Earlier work · UI & brand · 2020
Beauty Panel a review platform for a magazine losing print revenue.
In 2019–20, COSMOPOLITAN Hong Kong's revenue fell as COVID-19 and the social movements hit the entertainment industry it relied on. I designed Beauty Panel, an open review platform for beauty and skincare, and its cross-platform brand guideline.
1 The problem
Credible, but nobody under 30 was reading
A focus group of women aged 20 to 40, run by a marketing agency, found the magazine lacked popularity with 20–30 year olds. Readers saw it as credible but its tone as “ambiguous”. They came to COSMOPOLITAN for beauty and skincare recommendations, but felt the content didn't stand out from competitors.
A cross-team ideation workshop with marketing, editorial and sales looked at monetisation, views and new content. The idea that came out of it: an open review platform for skincare and beauty products.
2 What I designed
A scrollable magazine you don't want to put down
The beauty content managers set the content: daily single-product reviews, comparison reports, monthly rankings and the seasonal COSMO Best of the Best Awards. I designed the platform as an endlessly scrollable magazine, and circulated a Sketch prototype to sales, content, marketing and IT for input.
After the first design review the content felt samey, so short beauty tips were added between longer pieces. To make the most of the commercial side, a section called Beauty Cert carried in-depth reviews by industry professionals. The working name was Beauty Force; management chose Beauty Panel.
3 Outcome
A dedicated home for beauty, and a new line of revenue
Beauty Panel gave COSMOPOLITAN Hong Kong a dedicated skincare and beauty section, a new marketplace-style platform, and a successful push in the sales of the beauty sector.
Team: Sally Tse, chief editor · Stacey Chan, creative director. Tools: Sketch, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects.