A Two-Sided Marketplace for On-Demand Haircuts

From startup requirements to a cross-platform booking experience

Client

Haircut Co. (Trimco)

Date

2019

Timeframe

3 months

Expertise

Discovery workshops UX design UI design Mobile apps

Client

Haircut Co. (Trimco)

Haircut Co. was an American startup exploring a more flexible way to deliver professional hair services. Instead of relying only on permanent salons, its Trimco concept connected customers with independent professionals working from temporary or pop-up locations — a marketplace model inspired by on-demand transport platforms.

Outsourcify turned the initial requirement specification into a complete mobile product blueprint and implementation. The work covered discovery, user journeys, structural wireframes, high-fidelity interface design and a React Native application serving customers and service providers on iOS and Android from one shared JavaScript codebase.

Results

2connected sides of the marketplace — customers and professionals

2mobile platforms delivered from one React Native codebase

Dozensof interface states designed before and during implementation

3 monthsfrom requirement specification to cross-platform delivery

Challenge

A service marketplace has to coordinate two very different experiences around the same appointment:

Customer confidence: users need to understand where the service takes place, who is available, what it costs and what happens after payment.
Scheduling clarity: location, date, professional and booking status must remain visible throughout the funnel.
Provider autonomy: independent professionals need a practical way to receive and manage their appointments without a traditional salon front desk.
Startup efficiency: the product needed to reach both major mobile platforms without maintaining two separate native applications.
Design ambiguity: a conceptual specification had to become a coherent set of screens, states and transitions before implementation.

Solution

Outsourcify mapped the customer and provider journeys before development, using wireframes to define registration, saved and new locations, professional discovery, date selection, checkout, booking confirmation, account settings and post-service ratings. High-fidelity prototypes then established a consistent interaction and visual system across dozens of states. The resulting React Native application shared its core JavaScript implementation across iOS and Android. Customers could select a location, choose an available professional, book a time and confirm payment, while providers had a dedicated workflow for managing their service activity and appointments.

Tools

InVision, Adobe Photoshop, Teamwork and Glip

Team

2 UX/UI designers and 2 mobile developers

Methodology

Agile delivery from requirements and wireframes

Tools

InVision, Adobe Photoshop, Teamwork and Glip

Timeframe

3 months

Technologies

Designing the transaction before building the screens

Discover

Define customer and professional personas
Map saved and new service locations
Surface available professionals clearly

Book

Select an appointment date and time
Keep location and professional visible
Review cost before confirmation

Complete

Choose the supported payment method
Confirm and review appointment details
Collect a post-service rating

Location-aware discovery that leads directly to booking

The main booking surface keeps the service location, scheduled date and available professionals in one view. Customers can change location or date without losing the context of their search, then move directly into a selected professional's booking flow.

Prototype note: the detailed screens below come from the design-validation phase and retain the temporary Outsourcify branding used before client branding was applied.

Trimco prototype showing location, date and available hair professionals

Availability expressed as a focused calendar decision

Scheduling was separated into a clear modal rather than mixed into the provider list. Available dates remain visually distinct from unavailable periods, and users explicitly confirm their selection before returning to the booking context. This reduces uncertainty at a critical marketplace hand-off.

Trimco prototype date picker for a haircut appointment

A transparent checkout before the appointment is committed

Checkout summarizes the appointment time, location, selected professional and cost before asking the customer to confirm. The prototype supports cash, a saved card, another card and account credits, showing how different payment choices can fit inside the same transaction path without hiding essential booking details.

Trimco prototype checkout with appointment summary and payment options

Closing the marketplace feedback loop

After the appointment, customers can rate their experience with the selected professional. The rating flow is connected to the completed booking rather than presented as an anonymous review, creating a straightforward foundation for marketplace trust and service-quality feedback.

One product, two operational perspectives

Marketplace surface	Customer experience	Professional experience
Location	Select a saved or new service location	Work through temporary and pop-up locations
Availability	See who can be booked for the chosen date	Manage service activity and appointments
Transaction	Review cost and choose a payment option	Receive confirmed booking information
Completion	Access appointment details and submit a rating	Track completed service activity
Mobile delivery	Consistent experience on iOS and Android	Same cross-platform product foundation