Skip navigation EPAM
GET IN TOUCH
  • GET IN TOUCH
  • Search
    Enter your search query or select one from the list of frequent searches below. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.

    Frequent Searches

    • Blockchain
    • Cloud
    • DevOps
    • Open Source
    • RPA
    • Automation
    • Digital Risk Management
    • Contact

iluminage: 
Skin Smoothing Laser

PROJECT

CLIENT

iluminage

SERVICES

  • Platform & Product Development
  • Engineering

INDUSTRIES

  • Life Sciences & Healthcare
  • Consumer

The most effective anti-aging techniques usually involve the use of a medical laser which is only accessible in a clinician’s office and require a technician.

Iluminage, a Unilever brand, partnered with Continuum to bring clinical skin care into the home.

Challenge

It’s clear to anyone who flips through an issue of Cosmopolitan or wanders the beauty section of Nordstrom: The market for products that effectively reduce signs of aging is a burgeoning one. The most effective anti-aging techniques—those that remove unwanted hair, age spots, or facial lines and wrinkles—usually involve the use of a medical laser. Traditionally, such laser treatments were only accessible in a clinician’s office and required a trained professional to administer. Not only are these procedures expensive, but they’re also inconvenient to schedule and attend regularly. Many women find it difficult to stick with the treatments long enough to see real results.

Iluminage, a Unilever brand, partnered with Continuum to bring clinical skin care into the home. The company envisioned a handheld laser that women could use safely and effectively to treat facial lines and wrinkles. Assembling an expansive team of mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as industrial and digital designers, Continuum made this vision a reality.

    Awards

    • Good Design Award 

    RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

    The Goldilocks Effect: Designing Just Enough

    Continuum’s team interviewed women between the ages of 35 and 55 in Boston, Los Angeles, and New York. They quickly realized that self-administering a laser therapy was something women would have to learn and maintain. To ensure success, the laser must elicit behavior change—by design. While women wanted to feel confident in the laser’s effectiveness, they didn’t want a device so technical that it was intimidating. Balancing credibility and ease-of-use in the laser’s design proved critical to ensuring its adoption.

    RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

    Avoiding the Drawer of Death

    Women also admitted to abandoning beauty products quickly that didn’t fit into their daily routine in a meaningful way. The team designed a device that they would deem “countertop-worthy”—elegant enough to keep on display in their bathroom. This visibility would help women remember to use the laser every day—and save it from what Continuum referred to as the dreaded bathroom “drawer of death.”

    RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

    Miniaturizing an Existing Technology

    While the laser technology for the device existed, it did not fit in the palm of one’s hand. Professional lasers on the market looked like large appliances—not appropriate for personal, at-home use. Continuum applied expertise in mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as software design, to miniaturize the laser technology to a safe yet user-friendly size. After several months of human factors and engineering refinements, the team built 160 first-revision prototypes under ISO compliance. These prototypes were used for final consumer validation, as well as in clinical trials required for FDA clearance.

    RESEARCH & INSIGHTS

    Meaningful Connectivity

    To achieve the results they desire, women must use it properly and consistently. This drove the team’s decision to build connectivity into the device. The laser plugs into any computer or tablet with a USB cord, so women can upload data to track their skin’s improvement, access consultative coaching for advice, and engage socially with a community of other users.

    01 / 04

    Solution

    FDA-approved for in-home use, the iluminage Skin Smoothing Laser has been clinically proven to reduce lines and wrinkles around the eyes and mouth. As the world’s first connected beauty device, the Skin Smoothing Laser establishes a new market category at the intersection of consumer electronics and women’s cosmetics. It also gives women around the world access to professional-quality beauty treatments from their own home.

    78%

    OF WOMEN SAW IMPROVEMENT IN THEIR SKIN’S APPEARANCE AFTER USING THE SKIN SMOOTHING LASER FOR JUST TWO WEEKS.

    Those who used the device for 12 consecutive weeks reported 95% improvement.

      Results

      When it launched in the summer of 2014, the Skin Smoothing Laser garnered notable media attention for both its efficacy and design. The device has been mentioned by publications including W Magazine, Shape, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Women’s Health, Allure, and Glamour, amongst others.

      The Skin Smoothing Laser is sold online, as well as at Bergdorf Goodman, Sephora, and Nordstrom.

      RELATED PROJECTS