CASE STUDIES / CLARINS CONNECT
DATA CLEANSING ROUTINE
Clarins had a problem... They had brilliant products and brilliant Beauty Advisors helping bring customers and products together. However, when it came to gathering customer data, either the customers were reluctant, or the manual capture process caused a lot of poor or inaccurate data.
Enter me, tasked with creating a digital companion experience that not only solved these problems, but enhanced the customer experience, driving an increase in sales and brand positivity.
No pressure then...
Project components
Platforms:
Microsoft SQL Database (Products and Customers)
CX/UX/UI Content design:
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator
Development:
Objective C
From the outset, the client was insistent that the solution (whatever it was going to be) could not fundamentally change how the Beauty Advisors interacted with the customer. This was Clarins’ IP, known as 'The Conversation™', and had millions of pounds invested in perfecting it.
With this in mind, I conducted interviews with both business stakeholders and the BAs themselves and spent a few afternoons watching how they interacted with customers. It was obvious how well they knew the paper form (shown opposite) and how integrated it was in the process. If I was going to make something they were happy to adopt, understanding the structure and layout of this form was crucial.
I created several high-level flows to map what i’d seen in the stores as a starting point to what a digital solution might look like. Whilst it looks straightforward, identifying the right times for the BA to switch from physical to digital, was crucial.
Design Sprints
I went through several iterations of initial solution mapping, each time assessing the work through some strict principles including: forced function, progressive disclosure and positional memory. These had been selected to ensure any solution did not interrupt the flow of the conversation.
Wireframes
By the 4th iteration of pen and paper wireframing, I felt like I'd hit on a solution that would invoke the spirit of the paper form, be easy and intuitive to use, and also enhance the experience for both the customer and the BA. This solution was tested with the client and a panel of users and translated into high fidelity wireframes with highly detailed interaction design annotations.
UI Design
Clarins Connect UI was a bespoke design - specifically created to fit into the Clarins visual universe, without having to compromise by using iOS library items. Whilst this added time and (some) complexity to the build phase, the result is something truly unique to the brand.
I created the Clarins Connect styleguide and design system for scaleability, something that was severely tested over the 14 releases of the app over a 5 year period!
Watch the app in action below:
So what difference did it make?
Well, quite a lot as it turns out. The app uptake grew from a single test in Selfridges to over 380 UK stores.
In the 5 years it was live, it achieved:
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Over 5k customer conversations per week
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Over 3k new customer sign-ups per week
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92% decrease in data entry errors
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£85+ million sales attributed to the app
