Client: BarberStylist Mobile App | Project: Mobile App, Corporate Website | Role: Designer-Project Manager
BarberStylist is a startup appointment booking app for Barbers and Hair Stylists. The app is a haircare marketplace that brings haircare providers and prospective clients together on one convenient platform. It provides clients with the convenience of booking appointments, paying for services, and posting reviews while enabling hair care professionals to better manage their businesses.
In 2020, I began talks with the owner to discuss the vision for the app. The owner, a hair care professional himself, recognized that although there were competing booking apps in the marketplace already, none of them offered a single solution that Barbers and Hair Stylists could both use on one platform. Barbershop apps and salon booking apps were two totally separate worlds. Seeing this, the owner and I began exploring what features and functions would be most needed and desired.
After several meetings and brainstorming sessions, the direction for the app was determined. The app needed to be a tool that hair care professionals could use for reliable appointment booking and managing their businesses while also providing their clients a secure fast way to pay for services. The app had to be easy to use and scalable all while running complex programming in the background that integrated real-time payment processing.
Other important goals and objectives were to:
- Help Barbers and Stylist streamline communication and follow-ups with their clients
- Make appointment management clear and easy for both providers and clients
- Support the owner's ongoing marketing activities
An ideal Barber profile was established:
- Nearly 70% of all Barbers are men.
- The average Barber is 40+ years old.
- Most are White (64%) followed by Hispanic and Latino (15%) and Black/African American (11%).
- The average Barber earns around $38,000 per year.
- Most have a high school education or equivalent.
An ideal Hair Stylist profile was also determined:
- Nearly 76% of all Hair Stylists are women.
- Most are White (63%) followed by Hispanic and Latino (19%) and Black/African American (10%).
- The average Hair Stylist earns around $36,000 per year.
- The average Hair Stylist is 40+ years old.
- Most have a high school education or equivalent or Associate Degree.
Lastly, an ideal client profile was established.
- More than half of all online booking appointments are made by Millennials (age 22 to 37) and Gen X-ers (age 38 to 53).
- Women make up 88% of all salon appointments booked online.
- Nearly 41% of Millennials and Gen X clients say they prefer using mobile devices to book appointments followed by 16% desktops and 2% tablets.
- Most are avid social media users.
- The median income for these two age groups was about the same, $37,000 (some college) and $51,00 (Bachelor's Degree)
After months of gathering insight into the haircare industry, I was beyond ready to get started with the project. The first thing I had to do was assemble a development team. The team consisted of two Graphic Designers to create UI elements (myself included), one programmer, and one copywriter. I also assumed the role of Project Manager and assisted with quality assurance. Together we designed a hybrid mobile app that runs on both Android and iOS operating systems. Users can find Barbers and Hair Stylists quickly within a few miles of their current location, book and manage appointments, pay, share photos, and reviews.
In 2020, the website and app both launched. After a lengthy approval process, the app was made available on both Play Store and the App Store.
BarberStylist is a mobile appointment booking app for Barbers and Hair Stylists looking to increase and manage their businesses. The app brings hair care professionals and prospective clients together on one convenient platform. Due to shutdowns and safety concerns caused by the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, the app was delayed multiple times. After nearly a year of production, the app launched on Play Store and the App Store.
