Introducing the Hairspace
Smart Clipper
Your personal barber. Anywhere, anytime.

Can you automate a haircut?

Research | Ideation | Product Testing | Marketing
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Hairspace is a New Zealand based startup working towards bringing a automatic hair clipper to market.  

I was brought on board for the duration of the product trials. I facilitated the qualitative and quantitative research that was then presented to external stakeholders (Philips) alongside results from our first round of user trials. I also created a Hifi Prototype of the accompanying app that guided participants through the haircutting experience during the trials. I then assisted with some marketing and content creation.
OUR TEAM
I was the sole UX Designer, working alongside a CEO/Lead Engineer, Lead Product Designer and Engineer.
SMART
Fully automated haircuts
Automatically re-create your own full-length salon haircut at home.
ANYONE'S A BARBER
No experience required
Simply connect and follow the in App guide. We do all the cutting for you.
SIMPLE
Two steps
Just two steps to the perfect cut. Use the smart clipper to measure your salon cut, then go into cutting mode.
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Our Research
Our trials consisted of two separate stages of research. The first stage of the trials, which I ran, were the product perception tests. The second stage was the behavioural trials, where participants used the clippers alongside the accompanying app.

We were investigating four overarching themes: current haircutting routines, trust, ease of use and the technical results.
PERCEPTION TESTS
USABILITY TRIALS
We interviewed 12 male participants of varying ages and hairtypes about their current haircutting habits.
We introduced the clipper and the app to them so that they would have an understanding of what lay ahead in the behavioural trials.
Participants then used our latest prototype clipper and app to give themselves a haircut. We then interviewed them afterwards about their experience. We received feedback on both the clippers and the app.
What We Tested
What We Learned
What We Tested
What We Learned
Current routine
Participants value consistency. They don’t believe that hairdressers, barbers or at home haircuts will be consistent.
Current routine
Believed that using the device would easily fit into their routine and give them more consistent results than a hairdresser or barber.
Trust
Learning about the safety features and receiving real time feedback made them feel confident about using the clippers
Trust
Generally felt a bit nervous and skeptical at the beginning, but these feelings faded away as they progressed with their haircut.
Ease of use
Having an accompanying app that guided them made them feel confident.
Ease of use
Real time feedback and onboarding within the app are very important features that need developing to make the product easy to use, and develop a users trust.
Technical usability
Curious about how well it could do more technical things such as fades. Participants said that the time it takes to use would be an influencing factor.
Technical usability
The overall speed was an issue, as it took around 40min to measure and cut. All of the instructions took a long time to read.
LOOKING FORWARD
Our Future
Despite the current focus being primarily on the clippers, the user trials demonstrated that the app is going to play a key role in people comfortably navigating the device.

I isolated three key jumping off points for future exploration and development.
Onboarding
Real Time Feedback
Copy
There was a steep learning curve when first using the device. Onboarding users is going to play an integral part in the overall success and experience of using product.
Participants stated that having real time feedback from the clipper shown on the app would help them navigate the measuring and haircutting process easily.
Succinct and clear copy that is easy to understand is key for users to be able to quickly grasp complex instructions.  

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