Redesigning the Foreigner Hair Salon Experience
An International Market Research and Service Design Case Study
Throughout 2018, I had always wanted to challenge myself by conducting market research and practicing design in a foreign environment. If I truly wanted to pursue a field that was centered around analyzing and dissecting the society around me, what better way to grow than to plunge into a completely unfamiliar setting?
Introduction
I got the opportunity to work in Beijing at a Series-B funded startup called XingKeDuo(XKD). XKD was a fast-growing beauty company that provided hair-styling and hair salon services. However, what brought me to this company was not necessarily their products, but rather it’s overall mission and vision for the future.
Here is some context:
Beauty practitioners and hair stylists have always had a poor reputation in China due to their social status as individuals who lacked a proper educational background and who were also situated in lower socioeconomic classes.
Most beauty practitioners in China were embarrassed to tell others about their occupations and would lie instead to protect their dignity.
Willy Chuang, the founder of XKD, set out to attack the negative stigma and reputation that surrounded the Chinese beauty industry. He decided to open up salons that were all held to a high-level level of professionalism, affordability, and service for the common consumer.
He believes that, as he opens more salons and as XKD gains reputation across Asia as a respectable beauty company, the negative reputation of working within the beauty industry will be reversed and eventually, this effect will overturn the social status of the workers themselves.
The mission statement and overarching goal of XKD fascinated and touched me. And I was even more thrilled to start on my project!
My Task
Even though XKD was already on its way to becoming one of the top beauty companies in China, they were missing out on a crucial consumer segment.
Because many of the employees were native citizens who did not know much about the foreign environment, the company’s services were heavily catered towards the Chinese population.
While you may not think the number of foreigners living in China is enough to impact a company’s success, I was surprised to discover how many there actually were.
There are over 600,000 expats and foreign students working and studying in China at any given moment.
These hundreds of thousands of potential customers could be the difference that separates a good company from an amazing one.
Because I grew up in America and was fluent in both English and Mandarin, XKD wanted me to pursue a personal project where I would conduct cross-country, international market research relating to usage and design differences between popular American and Chinese digital services and to utilize service design to improve the foreigner experience within their stores.
So throughout the next six weeks, I…
- Became acclimatized to Beijing’s environment and culture,
- Conducted three market research and two service experience studies,
- Developed a bilingual training program for 300 hair stylists in 80+ stores,
- And lastly, gave a three hour presentation where I discussed my findings and introduced my solutions.
This is a case study derived from that presentation. Most of the study is market research focused, but there is some service design near the end where I present my solutions.
When you ask someone to name the most popular digital company in China, the one mentioned most often is WeChat. WeChat is a messaging, social media, and communications application equipped with functionality that parallels that of Facebook, Venmo, Whatsapp, and Instagram combined. It was created by one of the world’s largest Internet companies, Tencent, and was launched in early 2011. Ever since then, it has grown at a tremendous rate:
- A few months ago, it hit over 1 billion active users per month (AMU), half as much as that of Facebook’s.
- Its average revenue per user (ARPU) hit a high of $7 dollars; in contrast, Whatsapp (the world’s largest SMS application) only has an ARPU of $1.
- And lastly the gross annual cash flow funneled through WeChat in 2016 was a whopping 1.2 trillion dollars.
With numbers this impressive, it raised a crucial question in my mind:
How is one Chinese application able to rival a group of massively popular applications in the West and what usage/design elements contribute to this performance?
The answer was found within WeChat’s mass functionality and accessibility.
Functionality
Chinese WeChat users can use the application to book taxis, message their friends, order food, buy electricity, purchase movie tickets, play casual games, register for flights, make doctor appointments, get bank statements, and so on and so forth…
WeChat provides an extensive and broad range of services for its users and is able to supply virtually anything that they might need.
Its groundbreaking application model originates from the implementation of its “in-app applications.” These third party applications and services, also known as applets, are hosted and their products streamlined through Wechat’s network. As you scale that feature up to tens of thousands of unique, lightweight apps, it creates a fluid system in which WeChat is able to seamlessly integrate third-party content and services into its ever-growing “applet ecosystem.”
These countless programs that reside on WeChat are akin to the numerous web-pages that make-up the Internet, redefining Wechat as not only an application, but also as a completely independent mobile operating system (OS) that has the power to dominate the digital market.
Let’s take a look at some of its features.
User Experience and User Interface
When compared to their competitors outside of the platform, applets within WeChat are not always the best quality or have the best functionality.
