Given a brief to design within the Health & Wellbeing space, I conducted netnographic research across digital platforms to identify emerging trends. Skincare quickly emerged as a rapidly growing concern among younger users — influenced by social media, children now engage with beauty products as early as age 8, far earlier than previous generations (Ulta Beauty, 2024), with 71% of girls and 51% of boys aged 7–17 showing interest (The Benchmarking Company, 2024).
Focusing on TikTok — where 46% of Gen Z seek beauty content, the highest of any platform (Attest, 2024) — revealed teenagers consuming large amounts of unregulated skincare content without reliable, age-appropriate guidance.
Further research confirmed the scale of the issue. Children as young as 10 are being influenced to demand anti-ageing products not formulated for their skin (The Guardian, 2024). TikTok has become a primary platform where teens educate themselves on skincare trends (BBC News, 2024), often promoting ingredients such as retinol that are unsuitable for teenage skin (WIRED Middle East, 2024). Medical professionals warn that products not designed for teenage skin can worsen acne, irritate the skin, and cause long-term damage (Dr Juliet Williams, 2024).
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Having identified that teenage skincare — and the misinformation surrounding it — was a growing and underserved problem, the challenge became: how might we help teenagers navigate skincare when their primary source of guidance is social media?
Understanding the Users
To understand the target audience, I conducted observational research, an online survey with 26 participants, and persona development. Three key insights emerged.
35% didn't know their own skin type (a chance to help teenagers understand their skin as a starting point), 31% had negative reactions from socially recommended products yet remained highly receptive to social influence (an opportunity to build a trusted social environment), and 69% were already using multiple products daily—showing the challenge wasn't product access but structuring effective routines. This shifted the direction from product recommendation to routine building.
Three personas were developed — Ava (15), Max (17), and Mia (16) — representing different relationships with skincare knowledge, social pressure, and confidence.
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Ideation
Research findings revealed a consistent pattern: teenagers are exposed to high volumes of skincare content but have no reliable way to evaluate it against their own skin. The core issue was not a lack of products or content — it was the absence of a structured, relevant framework to make sense of it.
From these findings, a How Might We challenge was framed to guide ideation. SCAMPER was applied to systematically explore and refine concepts, and a Hierarchical Task Analysis mapped the full user journey — breaking down each goal into discrete sub-tasks to inform the information architecture and feature set. This process converged on four core features: SkinQuiz, Personalised Routine, SkinDiary, and Community.
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Design & Prototyping
The design progressed from sketches to wireframes to high-fidelity prototypes. The concept evolved into SkinMatcha — combining 'Skin' for personalised skincare and 'Matcha' to represent the community. Users are “matched” with others who share the same skin type — their skinmatchas — enabling them to discover and exchange routines. Rather than removing peer influence, the design redirects it into a safer, skin-type-based community where advice is more relevant and trustworthy.
The colour palette was inspired by retro Logitech keyboards, creating a soft and friendly interface suited to teenage users.
Key user flows: SkinQuiz → match result → search and explore routines or create their own→ SkinDiary → community sharing.
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Testing & Heuristic Evaluation
High-fidelity prototypes were tested in moderated remote sessions with five teenage participants. An A/B test of the Create Routine screen showed that predefined product lists caused confusion and cognitive overload, while free-text entry was preferred for its flexibility and sense of control.
A heuristic evaluation identified key improvements: improved system visibility through real-time progress indicators; undo/redo functionality and the ability to edit or delete routines at any point; and a popup prompt when attempting to stop a routine early, and a minimum three-week duration to encourage meaningful habit formation.
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The final product addresses a clear gap by providing personalised, routine-based skincare guidance supported by a skin-type-driven community. The project demonstrates how redirecting existing social behaviour into a structured environment can improve decision-making and user confidence. Usability testing validated key interaction decisions, particularly around flexible routine creation.
Future opportunities include a dermatologist-shareable skin tracker, AI-supported seasonal routine adjustments, skin photo analysis, a rewards programme, and a SkinMatcha card — similar to a student discount card — offering discounts on products within the user's routine at Boots.
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SkinMatcha
