On February 28, 2010, I organized a small nail party with four awesome girls – Asli, Meredith, Liesje and Kristin –  from my school. The party went well! Asli and I did pedicures, and the rest did manicures. We were seating in a separate place, but we got together in the end when we were drying nails.

Here is the breakdown of my actions along with comments in italic pink.

Feb 21

  • Sent e-mails to several girls to see if they’re interested in a nail party. I wrote in the e-mail that the cost was around $10 for mani and that the party was likely to happen on either 2/27 or 2/28. -> It’s helpful to let people know the approximate date & cost in advance.
  • Reactions:
    • “I can’t believe it’s only $10. I always thought it was so much more.”
    • “This will be the first time I get my nails done..”
    • “I already made a plan for that weekend! May be next time!”
  • After figuring out that it would be a group of five, I started looking for a nail salon around the NYU campus.
  • Note:
    • Some salons I called earlier said, “there’s no way we can do five people at the same time!” -> Need a way to figure out the maximum capacity for each salon.
    • I eventually decided to go with a salon that I knew, because I knew what exactly to expect from them. I could have chosen other places, but it was hard to determine just by reading reviews on Yelp and Google. I wanted photos of the salons, because the interior and ambiance mattered when choosing a venue for someone. -> My service needs to provide some visual references for nail salons.
  • Reservation made at Jay Nails for February 28 at 1:00 pm.
Nail Party Invitation

Nail Party Invitation

  • Created an invitation (see a photo above)  in Adobe Illustrator -> Need to figure out an easy way to create a customizable invitation.
  • Sent out the invitation to those who said “I’m attending.” -> It will be nice to see the list of “who’s attending.”

Feb 24

  • Sent a reminder e-mail -> Is there a way to automatically do this?

Feb 26

  • One person said she had to cancel.
  • One person asked me if she could join the party -> Luckily, I didn’t have to adjust my reservation, but I think my service has to be flexible and adjustable for last minute changes

Feb 28

  • We’re supposed to meet in front of Jay Nails at 1:00 pm.


View Larger Map

  • Three of us got to the salon on time, two people came in a bit late -> What happens if someone could not make it? What happens if someone come in late?
  • We had to sit in different seats – not so much talking while getting nails done -> Salons have to ensure the seats for large groups
Girls drying nails by the window
Girls sitting next to each other while drying their colored nails
  • We were able to get together while drying the nails -> Talking part was my favorite.
    • Talked about getting take-out lunch after the salon
    • Talked about thesis projects
    • Talked about other “stuff”…
Tweets

Tweets!

  • Asli tweeted about the party from the nail salon
  • Took photos
  • Shared photos on Facebook, tagged all photos with friends
I've got pink pedi!

I've got pink pedi!