Assignment 7: Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Color correcting mirror

• Opportunity: People who do their makeup at home or in hotel rooms rarely blend or shade correctly because the lighting indoors rarely reflects how your makeup will look in natural sunlight.
• The who: People who wear makeup.
• The what: They apply or blend their makeup incorrectly.
• The why: Indoor lighting doesn't match natural sunlight.
• Testing the who: The "who" is not limited to women or even female-identifying people, as anybody who likes makeup can wear it. Therefore, the target for this problem is simply people who wear makeup. It's not possible to narrow the "who" down by place or behavior either, since lighting is a problem in homes, hotel rooms, public bathrooms, etc. I think it's safe to target people who do their makeup in a bathroom.
• Testing the what: To understand the "what," I'd like to find out if this is a location-specific need. Do people apply their makeup incorrectly in their homes or just hotel rooms? What solutions do they already have to this problem, and can I provide a better solution? Is it much of a problem to consumers, or just an inconvenience?
• Testing the why: All lighting that isn't real, natural light misses the mark when it comes to applying makeup, but which types of lighting are the worst? When choosing between doing your makeup in lighting that is too dim or too bright, which would the prototypical consumer choose? What color light negatively affects their makeup application the most? Is it more about the light, or the shape/angle of the mirror, the counter space, etc.? I think that's key to understanding how to fix the "why."
• Interview #1:
• This interviewee is a woman who travels frequently. She pointed out that often, hotel lighting is blindingly white and can wash out imperfections in one's makeup. She said she often does her makeup in front of the window instead of in the bathroom when she stays in hotels to capture the natural lighting. However, this means she doesn't have the counter space in the bathroom to spread out all her makeup, so she often has to run back and forth from the bathroom to the window to fetch her makeup.
• Interview #2:
• This interviewee is a woman who applies minimal makeup when she goes into work. She says the bathroom lighting at her job has fluorescent lighting, which is known to have a green tint. She says it doesn't bother her much because she doesn't apply enough heavy face makeup for it to be a problem, but some of her co-workers complain about it or ask her to check their blending in normal lighting. She doesn't think she'd wear more makeup if lighting wasn't an issue.
• Interview #3:
• This interviewee is a man who likes to wear makeup to special events and places where he thinks people won't give him sideways glances. He says that he's just getting into makeup, but he has already noticed how much lighting can change how you blend your face. He does his makeup in his dorm room at a desk by the window with a small, circular mirror. There isn't much counter space, but he wants to do his makeup in natural lighting to make sure he's blending everything correctly, especially since he's new to the makeup world. However, he says he goes into his bathroom to apply his eyeliner because he can rest his elbow on the sink faucet for added stability.
• Interview #4:
• This interviewee is a woman who is a makeup enthusiast. I wanted to interview her because she is both knowledgeable about the makeup industry and a woman of color. POC are typically underserved by cosmetics brands. She says that she does her makeup at a vanity in her bedroom with the curtains open. Since she has been burned in the past by brands that claim to cater to POC, she double checks her makeup in her bathroom using her medicine cabinet mirrors for a 360 view. When she travels, she has to have someone check her makeup before she leaves the room because hotel lighting is always spotty. 
• Interview #5:
• This interviewee is a man who performs in community theater. He says he doesn't apply makeup regularly, but stage makeup is required for all the shows he performs in. He now knows how to do his own foundation, but he usually lets the makeup crew handle the rest. Since the dressing room lighting is completely different from stage lighting, the makeup crew has the actors stand under the stage lights to see if their makeup looks right. Often, he says, he has to sit in the chair a second time so the crew can do touch-ups or re-do his face entirely, but the latter is rare. He says he wishes there was a way to simulate the stage lighting in the dressing room so the actors could just get their makeup done all in one go.
• Reflection: The interviewees, surprisingly, affirmed that the opportunity exists. I say I'm surprised because I half expected people to say that the opportunity wasn't really an opportunity after I received some mixed reviews on assignment 4. Not only did they confirm the opportunity, but they expanded the "why" beyond what I had initially imagined. Not only is poor lighting an issue, but since people have to go elsewhere to apply makeup in the correct lighting, they lose the counter space that comes with doing their makeup in the bathroom. I'm not sure how to revise my hypothesis to include this need, but I believe there's another opportunity there, or perhaps just an annex to the original opportunity. I also spotted another target market when brainstorming people to interview since I realized that stage actors' makeup is influenced heavily by dressing room and stage lighting. This assignment reaffirmed my belief that the need for a mirror that simulates certain types of lighting and corrects undesirable lighting colors exists.