Fem Care
partnering with P&G to identify opportunities in the fem care space
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Project Type
design research
product design
Skills
problem framing
user interviews
research exercise design
research synthesis: insights, tensions,
frameworks
design requirements
brainstorming
prototyping: form adaptation/sewing
prototype testing: rank/mix & match
iteration
client pitch
Role
project manager
user interviews
research exercise design lead
synthesis lead
final concept prototype lead
pitch visual design lead
pitch story design lead
The Challenge
Fem care has long had a couple of star products, but over the past few years a number of period-changing innovations have hit the market. Consumers’ expectations for their period care products are changing.
As part of a student team, I partnered up with Procter & Gamble to explore how future iterations of a core fem care product could better solve for unmet needs. The result?
Three rounds of user research, several brainstorms, and 20+ prototypes to arrive at a final design concept & recommendations on next steps
The team meeting with the client to get additional clarification on the brief. Please note: some pictures blurred for confidentiality.
The Process
The process began with a client kickoff where we met our client partners and received our project brief. The brief was grounded in a foundational question.
How can we evolve a P&G product to improve the period care experience in a way that solves for unmet needs?
After completing secondary research, we interviewed nine consumers on their current period care experience. I conducted four interviews and led our team through a synthesis of our insights. Using research stimuli and product interaction observations, we were able to identify consumer’s current product habits and existing tensions. These insights informed our journey map, emotional/functional requirements, key frameworks, and our “How might we” statements.
Synthesizing information from our initial user research. Our team had several whiteboard and Post-It sessions throughout the project.
Synthesizing key observations, we dug deeper into existing tensions and refined our emotional and functional requirements. Using these revised requirements, we brainstormed evolved solutions for specific touchpoints of our core product. Through a third round of in-person research, we presented 15 concepts to our consumers using isolated ranking exercises, chronologically through touchpoints, and ending with a mix-and-match exercise.
A snippet of a Mural board summarizing our findings. We updated and revised our frameworks regularly with new information.
We began to imagine our solution as a combination of improvements from the first to last touchpoint with a specialized focus on the use phase of the product. Over an intensive week and a half, we applied the data gathered from our consumers to iterate on various key components ultimately converging on our final concept.
Tackling the execution of the physical prototype for the final concept, I played with machine and hand sewing + used a variety of fabrics and materials.
The Result
I led my team through compiling our research and solution into a compelling narrative, including the storyboard for a final pitch video. As a team, we delivered our pitch video, final presentation, executive summary, and a physical prototype to communicate our final concept.
Being driven by consumer insights from start to finish, we were commended for our ability to visually communicate consumer needs throughout the product development journey and received positive feedback on our final solution. The product is now in its next steps of development with P&G!
lessons
Following the why leads insights with depth.
Get physical prototypes in front of consumers early.
Research stimuli are a design exercise in and of themselves with lots of room for creativity.
Interdisciplinary perspectives make for a strong team and even better ideas.
Fingertips, proceed with caution when using hot glue and sewing needles!