The case in 30 seconds
The problem
No-shows and late arrivals were costing salons time and money. Professionals confirmed every appointment by hand on WhatsApp, and on busy days they simply didn't.
My role
Product Designer on the Salão99 squad. I led research, interaction and visual design, and followed the rollout with product and engineering.
The outcome
Automated confirmations, reminders and birthday messages that each salon can write in its own voice, shipped in phases.
appointment no-shows
chat conversion
approval of the new solution
reminders sent
Salons run on WhatsApp
Salão99 is Grupo Boticário's all-in-one platform for beauty salons, barbershops and independent professionals: scheduling, client management and finances in one place.
In Brazil, the conversation between a salon and its clients happens on WhatsApp. Confirmations, rescheduling and birthday wishes were all typed by hand, between one client and the next.
Manual reminders don't survive a busy day
Without a reminder system, confirming appointments depended on each professional's memory and free time. The result was a steady stream of no-shows and delays that broke the schedule and hurt revenue.
How might wecut no-shows without adding work for professionals, and without making the salon sound like a robot?
What salons told us
We ran usability tests on the existing messaging flow and a survey with salon owners and professionals.
WhatsApp is the channel
Clients answer WhatsApp. Any solution had to live there, not in email or push notifications.
Automate the sending, not the voice
Owners wanted to stop typing the same message, but automated messages felt cold. They had to sound like the salon.
More than reminders
Professionals asked for other moments to be automated too, like confirmations and birthday greetings.
Three calls that shaped the product
Templates with variables, written by each salon
The salon keeps its own tone while the system fills in the client, service, professional and time.
More setup on day one, so every message ships with a default that works without editing.
Automation per moment, not all or nothing
Owners could start with confirmations and add birthdays later, building trust in the automation step by step.
More settings to design, explain and maintain.
Ship in phases and let feedback steer
A gradual rollout let us watch real usage and adjust copy and settings while salons were using them.
A slower path to 100% of salons, in exchange for fewer surprises.
Write once, send at the right time
A messaging area inside Salão99 where each salon picks which moments to automate, writes the message in its own words and lets the system send it at the right time. Every component came from the Salão99 design system.
Also on the phone
Salons set up and follow their reminders from the app too: the WhatsApp area, the list of messages with their status, the template editor and the page that presents the feature.
Fewer empty chairs
appointment no-shows
chat conversion
approval from salon owners
reminders sent
Owners valued the balance between automation and personalization, and schedules became more predictable for the whole team.
What I'd take to the next project
- 01Automation earns trust when it sounds human. The copy mattered as much as the flow.
- 02Phased rollouts turn feedback into design input instead of bug reports.
- 03Next time I'd instrument the flow from day one to connect each message to show-up rates.