top of page
Executive Design + UX Leader | Advisor | Speaker
yourAvon Mobile
This case study tells the story of innovation during the early days of mobile (2012); how we created cultural transformation within AVON, changed how Representatives managed their business, relationships and repositioned the original social network from “Ding Dong” to “Tap Tap.”
Summary
Role: Creative director, coach and player
Vision: Present the outcome over the output and create a behavioral shift in the value of digital and mobile experiences in the company
Team Size: 10 (design, research, information architecture, project management, engineering, business stakeholders)
Investment: $63,000 (3 tranches of $21,000)
Timing: 8 weeks
Identifying The Problems
Constraints
Record Scratch Moment
AVON was way behind in the digital space and unable to compete with other direct sellers. Companies like Mary Kay, Orbonne and Amway had invested in digital capabilities while AVON Representatives were still using analog tools like catalogs, paper, pens and physical address books to manage their business.
This was early days of mobile commerce, as a design team we had to ramp up quickly in mobile design best practices. In addition, digital was not a first-class citizen at AVON and innovation was rarely authorized in this space. We had to be scrappy in order to get past corporate obstructionism and show value.
The challenge from the President of AVON (my supervisor) was to deliver our MVP in 8 weeks. Cue the gasp. Not only was it a crash course in mobile design best practices, but building in an Agile methodology with our engineering team based in Ireland.
The AVON Experience
As the original social-selling company, AVON’s always been about the experience. Customers love the unique personal service and the incredible insider perks of shopping with a Representative. We needed new ways to shop, recruit and retain our field of 5 million Representatives.
The Research
Our goal in speaking with Representatives was to create empathy and understand what they wanted most in an experience and what was key to managing their business effectively.
The top theme that we heard consistently was that "AVON isn't doing enough to help Representatives win customers through digital capabilities and unlock their full earnings potential."
Methods: focus groups, interviews, card sorts, surveys.
Carol R.
I need to grow and manage my Avon business with easy orders on-the-go.
Erica B.
We need to easily capture multiple customer requests and add new customers on the spot.
Neha K.
The company needs to redefine what it means to sell Avon products, especially to attract younger women to the sales force.
Getting Started
We had a lot of work to do in a short period of time. We started with several collaborative whiteboarding sessions with our teams and Representatives to start thinking through key features and mapping flows.
The Prototype
The team transitioned to a lightweight Axure clickable prototype. This allowed us to make informed decisions and gave us a quick way to explore different ideas and see what worked and what didn't with our Representatives, making it easy to iterate and decide exactly what to build.
Iterate & Refine
After analyzing what worked well in each of the concepts, we believed there was further opportunity to refine the design and experience. The Representatives were instrumental in prioritizing and providing feedback for key features: Orders On The Go, Address Book and Quick Entry
Orders On The Go
Address Book
Quick Entry
Context was very important as well. For example, the 'Orders On The Go' feature was influenced by Representatives who were used to a “paper only” environment. They were more concerned with six-digit part numbers than Product Names. The design ended up being more of an adding machine than a predictive search due to this crucial information.
High Fidelity Concepts
Now that we were in the advanced stages of the design process with user validated concepts, we needed to create high fidelity, branded concepts to communicate UI design decisions to the development team prior to coding the final product.
Production
To go one step further, we created this video to roadshow our product, tell the story to senior leadership and deliver as an email to the field socializing the launch of this new and revolutionary tool for Representatives to grow their business.
Press Release & Outcomes
The yourAvon mobile app was delivered on time and within budget. Just 8 weeks. In the first 6 months of release, the app had gained tremendous traction and success. Moreover, it provided significant value for our Representatives by changing behaviors, mindsets and solved the problem of being able to grow their business faster through technology.
Top 5 Free Business App App Store
Top 15 Free Business App
Google Play
bottom of page