Routini Maker
App

• Analyzed the top skincare routine apps — Skincare Routine, Cloe, and Trove Skin — to map common features, gaps, and UI conventions
• Competitors don't sell tangible products like Curology and Neutrogena 360; none encompass all the necessary features for a maintainable routine
• Competitor apps track day-to-day progress but none combine routine creation, tracking, and education in one place
• Researched indirect markets: Weight Watchers (established 1963) for its "sticky calendar" for single-day and day-to-day progress comparison; The Magic 5, a custom-fitted swimming goggles company, for its clear instruction and progress markings during the facial recognition process
• Conducted user interviews with 8 participants, ages 25 to 40 (4 men, 4 women)
• Identified that competitor apps skew feminine in UI — using purple and pink colors with rounded icons — creating an opportunity for gender-neutral design

Interview Questions

• What does a skincare routine mean to you?
• What do you think the benefits would be from a good skincare routine?
• Does a skincare routine seem like it's for health and/or appearance?
• Would seeing before and after photos inspire you to maintain a routine?

Most of the competitor apps track your day-to-day progress while a few focus on helping you create a custom routine. None of the apps sell tangible products like other popular skincare apps i.e. Curology and Neutrogena 360. The competitor apps all offer at least one important feature but they don't encompass the absolute necessary features one looks for when starting a maintainable skincare routine. Routini Maker is an app that incorporates the most important basic features such as tracking day-to-day progress, creating a customized routine based off AI advice and your own goals, offering alternate product suggestions, and giving reputable advice from a dermatologist. The competitor apps have a narrow-minded focus, only focusing on facial skincare. Routini Maker offers a broader focus, allowing the user to improve facial and/or body skincare. There's also an option to improve facial hair. The additional options offer relatability to men and non-binary genders. The competitor apps use more typically feminine UI — purple & pink colors, their icons have rounded edges, etc. which make the apps more woman gender focused. Routini Maker uses gender neutral UI — blues & oranges, icons with edges that aren't super round or sharp, etc. This allows for a more inclusive user base.

In comparison to other markets in the digital space, the skincare routine market is a newer and niche market so it makes sense that many of Routini Maker's competitors are relatively young brands. I wanted Routini Maker's similar features to be a step up from its young competitors so I decided to research more established brands in older markets that offer similar features but use better technology and/or better UX & UI.

I decided to research the health & diet market because many of the apps within this category offer day-to-day progress tracking and reputable advice offerings (from dietitians, professional trainers etc.) Weight Watchers is a long standing brand (established in 1963) that uses a sticky calendar for single day and day-to-day progress comparison. Inspired by this app, I also added the sticky calendar for single and day-to-day progress comparison.

I researched the Eyewear industry to see how different apps approach the use of facial recognition (which many eyewear brands use for measuring the user's face before ordering frames). I found that The Magic5, a custom fitted swimming goggles company, utilized facial recognition by incorporating it within user friendly UX / UI making the entire fitting process a breeze. The Magic5 app gives the user clear instruction and progress markings for the facial recognition process. These small yet important details inspired Routini Maker's UX / UI AI selfie scanning feature.