Nail Menu
Date
December 2024
Summary
As a full stack UX designer, I partnered with a local nail salon to help analyze structural issues with their pricing menu as well as to investigate broader issues with the nail salon business model.
A simplified menu geared towards first-time goers
To combat a lack of trust clients feel about nail salons, I wanted to open up the room for transparency to facilitate a more trusting relationship between client and nail technician.
There's some trust issues with nail salons
I’m Vietnamese-American, so nail salons hit pretty close to home. And let's be honest: customers feel a little weary walking into a nail salon. There’s an abundance of foreign chemicals and languages that make even the frequent nail salon goer feel a bit out of place. You might have seen this viral comedy sketch!
So who's the main villain?
Numerous reviews for local nail salons involve being frustrated with unexpected prices. On top of that, a lot of salon-goers report not feeling confident that nail salons are sanitary or healthy. Sounds like a problem design can fix!
The reviews don't lie
It's a frequent complaint that the pricing processes of nail salons tend to be ambiguous. As a result, many customers are unhappy at the register because the price differs from what was expected.
Let's map things out
I'm a visual person, so I opted for a journey map to help empathize these complaints. Where was the frustration most concentrated? I found that most pain points concentrated itself on the payment process. Across South Florida, it was quite common to see customers so enraged by the end of their visit that they wrote one-star reviews.
DESIGN DECISION
Overdesign for first-time goers
In my sampling pool, I interviewed users who have never been to a nail salon as well as those who get their nails done every month. I realized through conversations with my users that overdesigning for first-time goers would likely help frequent goers adjust to a new menu as well as allow first-time goers to enter a nail salon with less worry.
It will also combat issues with transparency that arose in the reviews above by giving users more information about the processes that go on in nail salons.
Sectioning the menu by process
After numerous interviews with customers, nail technicians, and nail salon owners, I partitioned the manicure process into three main steps.
Although base typically comes first in the nail creation process, I wanted to play with putting it after polish.
This was for two reasons: customers typically prioritize color in their decision to get their nails done; also, this would initiate customers into a more engaging, visual step of the process and ease them into considering more "technical" base options.
Cooking up a physical iteration
At first, I opted for a clipboard-style menu that the customer would flip through. However, something felt off. I sent this to the owner of the nail salon I was working with, and although they thought the idea was cool, they mentioned issues related to cognitive overload. I wanted to go back to the drawing board.
Comparing wireframe layouts
I looked at competitors to see what they were up to. I compared my initial iteration (rightmost wireframe) to three others, comparing all of them on their cognitive overload, learnability, and visual hierarchy.
DESIGN DECISION
A single-column menu
When laid out, the balance and usability that a single-column menu provided to the customer was invaluable. It's easy translatable across digital interfaces and can be viewed without flipping pages. Additionally, it sections off all the services that a nail salon might provide, like manicures, pedicures, waxing services, and more, in an easy-to-read format.
From vision to reality
This version groups services like manicures and pedicures together with color, leaving "Touch Ups" at the bottom as they apply to both.
Additionally, the eye naturally can find which service the customer came in to complete and go through the process as necessary. Although the customer might have to do some mental math to estimate their set, through a usability testing survey, first-time users were able to more accurately assess the price of a set.
Ta-da!
Easier to navigate
After conducting A/B testing, users reported that, on average, the new menu was 30% easier to navigate compared to the old menu
Less overwhelming
Compared to the original menu, users also perceived it to be 18% less overwhelming on average
Comforting descriptions
And after follow-up interviews, users who weren't frequent nail salon clients felt comforted by the extra product descriptions
Plus, I jumpstarted the salon's social media
Taking on the salon's social media was an unexpected side quest, but it was the perfect opportunity to amplify the impact of the menu redesign. I leaned into my inner brand strategist, crafting a fresh and modern online presence to set the salon apart from competitors. It was a fun way to bring the new vibe to life and tie everything together!
A bit of reflection
Admittedly, as one of my first true UX projects, I initially viewed design as a mostly aesthetic endeavor, but I forced myself to consider layouts, wireframes, and rapid prototyping before committing into a more visually appealing prototype.
In future iterations, I think it'd be better if the descriptions for nail bases were more detailed. It was a balance of accessible font size, aesthetic appeal, and good UX writing. It's a good example to point to regarding the competing priorities within UX.
A final lesson I learned was that this was beyond a menu change, reflecting how UX and strategy often coincide. A lot of the changes in pricing were quite progressive to the nail salon industry which could be received badly by customers. It may be simpler in totality, but workers would likely need to walk their customers through the new system as they are accustomed to older-style menus.