Taking the Guesswork Out of Foundation with Merit's Shade-finder
Merit Beauty set out to make finding the perfect shade feel effortless online. The goal was a discovery experience as refined as the products themselves.
The Challenge
Finding the right foundation shade is one of the most personal — and often frustrating — moments in the beauty purchase journey. Merit Beauty's customers expect a brand experience that matches their commitment to clean, effortless beauty, but without the ability to try shades in person, the risk of choosing the wrong one became a barrier to purchase. The challenge was designing a digital shade-finding experience that felt genuinely helpful, not gimmicky.
The solution needed to feel true to Merit's elevated, minimal aesthetic. It required a quiz experience that guided customers confidently through their options, reduced decision fatigue, and ultimately built trust in the product before they ever opened the box.
The Solution
Studio 3A designed the ‘Find My Shade’ experience as a seamless integration with Digeo, a third-party shade-matching platform, bringing intelligent shade recommendations to life through a thoughtfully crafted quiz interface. Rather than letting the technology dictate the experience, we designed around the customer — ensuring every step of the quiz felt intuitive, on-brand, and purposeful.
The UX and UI were built to reflect Merit's signature simplicity, pairing clean visual design with a clear, progressive question flow that guided customers toward their perfect match without overwhelming them.
The Experience
Customers move through the Shadefinder quiz at their own pace, answering questions about their skin tone, undertone, and coverage preferences. Each touchpoint is designed to feel like a knowledgeable friend walking them through the decision, not a form to fill out. The result is a personalized shade recommendation that gives customers the confidence to complete their purchase.
The Shade-finder reduces friction at one of the most critical points in the customer journey, translating directly into stronger conversion and fewer returns.
Services: UX/UI Design, Product Design, Customer Experience Design
Client: Merit Beauty