However, people still choose to use them over the “better” options.
Even though the applets may be sub-optimal when viewed independently, the accessibility and ease-of-use that comes from the smooth and integrated user experience of the whole applet ecosystem is what compels the users to stay. Because WeChat keeps the UI within its applets and native pages concise and consistent, its users are familiarized with the layouts and UX of the platform, eliminating the hassle of relearning the UI and UX of new websites and applications. This makes WeChat users even more inclined to continue to use it and makes it difficult for them to leave the platform.
As a testament to how ingrained WeChat and its applets are within the lives of their users, many customers stated that they:
“Open up WeChat as soon as they wake up in the morning and never close it until they head to bed at night.”
Multiply this behavior over weeks and months, and WeChat has essentially monopolized the services that common consumers need in their lives.
Monopolizing the Digital Industry
One of the main reasons why WeChat is able to cater to so many people living in China is because of the homogeneous population and analogous culture within the country. Most people in China have already adopted WeChat fully into their lives and, as a result, Tencent has monopolized the digital world in China. Companies that decide to partner up and streamline their services through WeChat are also instantly exposed to billions of users along with access to core application functionalities,
All of these factors make it a very enticing offer to join the platform instead of attempting to compete against it.
Success in the Chinese Market
In order to be successful in a market dominated by Wechat, new applications will need to utilize the application as a catalyst for their initial growth and future success. The reach and scope of WeChat are invaluable resources that are needed in order to survive in the extremely competitive business environment.
Success in the Chinese digital market is much more about integration within the “mobile lifestyle,” the digital lifestyle that WeChat has created as a result of its monopolization, rather than attempting to stick out in a crowd of digital applications. Applications should focus on viewing itself as not only a tool, but also as a fluid aspect of the whole mobile ecosystem.
Developing and testing new applications and services on WeChat has become so popular that startups will frequently test their beta versions on the WeChat platform, building upon the product until it has gotten enough funding to go independent.
A method to grow an application within the ecosystem would be to find a variety similar applets and to incorporate some of its features into those applets. This “applet symbiosis” and the collaboration between them is what allows so many people in China to be able to stay on WeChat the whole day.
If an application is not integrated properly within WeChat or if it’s services do not work hand-in-hand with the other services on the application, there is a very small chance that it will succeed.
I was able to see first-hand how a company succeeded in the Chinese market through XKD:
When I first visited XKD’s salon, I came in expecting a normal haircut routine, but the experience ended being unlike anything I had ever witnessed back in America.
Not only was I catered towards for every minute that I was within the salon, the integration of the service itself into my lifestyle was both smooth and professional. The “mobile lifestyle” integration that I had read about throughout my research was apparent in their business models and it led to the most enjoyable haircut I had ever had in my life.
They were able to provide such a quality service that fit perfectly into the lifestyle of a WeChat user. Both their physical service and their mobile applet within WeChat had amazing features:
- Appointments were booked on the application and hairdressers would use it in order to determine the type of haircut you wanted
- Promotions, reminders, and other notifications would be directly sent through WeChat,
- The hairdresser would use the application during your haircut in order to ask questions about the service and any extra needs you might have
- And finally, you payed through WeChat at the end and it would redirect you to other potential activities around you.
These factors all made it seem like the haircut fit perfectly in your life was not a disturbance at all.
Because WeChat has been so successful in China, one may guess that international expansion would be an easy task for the company. However, WeChat has tried to expand multiple times in multiple countries and has failed miserably every single time.
Why does this happen?
Facebook, Venmo, WhatsApp, Instagram
In the United States, Facebook, Whatsapp, Venmo, and Instagram among many other successful digital companies are driven by their respective core purposes. There is no overarching platform like WeChat that connects them directly with one another and their respective industries are broad and varied:
- Facebook: Social Media and Communication
- WhatsApp: Voice Call and Messaging
- Venmo: E-commerce
- Instagram: Photo and Video-sharing
Compared to those in China, people in America spend much less time on their cellular phones and mobile devices and more time on computers and laptops because of the availability of faster internet connectivity and broader bandwidths. Therefore, the success of mobile applications in America is less dependent on how integrated they are within the weakened “mobile lifestyles” of their users and more upon their direct functionality and purpose.
This business philosophy can be directly seen through the social media company Facebook.
Facebook, like many other successful social media companies, is focused on expanding its social networks and promoting its services on a global scale.
