consumer product analysis with research, product, marketing, teams

methods: interviews, empathy maps, empathy building sessions, consumer survey, comparative analysis

tags: beauty, skincare, consumer products, product development, collaboration

outputs: analysis, product definition + success metrics, team consumer mindset

CONTEXT

No7 Beauty is a brand with a strong foundation in consumer products and revolutionary scientific formulas, but they were missing a consumer focus in their product development. As a UX researcher, I worked on consumer discovery interviews, empathy building sessions, and survey analysis. I was on the research team (4-6), which included both science + consumer research and fed into product development and marketing team (20 - 30).

GOALS

As someone helping the organization establish and scale user research, I employed three main methods to educate the team on user research, build user research practices, and get more people on board:

(1) built on existing practices

(2) trained the team + allowed for collaborative learning

(3) took initiative to create something & show business impact

(1) BUILT ON EXISTING PRACTICES

discovery interviews

No 7. already has a consumer research panel that was mainly brought in to test new products to see reactions to skin and perceptions of product. Leveraging this, I joined up with a few interested team members to deploy their first ever virtual consumer interviews for the purpose of discovery, not just user testing.

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INTERVIEWS INSIGHTS

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(2) TRAINING + COLLABORATIVE LEARNING:

empathy building sessions

Building on the design thinking training I employed for Accenture, I created Murals for our team to understand consumer perspective. The sessions explained key topics in user research and recruited team members into actually trying them out to challenge their thinking. This helped the team build empathy and their understanding of user research. Sessions involved:

literature review of existing Youtube influencer product reviews + comments

experience maps showing user journeys

insight walls of pain points + magic moments

ideation and prototyping​

(3) TOOK INITIATIVE TO SHOW BUSINESS IMPACT:

serum survey

No 7. had already sent out a survey to their consumer research panel and received rich responses, but there was no time or bandwidth to analyze this. Seeing this, I took initiative to analyze the survey, noticing a key business problem as I worked there: Despite being the company that first brought serums onto the market, there was no team definition for serum, meaning that development was driven by scientific advances but not by consumer need or business metrics.

In the survey, consumers were asked: ​"In your own words, please describe what you think a serum is and does?" and I used this as the central point for my analysis.

I analyzed responses to the free response question to create a codebook of 28 codes, divided into:

function (comments on what a serum does)

routine (comments on where in the skincare routine the serum would sit)

form (comments on a serum's materiality and substance).

RESULTS

I began to delve into an artistic visualisation of my muscle knot and how that could work in conjunction with the toolkit through a workshop to facilitate patient's understanding of their pain before they communicate to others. This brings language to pain.

common or outlier quotes good for marketing material as well as guides to consumer opinion for the product and research teams

IMPACT

As a result of the insights, I pulled together a definition and product success criteria that I shared with the product, research, and marketing teams. This resonated so much that I was invited to present to the entire company. The definition and criteria, first of its kind, will be used to shape future serums in development. This quick project also showed the company the value of incorporating user research into its product development as a practice.

definition: ​a concentrated formula containing actives to target a specific issue, usually lines and wrinkles / anti-ageing, used before moisturiser, that is quick absorbing

product success criteria: deeply penetrating, moisturises, hydrates, brightens, boosts

There is a disconnect between the team's ideal definition of a serum and what their target users think. For example, targeting a specific issue was only 11% of responses, despite being the second highest in the team responses (68%).

When I pointed it out, it became clear that either the product marketing had to be clearer, or that other features should be prioritized when creating more appealing serums.

LEARNINGS

research plan made for interviews, but the rest was ad hoc: in future, think more about how these tasks done in parallel feed into each other and come up with a more holistic research plan

emphasize flexibility: being able to add in elements as needed

If I were to redesign the process, I send a shorter survey of focused, key questions, and allow for interviews to follow up on survey responses.

CONTINUED IMPACT

This definition is still being used by product and marketing. On the US product page for Line Correcting Booster Serum:

No7 Line Correcting Booster Serum visibly reduces wrinkles in one week.* It's formulated with MATRIXYL 3000 PLUS™, No7's next generation age-defying collagen peptide-based technology. Apply this serum before moisturizers, oils, primers and makeup. You can also use as a booster...​

Meanwhile, the UK product page for No7's newest serum, which came out after I left, calls out:

Brightens, hydrates, and renews as features. Dryness, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of firmness, uneven skin tone, and uneven texture as consumer concerns.

These 3 features and these 5 signs come from the success criteria and definition. (Renews especially, which the team had not considered before.)

While I no longer have internal visibility, from the public-facing material, the definition, criteria, and insights are still influencing products.