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Many new barbers, lacking industry connections or capital, struggle to find short-term, affordable salon spaces.
At the same time, experienced barbers face inconsistent booking processes, high costs, and poor communication with space owners.
Create a platform that helps barbers,
- Discover and book flexible salon spaces nearby.
- Communicate directly with space owners before committing.
- View available spots in real-time using map-based search.
- Conduct usability testing with 5–7 barbers to validate core flows.
- Iterate on the UI based on feedback for accessibility and clarity.
- Finalize high-fidelity prototype for developer handoff.
- Begin full-stack development of this as a live web platform to empower independent barbers and space providers.
Empathy-driven design works. A real conversation sparked this idea. Listening closely helped me design for actual pain points, not assumed ones.
Communication is core. Features like in-app chat and community forums weren’t afterthoughts; they emerged directly from user needs and proved central to building trust.
Scalability is key. Designing with scalability in mind—across devices, cities, and user types—meant thinking beyond wireframes and into product ecosystems.
Designing for impact. This project reaffirmed that good UX can unlock economic opportunity—especially for those who often get left out.
