What is Hatchel?

Hatchel is a mens hair app, designed and focused around well groomed men who are seeking personalised hair care guidance, tips and suggestions. The app uses your profile information to suggest hair cuts, products, tips and tricks based on your hair colour, type, length and face shape.

Development

On the back of the research conducted, I then constructed the Minimum Viable Product for the app, taking into consideration what features and content were needed by the target audience. This involved creating basic mock ups for the app screens to see how the user would interact with it and whether the interaction was clear and fluid.

Features

The app itself has a range of different features which users can interact and engage with in order to find products, styles and tutorials to help aid them through every day life.

The suggestions are generated from the users profile criteria which they select during the sign up process, identifying their hair colour, type, length and face shape. Upon finding a product, the user can then save products they like to their profile, allowing them to keep track of the products they may want to purchase in the future. The user can search for specific types of products, cuts and styles they are looking for, but the suggestions are there to help and guide the user when searching. There is also a feed of articles directly from Hatchel which range from interviews, to the latest trends, which allow users to gain information about brands and products they may have never used, encouraging them to experiment and find what works best for them. Not only this, but the community chat function allows Hatchel users to talk with one another, if they have any questions or queries the Hatchel community can help. Finally, find a stylist uses your phones GPS in order to suggest the best barbers and hairdressers within your current location, allowing you to find them and navigate to where they are situated.

Research Insights

There is currently a lack of digital products that accomodate for mens hair and grooming; a product which is much needed in a desolate market fter conducting research in the mens hair care market and what digital products are currently available, it was evident that there was a lack of apps that accomodated Hatchel's target audience and even the apps that were available were poorly made, looked unprofessional and were clunky to use. In terms of comparative research, when looking at womens hair and make up apps and the difference between these and the mens apps, they were incomparable. The UI was extremely clean and the functionality was fluid, and many of the features within the apps available were beneficial and were effective when looking for hair and make up products.

Prototype

Using Invision, I constructed a prototype of the app, illustrating how the app would function and feel when being used by the user. This allowed me to see if there were any gaps within the app that needed to be filled, making the interface fluent and obvious to use.

Concept Video

In order to capture how the Hatchel app could and would work in an every day situation, I decided I would go for "a day in the life of..." style video. This allowed me to provide context as to why the Hatchel app is needed and how it can benefit the target audience by using the app as their own personal hair care guide.

Future Potential

I am currently in the process of developing Hatchel into it's own business, constructing a business plan and proposition initially, with the aim of eventually developing the app. As part of my semester 2 project, I have also constructed an instore point of sale stand which derives from the Hatchel app, which can also be found on this website. This was constructed in order to visualise how Hatchel could progress and develop as a brand and how it could be used within the physical retail environment.