction

There a newly opened barbershop in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They have four reputed hair stylists serving the customers. The owner solely managing the business & operations manually. They offer services such as haircuts, styling, hair treatments, facial treatments, and wedding packages.

Due to high demand, they are experiencing challenges in managing customer appointments & walk in customers.

The goal of this project is to design a web application to streamline the appointment process, staff scheduling and customer walk-ins to enhance the customer experience, efficiency and reduce waiting times.

Problem Statement

• Inefficient appointment management: The manual appointment procedure has been a real headache to the customers with overlapped appointments and scheduling conflicts.
• Long waiting times: Customers have been waiting for long until they get a hairstylist due to lack of real-time slot management mechanism.
• Lack of communication: Customers have no option to get notified or reminders on confirmations which can lead to a lot of missed appointments.
• Reviews & feedbacks: Even though the deliver a professional service, the customers don’t review them or give feedbacks on the improvements.

Research Methodology

• User interviews: Interviews with potential customers to understand their preferences and pain points
• Staff surveys: Insights from stylists about their needs
• Competitive Analysis: SWOT analysis of other salon systems

Survey Questions - Staff

• What is your current day to day routine at work?
• What are the top challenges you face with customers appointments?
• How do you currently manage the schedules & appointments?
• What difficulties with the current schedule & appointment process?
• How long customers have to wait? (in minutes - min / max)
• How would you like to receive notifications and updates about appointments?

Survey Questions - Customer

• How do you currently book your appointments?
• What are the challenges you faced in booking or waiting for service?
• Would you prefer booking online or walking in? Why?
• How would you like to receive notifications and updates about appointments?
• What would improve your overall experience?

User categories

Customers:

• Coming in for haircuts, styling and grooming
• Need an easy way to book, reschedule or cancel appointments
• Prefer less waiting times
• Expect reminders for appointments
• Need a feedback mechanism to share the experience

Staff

• Hair stylists & other staffs
• Need a centralized system for all stylists
• Need a way to handle walk-in customers
• Would love to see customer history and preferences

Owner

• Overseeing and operations
• Need to check the availabilities & status
• Need to check the scheduling patterns for decision making

User personas

User Journey Maps

Competitor Analysis

Solution: Customer website

• Mobile responsive website
• View availability of each stylist
• Booking & rescheduling
• Set customer needs & preferences
• Canceling appointments
• Receive reminders and confirmations: SMS or WhatsApp
• Feedbacks & reviews

Solution: Staff dashboard

• Manage appointments for all stylists
• Assign walk-ins customers to available stylists
• View customer history and preferences
• Send manual reminders and notifications
• View customer feedbacks & reviews

Lo-fi Wireframes: Customer booking online

Lo-fi Wireframes: Staff

Hi-fi Wireframes: Customer booking online

Figma designs will go here

Hi-fi Wireframes: Staff

Figma designs will go here