Barbify App

Product Experience

Problem Space 

Problem Statement  

This product aims to tackle the issue of reducing wait times for service seekers and enhancing business owners' efficiency through effective scheduling

Problem Background  

As reported by Business Insider, patrons of barbershops, beauty salons, and nail parlors frequently endure nearly two hours of waiting time at their chosen establishments. This prolonged wait often stems from customers' preference to remain on-site for their hair services, as leaving and returning later could result in even lengthier delays. Despite the efforts of various scheduling apps aimed at addressing this issue for small businesses, there has been limited success in reducing customer wait times. The prospect of spending two hours on a basic hair appointment is notably inconvenient, especially when that time could be more productively utilized.

User research conducted unveiled that 94% of participants expressed concerns about their productivity or believed they could have used their time more effectively. Feedback highlighted instances where individuals spend over two hours, particularly when service providers fail to communicate about waiting lists, causing interference with their daily activities. Of the participants, 65.2% indicated that extended waiting times impact their loyalty and may deter them from revisiting the shop. Additionally, approximately 90% of participants believed the wait times could have been better spent on more productive activities.

Furthermore, the research revealed that about 90% of participants have never utilized scheduling platforms to pre-book appointments with their service providers. Consequently, finding more effective ways to ensure customers experience shorter wait times at their preferred shops before receiving services becomes imperative.

Research Insights

User Pain Points

User research conducted unveiled that 94% of participants expressed concerns about their productivity or believed they could have used their time more effectively. Feedback highlighted instances where individuals spend over two hours, particularly when service providers fail to communicate about waiting lists, causing interference with their daily activities.

Supporting Data

Of the participants, 65.2% indicated that extended waiting times impact their loyalty and may deter them from revisiting the shop.

Feedback

The user research revealed that about 90% of participants have never utilized scheduling platforms to pre-book appointments with their service providers.

Landing on the Solution

Based on our target users’ pain points, we wanted to work on the following features:

• Help businesses to effortlessly schedule real-time appointments while benefiting from features like calendar syncing and text or call reminders.
• Develop an app that offers real-time updates on the shop's current level of activity. This app will help to monitor queue status, identifying the staff on duty, exploring available services, and managing missed appointments, among various other functionalities. 
• Implement a digital queue management system that will allow for a digitalized process wherein customers can remotely join the queue using a mobile app. Users will receive live updates on their queue position, significantly reducing the necessity to physically wait in line.

Explanation of Solution

Barbiefy is a streamlined scheduling platform that simplifies the process of booking appointments at barber shops, nail salons, and beauty salons, all within a single, convenient platform. With Barbiefy, your business can effortlessly schedule real-time appointments while benefiting from features like calendar syncing and text or call reminders. This app would let customers know how many clients are ahead of the them during the booking process.

The BARBIFY MVP will have the following key features:

User Authentication: User will be able to create a secure login and registration to ensure user-specific data and access.

Calendar Integration: User will be able to Integrate their appoinment with calendars to view existing commitments and avoid scheduling conflicts.

Appointment Creation: User will be able to create new appointments with details such as date, time, location, and purpose.

Notification System: Users will be able to receive automated reminders and notifications to alert users about upcoming appointments.

Synchronization: User will be able to sync data across multiple devices, ensuring consistency in scheduling information.

Booking and Rescheduling: On the platform, there will be a section for user for booking and rescheduling appointments.

Feedback and Review System: users will be able to provide feedback on appointments or services, helping to improve the overall experience.

Future Steps

I plan to continue with this project with a dedicated team of  UX/UI Designer and Developers to create and further improve on the MVP while utilizing this project as a reference for my product management experience in interviews. Possible additional problems identified that need to be address is that business owner’s expressed concerns with the need for an online payment with the platform, the next steps will include understanding how to solve this problem to significantly streamline their operations by integrating payment section with the scheduling app.

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