Industrial Design
Project Lux
A smart mirror concept to reimagine skincare and makeup application.
Background
For many people, navigating the aisles or websites of their favorite retailer for skincare and makeup products can be a stressful experience. The market is overflowing with solutions, each with different ingredients and a unique order of application.
Lux is a conceptual sprint project focused on finding opportunities to enhance the ritual of skin care with emerging technologies. Our goal was to empower users across the spectrum to know what skincare products to buy and how to apply them based on their unique routine.
Challenges
- Ensuring user privacy
- Simplifying complex inputs for the user
- Fitting a technology product into an existing routine
Services & Capabilities
Core Technologies
Empowering everyone to apply product with confidence
Skincare products can be expensive, and there can be long-term effects of purchasing an unsuitable product or applying it incorrectly. Issues such as early aging, skin cancer, discomfort, acne, and low self-confidence all stem from uninformed decisions.
Everyone’s skin is unique and changing so we put special care into developing a solution that individualizes the skincare routine and gives targeted insight over time.
Leveraging the latest AI technologies
During the market research phase, we realized the use of a dielectric mirror could solve the challenge of adoption, and AI technologies could give powerful insights into a user’s care and routine profile.
These technologies are used in smart exercise mirrors and home installations, but they haven’t yet been used in a portable application such as a countertop mirror.
The Lux smart mirror leverages AI and machine learning to assist in product application, selection, and time management, incorporating new features such as UV sun damage detection and sunscreen coverage through specialized cameras.
Gathering industry expertise and user insights
User research: This project involved interviews with a professional makeup artist working in the entertainment industry, surveying 30+ women and men on their skincare and makeup habits, and research into the existing beauty market.
Industry experts: Consulting Lori Young—a professional makeup artist with work featured in advertising, television, film, and the red carpet—was essential. Lori provided valuable insight into the makeup industry, highlighting the importance of skincare for her high-end clients. She noted that she often has to remind her clients how to apply products in the correct order, and that some clients even write out the steps on their mirror.
Because hygiene is vital to skincare, there was an opportunity to integrate automated reminders to clean products, as irregular cleaning leads to brush damage and bacteria growth.
A competitive analysis of the market for bathroom mirrors gave us more insight into the type of environments the product will live in, which was integral to designing a unique product that is adaptable to the end user’s needs.
Leveraging subject matter expert insights, industry research, and analysis of other similar products, we had the pieces we needed to formulate an improved solution.
Combining form, function, and aesthetics
Our research, in addition to a survey of over 30 consumers, allowed us to identify the feature set for the product. Our primary goal was uncomplicating the process of selecting and applying products while providing health insights such as skin damage to educate users and improve their health.
Physical prototypes: Created rough cardboard prototypes and had users evaluate them for our core design principles of an elegant, uncomplicated, and approachable feel.
3D modeling: Selected our desired direction, using SOLIDWORKS to CAD our solution and create a higher fidelity prototype for evaluation that reflected the ideal form and movement of the final product.
Aesthetic design: Identified the colors, material, and finishes of the design, striving for a unique yet elegant aesthetic that included polished matte metal and neutral stone.
A smart, secure product that empowers the end user
User experience is at the core of Lux. The Lux mirror can pivot and rotate along two axes, allowing the mirror to be positioned to achieve the optimal viewing angle for users. This adjustability ensures that users of different heights can comfortably use the mirror without straining or bending. The mirror can also be tilted and swiveled, making it practical and adaptable for many environments
Personal privacy was at the forefront of our minds while designing Lux as it will be placed in sensitive environments such as a bedroom or bathroom. Lux has a physical camera cover with an indication light so there is no mistaking if the camera is on or off.
The UI of the product allows the user to do three simple tasks:
1. Scan their face for health tips and skincare recommendations
2. Analyze their biometric features for makeup recommendations
3. Follow tutorials to master new looks, or follow a saved skincare routine based on their unique lifestyle
