StyleSeat
New Client Delivery Feature
Allow beauty professionals to choose which new clients from StyleSeat they want to take on.
My contribution
UX/UI Design User Research Design Strategy Product Copywriting
The team
1 x Principal Product Designer (Me) 1 x Lead Product Manager 1 x Senior Product Manager 1 x Senior Product Marketing Manager 6 x Engineers
Year
2022
Introduction
How do we give beauty professionals the option to say 'yes' or 'no' to new clients sent from StyleSeat while bringing more transparency to the associated fee?
Give pros an option to accept or decline new client appointments via a request screen and clearly surface the fee upfront on this screen.
Background
StyleSeat is a beauty marketplace that connects two primary user groups:
Clients who use the platform to discover, book, pay, and manage their appointments.
Beauty Professionals who use the platform to manage, promote and grow their business.
Through research, we identified three core segments of beauty professionals on the platform, each with distinct needs and challenges.
1. Early Pros
Income: Under $1K/month
Situation: Fresh out of beauty school, working from home while balancing a full-time job.
Top Challenges: Raising start-up capital and building clientele without reviews.
2. Growing Pros
Income: $1K–4K/month
Situation: Gaining paying clients but not yet financially stable.
Top Challenge: Growing their client base.
3. Established Pros
Income: Over $4K/month
Situation: Full-time professionals in suites or shops; some rent out chairs to other beauty pros.
Top Challenges: Managing communication (texts, calls, DMs) with a large client base, finding booth renters, and planning financially for retirement or home-buying.
Early and Growing Pros made up most of StyleSeat’s users, but Established Pros fueled the New Client Delivery feature—StyleSeat cross-promoted these clients to other Pros across many specialties.
Process
Understanding User Pain Points
I conducted surveys and interviews with beauty professionals, which revealed two main frustrations:
Lack of transparency: 40% of beauty pros referred to these fees as “surprise fees.” They often only discovered these fees when they checked their bank accounts and noticed that their actual earnings didn't match their expectations.
Lack of control: Pros were frustrated that StyleSeat forcefully sent them new clients. They mentioned that these clients often didn't align with their specialties, and wanted a way to evaluate whether the earnings and lifetime value of a new client outweighed the associated fee.
Running A/B Tests
We tested two approaches to address these issues:
Test 1: A new “request” screen for pros to review and accept or decline appointments, which also displayed the associated fee.
Test 2: Requiring pros to pay the fee when they accept a new client appointment, eliminating hidden fees and offering payment flexibility.
Getting Leadership Buy-In
Leadership was concerned that a request screen could lead to high appointment rejection rates, reduced revenue, and a poor experience for clients. This is why we ran several tests with small groups and analyzed key performance metrics, such as appointment cancellations, CSAT, and churn.
Building a 0-to-1 Feature
I created a detailed flow diagram outlining every interaction, from appointment booked to completed, which included edge cases, such as:
How can the pro update their payment method if their credit card is declined?
How do we refund the pro the new client fee they paid upfront if the client cancels their appointment?
What happens if a new pro doesn’t have enough funds upfront to pay the associated new client fee?
The flow diagram became the foundation for team discussions and decisions at both the squad and leadership levels, ensuring we accounted for all scenarios to create the best experience for all pros.
Goals
Give Pros a Choice
Allow beauty professionals to review and accept or decline new client appointments at their discretion.
Increase Transparency
Clearly show the new client fee upfront, removing surprises and building trust.
Reinforce StyleSeat’s Value
Highlight how StyleSeat helps beauty pros grow their client base by bringing them new clients and show the potential long-term income these clients can bring to their business.
Boost Revenue
By having pros pay the fee upfront, we ensure the fee is collected even if the client pays off-platform, such as through Venmo or with cash.
Impact
The second solution—requiring pros to pay the fee upfront—proved to be extremely successful and became the team's focus and priority for a quarter.
+28% Revenue Growth: The pay fee upfront approach led to higher revenue from new client appointments, eliminating surprises and missed fees.
Improved Trust: Improving awareness and transparency around the fee empowered pros to make informed decisions. "Knowing the fee beforehand allows me to feel more confident about using StyleSeat. I can decide if that client is worth it." - Beauty Pro
When a Product Manager left midway, I took on the PM tasks, such as writing tickets and prioritizing the work into meaningful phases to rollout this feature, while also maintaining my design responsibilities.
By introducing transparency and choice, we created a more positive experience for beauty professionals while driving significant business impact.