The Basement Salon

The Basement Salon

A new website, enhanced user experience and updated branding. The salon is now experiencing an increase in new clients weekly.

The Salon

The stylists have been working in the industry for over 25 years, offering a wide variety of services such as haircuts, styling, color and highlights. The salon now has a new home, where clients and families can receive professional services in a relaxed and feel-at-home environment.

Mission:

Create a website that makes it easy for clients to book appointments and learn more about the salon.

Problem

The salon does not have a website to help users book appointments and support selling its services. The salon wants to create a website that encourages its clients to book an appointment.

Pain Points

Users are stressed that they have to go through a hair-booking process. Many of them don’t have much time to book an appointment, and many users are not sure if they should call or book online. Some users associate navigating through a hair website with stress, while others may stress about how to book a custom hair request. Additionally, users don’t enjoy back-and-forth and want to avoid it as much as possible.

User Goals

  • I felt comfortable booking my appointment from the website

  • The appointment was super easy to book on the website and stress-free

  • Booking the appointment online was super fast/seamless and didn’t take much time out of my day

  • The website felt inviting and I enjoyed visiting it

  • I was able to send over my custom hair-requests easily to the hairdresser, confident that they will receive it and answer quickly

  • I got all the information I needed from the website and I’m all set

  • I’m able to see that the staff looks friendly and trusting

  • I am able to see that the salon looks clean and I get a sense that it’s professional

  • I’m able to see the prices and know that it’s affordable

  • I’m able to see on the website that I can trust the team and that they are talented

  • I’m able to search for pictures in a gallery of a hairstyle I’m looking to get

  • I’m able to navigate to the social media platforms easily from the site to view more photos etc

  • I’m able to check reviews easily

  • I’m able to locate the phone number to call the salon super easily

  • I’m able to find the email address easily so I can email the salon

  • View location, contact info, hours

Solution

Create a seamless user experience, where clients can quickly and comfortably book an appointment and find the information they need. Make the experience as stress-free as possible, and establish trust and confidence by sharing photos, prices, testimonials and a backstory. Create a place where clients can easily send over custom hair-requests. Make the website aesthetically pleasant for the user to visit and desire to come back.

Process

User Research, Competitive Analysis, User Interviews, Journey Mapping, Personas, Scenarios, Wireframing, Usability testing, branding and Visual Design.

Logo, Typography, Color

The salon wanted to keep their existing logo. I enhanced the brand’s colors to create a more approachable, friendly and modernized feel. I also chose a complimenting typeface that would work well with the logo. The salon boasts a feel-at-home environment, so I wanted to choose something that was modernized, but yet soft and inviting. I paired it with a clean san-serif and minimalist aesthetic to create a nice balance.

Buttons and Clear Categories

I wanted the primary emphasis to be placed on the buttons. The mission statement verbalizes the salon’s feel-at home atmosphere and expresses a friendly and approachable environment. I wanted everything to be clean, clear and give legitimacy to the brand by displaying quality photography.