The platform’s overarching goal is “to allow people to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.”
By concentrating on building its brand around these three objectives, Facebook will be able to further solidify its brand image and distinguish itself from other competitors. In contrast to WeChat, companies like Facebook will expend much less energy on fulfilling every need of their consumers and can focus on using its services to reach as many different people as possible.
Benefits
Because these applications have accessibility as one of their main concerns, they are organized and designed with the intention of simplicity and usability in mind. For example, the user interface of Facebook is very intuitive:
- Users can access the menu and chat boxes at any time,
- All the main features of the app can be displayed on one or two screens,
- and it rarely has hidden features that are hard to access.
The extensive social network and coverage of Facebook also gives individuals access to a broad network of people. Whether it’s a close friend, a friend
of a friend, or a stranger located across the globe, users can easily
contact them through the application. Users on WeChat would have a much harder time contacting people outside of China as the platform and its services are not suited for many foreign consumers.
Success in the Western Market
Most Chinese companies usually face the same problem when they try to expand internationally: they use the same business plans and strategies that they used for the Chinese markets and end up failing to find their footing in Western markets.
In order to succeed in an environment where successful companies are the ones that are able to differentiate themselves and the ones that are able to reach as many consumers as possible, a business owner must understand the intricacies of the market and know how to adapt their business model accordingly.
In China, businesses are accustomed to introducing their services to the general public through WeChat integration. WeChat has a broad reach throughout the country and for new companies, it is a great chance for them to promote themselves. They are also used to their customers sharing similar demographics and cultures which makes it much easier to cater their services specifically for their audience.
However, the international market is very different.
Many Chinese companies were unsuccessful internationally because they did not understand how to cater towards more demographics and were lost in trying to find a one-size-fits-all functionality model.
The “lifestyle integration” model used within China does not work because the “mobile ecosystem” is a lot weaker and less connected in other countries. It is impossible to pinpoint the culture and overarching demographic of the consumers because the population is so varied. On top of that, there is no platform like WeChat that is able to connect the business with the general population.
In order to expand internationally, enterprises must be able to offer services and products that excel in fulfilling their consumer needs while also promoting their agendas on multiple platforms.
Instead of having a “mobile ecosystem,” the Western digital world follows an “app constellation” structure.
When multiple applications that serve similar purposes are grouped together, they form an “app constellation.” Some popular examples are Microsoft Office, Google Drive, and the Adobe Creative Cloud. The links between these applications are much weaker than that of the applets on WeChat but they serve as tool-kits for users to pick and choose from.
Because Americans have more ways to connect to the internet and are more culturally diverse, the time they spend on a mobile application is crucial for its success. Whenever they pick up their phone, they will have a certain purpose and usually an application that fulfills that purpose in mind.
The final goal of any Western application is to be the first app or to be inside the first app constellation that appears in the user’s mind when they want to fulfill their “goal.” When the bond between functionality and app has become so strong that they are virtually the same thing within someone’s mind, the user will almost always be loyal to the application. The more effective an app is in making that connection, the higher its retention rate and future success will be.
The Core Difference between the East and the West
From a business standpoint, Facebook and WhatsApp are more concerned with the number of weekly and monthly active users on their network while WeChat is more concerned about meeting the hourly needs of every user on their platform.
This contrast in company objectives results from a disparity in what these businesses want to accomplish.
Facebook is focused on expanding its reach towards as many different people as possible. The social media company and other western applications are less focused on appeasing a specific audience and designed to provide the best usability and maximum accessibility. It is impossible to cater towards one demographic specifically, so their goal is to make their application usable for as many people as possible.
In contrast, WeChat is focused on building its own mobile lifestyle catered specifically for its consumer demographic. WeChat has customized its functionalities for Chinese residents and further advancements to the application are committed to improving the functionalities so that they fulfill even more user needs.
It is crucial for businesses who want to work between China and the rest of the world to understand these fundamental differences in the market before they launch their products. What may seem like two very similar social media companies on the surface, are actually two drastically different businesses.
I believe the main takeaway from this study is that:
Facebook promotes a highly accessible and far-reaching social media platform, but WeChat promotes a specialized and digital lifestyle.
And in order to succeed in both types of digital environments, a business will need to alter its products and services so that they fit in with those of the native market.
Redesigning the Foreigner Experience
Using the market research findings, I had to figure out how to improve the hair salon experience for the 600,000 expats living in the country. I was able to visit XKD’s salons multiple times in order to get a feel for what the customer experience was like as well as interview both native and foreign customers.
