SK-II Tester Bar
Launched in Japan and China
Role Lead UX Designer
Deliverable Experiential Installation — in-store interactive product display
Impact Increased foot traffic and product testing in-store
SK-II’s Tester Bar is an interactive display in the Daimaru Department Store in Shinsaibashi (Tokyo, Japan). Research within the store has shown that shoppers are less likely to browse through products if they feel like a sales assistant will approach them. The Tester Bar promotes testing products without talking to a sales assistant and being cornered into a sales pitch.
The Tester Bar is also placed along walkways instead of inside the store, where it will catch the shoppers’ attention. We tracked the data and found that out of every 10 shoppers that pass by close enough for the motion sensor to pick up, 8 would interact with the tester bar, and 6 would test the product on their skin.
** This is derived from the assumption that if the product leaves the table for more than 8 seconds, users are testing the product as suggested in the animation.
When a shopper passes the Tester Bar, it will ‘wake up’, and audio and animation will start to play on the screens, inviting the shopper to pick up a product. Once the shopper picks up a product, the animation on the screen shows them how to test the product on their skin tells them about the benefits of the product.
12 usability tests were conducted to make sure that the users are interpreting the audio and visual cues as expected. 10 of those followed the experience without asking for help. To ensure the experience was self-guided, we included more instructions where the 2 users had struggled. The usability test also helped to time the pace of animation, making sure it’s long enough for the users to read and watch the animation but short enough so they don’t get bored. The video's pace was then tweaked and tested repeatedly to get it just right.
