Uncovering originality in an everyday task
The challenge facing Samsung was to discover fresh insights about laundry that could lead to new market opportunities and product innovations. So, we got dirty with laundry.
Laundry has been studied.
Past research was chock-full of anecdotes and improvements but most traditional discovery approaches were far from real world experiences and—mostly—produced the exact same insights each time. To uncover new insights, we created a comprehensive listening plan that combined interviews and ethnography with expert testimony and Watson-led social analytics.
Our 360º research path looked like this:
Consumer interviews were used to invalidate assumptions about laundry so that areas of opportunity could be clarified before costly design exploration. We were able to compare stated intentions with the recordings of actual laundering.
Expert interviews about specific laundry and machine challenges to uncover specific challenges and failures seen by outsourced laundry companies.
Cloud-based, remote observation using motion activated cameras captured specific laundry behavior including all the small tics and expressions that could be analyzed.
Desktop research that explored trends in fashion & social reviews of existing product lines
True design partners
We partnered with HUGE Design to turn insights into a 2-day workshop bringing a combination of measurable quantitative data from reviews, consumer input, visual analysis of footage, and expert feedback.
The result?
Three new evidence-based areas of product development.
