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Brandefy Remix

Get the latest fashion and beauty at a fraction of the price with the Brandefy app — Now Remixed with fashion–forward finds in mind!

Shane
McGonigal
Senior Product Designer
September 30, 2020

What is Brandefy?

Brandefy is a mobile iOS and Android app that compares upscale, expensive beauty products with their more affordable counterparts. Through these comparisons, Brandefy users can find amazing alternatives to high–end fashion and beauty without breaking the bank. As a designer and avid user of the app, I am able to offer a unique perspective to Brandefy—both visually and conceptually—creating a powerhouse environment for a redesign that stays true to the original app while also giving it a bit of a ‘makeover’.

My Personal User Experience

The app was initially marketed to me as a way to find more affordable beauty products without sacrificing quality. To put it simply, beauty products can be expensive and Brandefy is the ticket to finally saving money. Simple, yet revolutionary!

While the concept has saved me a tremendous amount of money in less than six months, the UX designer in me wanted to give it a boost. I was inspired to use my platform at Ventive to bring Brandefy to life in a way that is fresh, new, and user friendly—all while remaining true to Brandefy’s recognizable ‘style’ throughout.

example of makeup product shopping mobile app
User-centered design means deconstructing the app to its individual features to help us understand it as a whole.

Our ‘Remix’ Process

Once our goal of improving user experience while staying true to the original visual design was aligned, our Ventive ‘Remix’ design team gave this fashion–forward mobile app a new look to match its chic content and users alike. The process consisted of user research, product design, execution, and a clear understanding of Brandefy’s goals that can only come from someone that knows and loves the app such as myself. Through this, the Brandefy ‘refashion’ came to life.

UX Research for Our Beauty App

Each member of our Brandefy Remix team explored the app to collectively define pain points and prioritize features. From a visual perspective, we knew that improving the information architecture throughout the app would immediately take it up a notch. Thus, information hierarchy became our top priority.

Now for the experience. The Remix team identified the top three features: Homepage, Search, and Product Reviews. We created a strategy to align each feature with the targeted audience based on Brandefy’s marketing strategy—view honest product comparisons to save money.

A Fresh New Look

The new look and feel of the app revolves around how I believe beauty products make people feel—trendy and confident. Look good, feel good—am I right? We utilize harmonious combinations of pops of color and neutrals, illustrations and photography, and light and dark modes to showcase Brandefy in a whole new light. In this way, we’ve quite literally given Brandefy the beauty and grace it guarantees its users through trends in design as well as fashion and beauty.

Our Remix team combined our research with the new look and feel to create beautiful mock–ups for Brandefy’s mobile app. We restructured the overall navigation and homepage to reflect the core workflows revolving around product searching and reviewing. Applying what we’ve learned to each of the top features outlined in our research phase, we’ve created a sophisticated and visually stunning app that matches its content and its users alike.

visual mockup of newly redesigned makeup app
The Ventive Remix Team explored a dark theme experience to enhance late-night beauty inspiration.

Moving From UX Designers to Application Developers

Our team has come together to take a deeper dive into products we use every day in order to offer ways to make them better. Having the unique perspective of being a designer and a user provides more clarity than ever before. This project stems from a desire to put a spin on one of my favorite apps to help others just like me find their favorite beauty products for a price they love!

Besides improving the visual design, we were also able to smooth out user flows. If this was a real project, this is the point where we'd ship it off to our mobile app development team. Instead, we get to show it off to you so you can see a little about how Ventive's design department approaches user experience and UX design.

Check out one of our actual e-commerce projects in the beauty industry. And if you're ready to revamp your e-commerce site, contact Ventive!

About the author
Shane
McGonigal
Senior Product Designer

Around the office, Shane is known for his creativity, enthusiasm, attention to detail, and collaborative style.Born and raised in the ‘real’ Northern California, Shane first moved to Idaho to attend school at BYU-Idaho. While completing a bachelor’s of fine arts in graphic design,