Spin
Spin was a start-up for live streaming shopping, focusing on health and beauty product discovery and impulse buys. As the creative director, I helped build the company from the ground up, starting as a sketch in my notebook to an office space of over 15 people.
PROJECT TYPE
Product Design
CONTRIBUTION
Creative Director, Product Design Lead
YEAR
2020
COMPANY
Spin
Overview
Spin represented a significant pivot from Gravy Live, the live shopping gameshow app we developed and nurtured for nearly three years. Drawing from our experiences with Gravy, we opted to concentrate on the health and beauty vertical. The design challenge was to transition all branding and aesthetics to reflect a new, softer look and feel with a predominantly female demographic.
Why Pivot?
The shift from tech products to beauty was influenced by several key factors:
Beauty companies typically offer a greater number of SKUs compared to tech companies. This increase in variety translates to more content opportunities.
Health and beauty products tend to be smaller and less expensive to ship. Although shipping costs are often transferred to consumers, we had to absorb these costs, making it essential to keep shipping fees low.
Beauty products generally have higher profit margins than major tech items.
With these challenges addressed, we could direct our efforts towards enhancing the consumer experience, improving host engagement, and sourcing better products.
Design THinking
The foundation of my influence lies in the TikTok app and its ability to provide users with short-form videos from an apparently infinite source. I envisioned the app becoming more intelligent with increased usage, delivering content that is not only relevant to viewing habits and purchase history but also tailored to search queries.
To maintain a fresh and streamlined experience, I opted to replace traditional bottom tray navigation with gesture-based interactions. Users can swipe up for the next product video, tap on product cards for additional details and purchasing options, swipe left to explore specific content, and swipe right to view the host's profile, previous videos, followers, and social media accounts. Overall, the app prioritizes simplicity, catering to today’s consumers who seek immediate gratification.
learnings
Live streaming is a challenging industry. There are technical hurdles to navigate, and content must be engaging, compelling, and immersive. With numerous short-form video options available, one must either have substantial financial backing from a major tech company or focus intensely on a niche market. Our findings indicate that synchronous experiences can be more entertaining and exciting. However, they tend to decrease overall viewership, creating a demand for asynchronous content.