B2B2C
Multichannel
AI chatbot prototype | Live demo March 2024
Industry
Beauty retail
E-commerce
My role
Product designer
Who I worked with
Product manager, consulting designer, freelance 3D artist
Context
Landing International is a startup launching and scaling over 450 beauty brands in US retail. EDIE AI is their chatbot solution for elevating the online shopping experience, using relevant, personalized, and expert beauty product recommendations.
Challenge
Landing's retail partners like JC Penney and Ulta have enormous product catalogs. This means a world of possible purchases, but also a daunting task for average consumers.
As e-commerce overtakes brick-and-mortar shopping, how might we leverage AI to also include people who prefer to shop in-person at big box stores?
Results
A 0-1 hi-fi AI chatbot design with 3 prototyped user paths in 3 months
Success by exposure
I demoed the chatbot live at Landing's inaugural summit on diversity in beauty, featuring entrepreneurs like John Legend, Ciara, Ayesha Curry, and Michelle Phan.
Major retailer websites are huge and hard to navigate.
Our high-level goals were to:
Prototype an AI chatbot that made personalized beauty product recommendations
Aim for a plug-and-play solution to pitch to retailers
Create a friendly 3D character to represent EDIE, the AI chatbot
Bespoke beauty AI
Shoppers who prefer in-person big box stores value an expert consultation and lots of vetted choices. We wanted to replicate that experience with AI and make users feel like they were shopping with their best friend and beauty expert, all while browsing online.
Sleek interface, easy integration
We prioritized the business objective of pitching a sleek and easy-to-integrate product, and prototyped a plug-and-play chatbot that could live on any retailer website.
In-app education
Our designs highlight Landing's 8 years of beauty industry expertise. Users get access to pro tips on how to best use products that are recommended for their unique skin type.
3D character development
Landing wanted to create a 3D character to personify EDIE for an extra approachable brand. Working with 3D artist Armin Khorsandipour, I project managed the design and development.
Demoing EDIE among the likes of John Legend and Ciara at Voices of Beauty.
Ideal state
What we demoed actually went against our initial research, which recommended:
Avoid personifying AI
Provide alternative non-AI options like speaking to a human
Target specific tasks that AI can enhance
In our ideal state, we imagined EDIE AI helping you at key touch points in your beauty journey, including on Landing International's flagship beauty education app, BeautyFluent.
AI-generated insights
With a seamless in-app integration, EDIE AI would deliver targeted relevant insights where it matters most—like when you want to see what TikTokers are saying about the product or how to apply it.
Key learnings
⚖️ Business objectives, user needs, and design ambitions
Balancing these three factors was the biggest challenge. A conventional plug-and-play chatbot UI was conducive to convincing retailers that this would be a low-lift integration. And while users are already familiar with the prototyped UI, chatbots rarely create the value intended for a task as broad as shopping.
🧪 Test test test
I would have conducted more client and user research before jumping to hi-fi prototyping. Perhaps the solution would not have been a chatbot at all.
