USER RESEARCH AND PHYSICAL PRODUCT DESIGN • 2024
Improving femcare product with user research
How we redesigned a frequently misused femcare product through deep user understanding, making it intuitive for first-time users
(this project is under NDA - I am highlighting the process - I have added as many details as allowed)
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Picture this scene
It's the first time our user Sarah is using this particular femcare product...
1st
Product purchased
2nd
Package opened
3rd
Attempts to use based on
previous similar products
Uses incorrectly, gets frustrated
too nervous to ask a friend,
and throws product out
4th
The confusion unfolds
Here's what actually happens when users try this product for the first time
User Perspective
Sarah opens the product and tries to use it based on her previous experience with similar products. The design is different than expected, she uses it incorrectly , she then needs to discard the product.
She attempts to use it incorrectly, causing discomfort and frustration.
"I felt like I was doing something wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. I thought the *product* was broken and never bought them again."
— First-time user, Research Participant
Business Impact
The company receives numerous customer complaints and high churn rates on product purchasing. Brand loyalty suffers as users switch to competitor products after negative experiences.
What we observed
During our research, we noticed these key pain points happening repeatedly
01
Product being used incorrectly from the start
Users often misunderstood the basic orientation and application of the product, leading to immediate discomfort and negative experiences.
Users relied on previous experience with similar products, which were not the same as this product
Insight: Product design needs to be intuitive enough to be used correctly without instructions.
02
Instructions being skipped
When users did attempt to read instructions (which was not often), they found them overly complex and
difficult to understand in the context of actual use.
Text-heavy instructions were overwhelming in a private, time-sensitive situation.
Insight: Visual guidance is effective, most people don't read instructions especially for a
common intimate product.
03
Embarrassment preventing users from seeking help
The sensitive nature of the product meant users were reluctant to ask questions or seek guidance when confused.
Users would rather abandon the product than discuss usage problems with others.
Insight: Product must be self-explanatory to increase confidence in user.
04
Packaging creating false expectations
Product packaging imagery and messaging set expectations that didn't match the actual usage experience.
Users formed mental models based on packaging that led to incorrect usage attempts.
Insight: Packaging should accurately represent the product and its correct usage.
05
Users don't know if they successfully used the product
Users had no way to confirm if they were using the product correctly until experiencing discomfort
Without clear feedback, users couldn't adjust their behavior during use
Insight: Tactile or visual feedback mechanism could guide correct usage
No visual cues for correct usage
Taboo subject
Users reluctant to seek help
Unclear indicators
Going deeper
To design the right solutions, we needed to understand the full picture
Secondary Research
We began by exploring the broader landscape through desk research.
8 In-Home Interviews
We conducted in-home interviews to gain deeper insights in a comfortable environment.
Affinity Mapping
Back in our workspace, we transformed findings into patterns using affinity mapping.
Unintuitive design
Main Pain Points in Journey
1
2
3
Product doesn't match user expectations
Emotional and Functional Design Requirements
We designed four key improvements to transform the product experience
01
Intuitive physical affordances
Redesign the product shape to naturally guide correct orientation and application without requiring instructions.
02
Quick and Confident Use
Add simple visual cues that communicate correct usage at a glance, eliminating confusion.
03
Empowering and Comfortable
Femcare is a sensitive and culturally hidden topic - for those who feel uncomfortable we want to give our users confidence and comfort
04
Incorporate tactile feedback for success
Design the product to provide physical feedback when used correctly, building user confidence.
Prototype Interviews
Goal:
Better understand what intuitive product use is and customer mental models
Interview activities included:
working with the interviewees to finish a storyboard
ranking current products and naming them,
observing their use of products with similar physical features and asking intentional questions about their particular use
Usability Testing
Goal:
Understand how users interact with our physical prototypes and iterate
These prototypes all had to be low fidelity but useable
this not only helped us understand what ideas were perceived as "good" or "bad" to our interviewees -
understand more about how the people we were designing for interacted and understood the femcare product we were designing
Making Sense of the Stories
Research and Insight Synthesis
our design tools:
affinity mapping to organize patterns
Personas to represent the users
2x2 matrices to identify opportunities
Journey maps to chart negative experience with the product we were tasked to update.
Our focus became
Based on our observations, we identified the core challenge
How might we redesign this femcare product to be intuitive for first-time users while maintaining comfort and effectiveness for experienced users?
Prototyping and
Usability Testing
16
Total Interviews
and
Usability Tests
From Requirements
to Ideas
to Final Physical Product Prototypes
Final Brainstorming
Using our requirements as a guide, we had a final brainstorming session to create final product ideas to rapid prototype.
Solidworks CAD & Mech Design
We used CAD to model the different ideas & mechanisms and narrowed down to 1 idea to prototype after design reviews
3D Printing &
Visual Form
We made many iterations of the product to ensure correct mechanism functionality and finalize the aesthetic form we wanted