Earlier, I mentioned how amazing my haircut experience was at one of XKD’s salons, but that was only because I knew how to understand and read Mandarin. If I did not know much about the language beforehand, it would have been very hard for me to communicate and understand what was going on.
Since foreign customers are not used to using WeChat nor speaking Mandarin, this level of service was virtually impossible for them. Yet, XKD was still trying to force this type of business model onto them.
Because English is the Universal Language, XKD and I decided to utilize it as our foreign language of choice.
Before I came to the company, XKD was trying to elevate their services for foreigners by creating a ten page English script which they would make their ~300 employees memorize and rehearse. They thought that this would be the most optimal solution because it was equivalent to the same level of service that they gave towards their Chinese customers. XKD was also more used to making their product as fluid as possible within their consumer’s lives through WeChat as possible and was less focused on the “application — functionality” bond that was more prevalent in America.
While this model may work for Chinese customers, there are many flaws inherent in this design when it is applied to foreigner customers.
- These employees would probably take months to even get a basic grasp of the whole script
- If the foreigner deviates from the script or something happens that isn’t in line with the script, the employees would not know what to do and panic.
- Foreigners would care more about the actual service and quality of the haircut instead of how much the experience fits in their day. If they end up with a bad haircut as a result of miscommunication or because of the reasons mentioned above, there is a very good chance they will not return no matter how great the service was.
In order to solve this lingering issue, I came up with a few short-term, medium-length, and long-term solutions that XKD could utilize for its hair salons.
Short-term Solutions
These are a few short-term solutions that can be implemented within a few days. These solutions may not have the most depth or effectiveness but can be temporary placeholders while more intricate solutions are put in place.
- The first method is to teach hairdressing terms in English to the workers so that they can refer to their mental glossary of words when they are communicating to the customers about the haircut. It will be much easier for them to remember a few words rather than memorize a whole script and they will, at the very least, be able to understand what type of haircut the customer wants and give them a quality product.
- The second method is to have a hairdressing translation board in the store that has both English and Mandarin so that the foreigners and the workers are able to point and gesture out what kind of haircut is suitable. This make it even easier for the workers to discover what haircut the foreigner wants because they wouldn’t have to commit English terms to memory and it would facilitate communication between both people.
- And the last “short-term” approach is to hire a hairdresser that is already bilingual and has experience within the beauty industry. This method would be a lot harder to incorporate since there is a short supply of employees that fit this demographic. However, this solution may not always be viable because of the makeup of the hiring pool at the time or because of how expensive these workers can be to recruit.
Medium-Length Solutions
Next, these medium-length solutions may take a few weeks or even up to a few months to implement. Compared to the short-term solutions, they will be more effective in bridging the gap between foreigners and the Chinese hairdressers but may not be permanent fixes.
- XKD can alter their WeChat application in order to implement a built in translation device that automatically translates the foreigners inputs from English to Chinese and vice versa for the hairdresser. This way, the hairdresser is now able to answer most questions the customer may have digitally and also begin to offer the native level of service.
- The second option would be to purchase and integrate translation devices within the stores so that speech would be automatically translated for both parties. This solution would also allow the hairdressers to do more than just figure out what kind of haircut the customer wants.
This mobile application and translation tool will take time to create and implement, but the result will allow XKD to tap into the foreign market. They will also allow the employees to provide a higher-quality service for the customers.
Long-term Solutions
And finally, the long-term solutions for XKD would be to
- Setup an English teaching program for its native employees
- or to keep hiring until they are able to have a bilingual worker in each of their stores.
These solutions may take months or years to fully implement but XKD will completely become a company capable of international scope and can truly cater towards more types of customers. Obviously, this would probably not be enough for international expansion as XKD would need to alter its business model and services even more to acclimatize to the new markets, but this is a great start in that direction.
Conclusion
After my presentation, XKD took my solutions and drew up a business plan to incorporate them within their bilingual training programs. This training program eventually flowed down into their stores and allowed each of their 300+ employees to comfortably interact with foreigners. I was really happy that they were able to use my work and that I was also able to make an impact in such a short amount of time.
Overall, I was very glad that I took a leap of faith and traveled somewhere outside of my comfort zone and I look forward to the next time I fly back to visit!
If you are interested in hiring me or have more questions, please email me at josh_mao@berkeley.edu
