Business case: an AI based technology in development proved to be able to improve the shaving experience. The goal is to reduce the drawbacks that frequently shaving men encounter in their routine, such as skin irritation, dryness, not optimal shaving results, cuts, etc. This technology processes the shaving routine data gathered through sensors that are placed in the shaver. But in order to be succesful, this technology needs an innovative UI, able to communicate advice, guidance, and feedback to the user.

Design challenge: create a dynamic visual design language and UI that will enable a shaver to communicate back to the user, to provide a live guidance (during shaving) as well as post-shaving information, until reducing the drawbacks, improving the shaving results and optimizing the routine and the satisfaction on the long term.

1. Together with specialized usability experts and cultural interpreters for different markets (i.e. East Asia) I completed a research over men shaving habits. Anticipating what could go wrong in the perception of such technology was essential to determine and understand what could be difficult to change in a man’s grooming routine. Out of the research we found that, for example, often men are not aware that applying excessive pressure on their skin while using the shaver will not result in a deeper shave performance, but will rather decrease the performance and cause skin irritation issues on the long term. The shaver shall therefore provide a live guidance to prevent users from doing this. It was also important to extend the research to different regions to identify if one single design language could fit all markets or if different directions should be adopted.

2. As a designer I believe that, before diving in the creative effort, is very important to reach out as soon as possible to the engineers that will be in charge of developing the UI, establish with them a good collaboration and ways of working. Through this collaboration I was able to gather an early understanding of the components that could be embedded in the shaver and of the actual performance such system could achieve, which I consider a critical foundation of a successful design. I was also able to offer my support in the choice of such components. For example, as there was a particular focus on the choice of the most suitable graphic display component, I crafted pilot assets that have been used to benchmark and verify the samples towards the design intents, at a very early stage.  

3. I produced sketches, drawings, wireframes, and crafted animated examples (like the video looping on top of this page) to outline a dynamic design language that can guide the user towards the goals set by the Business. Particular attention for this product was in fact given to the dynamics and animations on the UI, which is one of the top responsabilities I was given on this project. I tightly collaborated with veteran designers in the Male Grooming department to ensure the continuity between the heritage products and the existing portfolio. It was possible to brainstorm and to embed their advice while frequently touch-basing with stakeholders in the Business area. Meanwhile, I collaborated to create and maintain a solid live documentation of each direction still in the making.

4. While identifyng the most promising design directions, I crafted an interactive prototype that I could run on a normal Android phone, exploiting the phones’ hardware and sensors to simulate the gestures, the haptics, the sounds and of course the display graphics and dynamics, offering a feeling very similar as if holding a final shaver.  This, months before an hardware prototype would be ready. New test sessions with selected users were made, showing subsequent prototype versions and design simulations. I was so able to refine the design at an early stage while also negotiate with the stakeholders for the most suitable hardware components to complete the actual hardware system.

5. As last step of the design process I created the entire set of final animations that compose the final UI. I tutored a jounger designer to convert and optimize the animations in assets (specific file format previously tested and agreed with the developers). I was also committed in supporting the developers in every step of the implementation process and I finally created very detailed documentation of the UI, graphics, dynamics and behaviors.