Glowmate
Mobile App
Glowmate is a skincare community app that connects you with users who share your skin type and goals. Share your routines, discover new products, and grow your glow with trusted friends by your side.
Role
UI/UX Designer
Tools
Figma, Balsamiq, Adobe Suite
Date
April 2025
1. My Role
As the sole UI/UX Designer, I was responsible for taking Glowmate from a rough idea to a fully clickable prototype.
My role included:
Conducting user research (surveys and interviews)
Designing user flows and wireframes
Creating branding elements like the logo and app visuals
Building high-fidelity mobile designs
Testing prototypes and iterating based on feedback
While I worked independently, I consistently incorporated user voices to validate design decisions and shape features that felt intuitive, friendly, and helpful.
2. Project Goals
Glowmate set out to solve a few key challenges in the skincare space:
Product Overwhelm: Skincare shoppers often feel lost among thousands of options.
Lack of Relatability: Traditional reviews don’t always come from people with similar skin needs.
Disconnected Communities: Most apps focused on products, not relationships.
Our goals were to:
Make it easy for users to log and
share their skincare routines.
Match users based on skin type, concerns, and routine style.
Offer a curated discovery feed that suggested products used by their Glowmates — not random ads.
Encourage lasting community
-building through friend connections.
3. User Research
Through surveys (60 respondents) and one-on-one interviews (10 users), I uncovered critical insights:
Real Routines Matter: Users wanted to see full skincare routines, not isolated product ratings.
Trust in Similarity: Skincare advice feels much more trustworthy when it comes from someone with similar skin.
Seasonal Changes: Many users mentioned they had different skincare needs for Summer and Winter — an insight that became crucial later on.
Additionally, many users expressed frustration with apps that felt "too commercial," reinforcing the need for Glowmate to feel authentic, community-driven, and non-judgmental.
4. Feature Design
Glowmate’s first version launched with several core features:
Key Features:
Routine Sharing: Users can log their AM and PM routines, with product details, notes, and photos.
Glowmate Matching: The app automatically suggests potential "Glowmates" — users who share your skin type, concern, and goals.
Discovery Feed: A curated feed shows trending products and routines from your matches, encouraging organic product discovery.
Friend System: Users can add Glowmates, view their updates, and engage with their posts.
Design Choices:
Minimalist, soothing visuals: Soft pastel palette, rounded corners, and breathable white space for a calming, non-intimidating experience.
Card-based UI: Each product, routine, and friend suggestion appears in modular cards for fast browsing and skimmability.
Friendly Language: Microcopy uses encouraging, casual wording to make the app feel welcoming.
5. Adding Seasonal Routines
The Problem:
Users didn't stick to a single skincare routine year-round.
In summer, routines focused more on hydration and oil control.
In winter, routines leaned toward richer creams and barrier support.
Without the ability to distinguish seasonal routines, Glowmate risked giving users inaccurate matches or outdated recommendations.
The Solution:
Users can create both a Summer and a Winter version of their skincare lineup.
Changes made:
Toggle Switch: Users can easily flip between Summer/Winter routines on their profile.
Seasonal Smart Matching: Matching now accounts for the current season to provide more accurate Glowmate suggestions and product feeds.
Gentle Reminders: As the seasons change, users receive a nudge to update or review their routine.
6. Personal Learnings
Working on Glowmate reinforced the importance of building for evolving user needs rather than designing static, one-size-fits-all solutions.
Real people don’t fit neatly into rigid flows — their behaviors change with seasons, environments, and personal growth.
A few key lessons I took away:
Community-first design builds trust faster than product-first design.
Flexibility (like seasonal routines) dramatically improves long-term engagement.
Thoughtful microinteractions (like friendly seasonal reminders) make the app feel alive and in tune with the user's world.
Above all, Glowmate showed me that listening closely to early users can turn a good idea into a genuinely loved experience!