How can you use innovation to create a personalized beauty product?

New products have to be developed only when you understand what your potential customer is demanding. Market Intelligence is crucial, and also customer learning. You need to study and create a buyer persona, define the customer journey, understand their main pain points, get to know the decision maker... Then, the customer segmentation is very important to create your value proposition and adapt it to the reality. After this, you will be ready to jump into the next phase of the process. Some tools can be very useful to understand what your customer is demanding, in my opinion the best one in the market is Mintel.

In addition to the mentioned ways of understanding your customer. Some of the ways, I do, is becoming the customer myself to the Product. I am currently working in a Digital News platform, I started consuming news a lot lately. I started exploring different other news products and platforms to see, how these products are solving or improving the experience of users.

Understanding user requirement, staying agile, prioritizing customer requirement,always be wide open to understand technical and technological advancements happening in the industry!

It’s not just about personalization anymore; it’s about creating a beauty masterpiece that reflects industry expertise, aligns with fashion trends, and excels in real-world usage. 1. Makeup Artists’ Expertise: Makeup artists understand the nuances of color, texture, and application. Collaborate with them to fine-tune makeup products. Their insights ensure that shades and formulations match diverse skin tones and meet professional standards, elevating your product’s quality. 2. Fashionpreneurs’ Trend Sensibility: They are trendsetters; they anticipate style shifts. Their input can guide product development to align with current and future fashion trends.

While exploring possibilities is crucial, it's also important not to get carried away with innovation for the sake of innovation. The beauty industry is flooded with gimmicky products that promise novelty but provide little real value. The focus should always be on solving real customer problems and meeting their needs, even if it means sticking to more traditional product formulations or methods. Innovation should never compromise the efficacy and safety of the product.

Integrating design thinking into the creation of personalized beauty products enhances the process. Think of it as the architect's touch, ensuring the product resonates deeply with customers. This approach starts with empathizing with customers' needs, fostering creativity in ideation, prototyping and iterating for refinement, and prioritizing user-centric solutions. Just as an architect adapts designs to fit a client's lifestyle, design thinking ensures your beauty product is not only personalized but also innovative, adaptable, and aligned with customer desires. It's the architectural blueprint for a truly customer-centric beauty product.

Embrace advancements in AI and AR to offer real-time personalized recommendations. For instance, skin analysis tools can identify unique skin needs, while augmented reality can let users virtually try different makeup products. Join beauty forums and communities, encouraging potential users to share their unique beauty needs and challenges. This direct engagement provides insights beyond traditional market research. Partnering with beauty influencers for early reviews can offer invaluable feedback. Their diverse follower base can provide a broad spectrum of user experiences. After the initial launch, continuously evolve the product based on ongoing feedback. The beauty industry's preferences change rapidly.

Seek Regular Feedback: Establish channels for users to continually provide feedback, ensuring the product evolves alongside consumer preferences. Prototype Testing: Before introducing a full-fledged change, test prototypes or smaller versions. This minimizes risks and helps in identifying potential challenges. Revisit Your Personas: As market trends shift, the personas you started with might evolve. Regularly revisiting and adjusting these personas ensures your product remains relevant. Celebrate & Share Success: Highlighting improvements and sharing success stories fosters trust and loyalty among consumers, assuring them of your commitment to excellence.

Here are some of my learnings from my 5 years of Product Management. ?? Micro-Moments: Engage users when they instinctively turn to devices. ?? Referral Programs: Boost growth via word-of-mouth incentives. ?? Diverse Marketing: Extend reach with varied channels, including influencers. ?? Brand Story: Craft an emotional narrative that resonates. ?? Partnerships: Co-market with aligned brands to tap into new audiences. ?? Trend Adoption: Stay agile; evolve with industry trends. ?? Feedback Culture: Promote cross-team communication for swift innovation.

Currently working at a B2B startup as Product Lead. Based on my experience if I need to innovate for personalized beauty products, then the following will be my approach: 1. Use data for personalized insights - skin type, age, etc. 2. Apply machine learning for product recommendations, considering reviews and trends. 3. Create a user-friendly and guided interface for frictionless onboarding. For example, a mobile app analyzes skin from a selfie, recommends tailored skincare, and allows direct product purchase. It's convenient, data-driven, and caters to busy individuals. Companies can create personalized makeup, hair care, and fragrance products. By leveraging data and technology, superior results can be delivered.

No more guessing what's in the beauty products! Personalized beauty goes the extra mile. It takes a close look at the skin, thinks about any allergies or things that might bother the skin, and then creates the perfect potion just for them. It's like making a special magic potion that makes the skin happy and beautiful.