Super Powered Assistant

The SK-II Super Powered Assistant app was developed as part of P&G's strategy to engage Young Professionals, a key demographic of young women who are passionate about skincare and intrigued by how technology can enhance their lives. Recognizing the need to connect with these consumers on a more personal and tech-savvy level, P&G aimed to deliver an innovative digital experience that aligned with the evolving expectations of this audience.

To achieve this, P&G shifted its focus from a traditional product-centered approach to one that prioritized the customer experience. This change led to a series of rapid innovation projects designed to disrupt their business practices and reshape brand perception. The SPA app became a flagship initiative in this effort, offering a personalized skincare solution that resonated with the modern, tech-forward consumer.

The concepting phase of the SK-II Super Powered Assistant app focused on envisioning how Beauty Counsellors (BCs) could enhance their daily interactions with customers using a next-generation tool. This phase included an animated product walkthrough presentation that illustrated a "day-in-the-life" experience of a BC, showcasing how the app could streamline their work, offer valuable information, and elevate customer engagement.

The app concept incorporated learning content from SK-II HQ, with features designed to make education fun and contextual. These included celebrity-driven content, product information, the iconic Pitera story, and practical tips on product application and skincare regimens. Additionally, the app provided conversation tips for customer interactions and advice on how to excel as a Beauty Counsellor, ensuring the tool not only educated but also empowered its users.

The UX and Product design phase of the SK-II Super Powered Assistant app focused on creating a seamless and intuitive interface to support Beauty Counsellors in their daily tasks. A key feature was the "Daily Snapshot," the app's central hub, where counsellors could access important updates and features that empower them with essential tools for their work. The app also incorporated an Inventory section, allowing BCs to manage stock, initiate damage reports, and handle transfers. Additionally, the Calendar function provided daily, weekly, and monthly views, as well as a Sales Manager perspective, to streamline scheduling and planning.

During this phase, workshops were held with the Beauty Counsellor team in Osaka to ensure the app addressed their specific needs. The "Counselor Admin" section included features like timesheet management and the ability to fix timesheets, making scheduling easier for managers. The "Workshift" feature enabled counsellors to select their days off, while store planning tools allowed Sales Managers to plan work shifts, avoid potential issues, and assign tasks, ensuring the app was a comprehensive tool for both counsellors and managers alike.

The Counselling UX and Design phase of the SK-II Super Powered Assistant app was centered on understanding the full range of SK-II products and how the app could enhance the counselling process for BCs. Research during this phase involved a thorough investigation of the product lineup and a hands-on demonstration of the Magic Ring, a key tool used in SK-II consultations. This exploration helped define the app's role in supporting counsellors as they guided customers through personalized skincare solutions.

Workshops with the R&D team in Kobe were key to refining the counseling experience. These sessions included counselling demos, CRM discussions, product catalog reviews, and the development of the "Daily Ring" feature for scheduling activities. The phase ended with service enactments, where the R&D team tested interaction sequences using their proprietary skin scanning product and provided feedback on previous app versions to enhance user experience.

The Daily Ring design phase of the Super Powered Assistant app aimed to track and score Beauty Counsellors' daily tasks. The team refinded the logic behind it and sketched ways to depict activities such as logging in, arriving on time, reviewing the Daily Snapshot, and completing consultations. The score reflected overall performance, including tasks like checking messages, tidying up fixtures, Magic Ring consultations, and taking hygiene breaks.

The Daily Ring was ultimately incorporated into a new Store Manager section, allowing managers to track how counsellors are staying on course. Store managers could view performance across all stores and drill down to evaluate specific BCs within a specific store, providing detailed insights into both team and individual performance.

The SK-II Super Powered Assistant app achieved significant outcomes within a tight three-month timeline, with design, QA, and UAT testing completed successfully. After its launch in Japan, the app proved highly effective, saving each Beauty Counsellor up to 40 minutes of daily administrative tasks. Additionally, the redesigned Skin Counselling experience created a more immersive interaction for customers, with counsellors proudly showcasing the app during their sessions. Now in commercial use, the SPA app serves as both a sales and administrative tool and is available at select retail locations throughout APAC.

Key learnings from the project emphasized the importance of building and supporting a modular design system. Since both customers and counsellors interact with the app, it required a cohesive visual design that blended front- and back-of-house elements, ensuring familiarity for both users. Another important takeaway was the value of early experimentation. Each sprint began with exploratory work, allowing the Engineering team to identify and address potential roadblocks caused by ambitious design solutions that, while valuable, were not always feasible for development.