PROCTER & GAMBLE 2023

In 2023, I was a Digital Design Co-op for Procter & Gamble Beauty Care. While most of my work is confidential, I created and pitched a passion project during my time there which involved Design Research, UIUX Design, Branding, and more. Fellow Industrial Design Co-op Alex Ernsell hopped on this project to create the physical prototype. Disclaimer: This was a creative hypothetical pitch to P&G Beauty, *NOT* an existing product.

OBJECTIVE

Design a brand and its digital commerce platform that sells niche regional nostalgic scents from around the world. Define the brand, execute research, build the interface, and create a physical product prototype. Reminiscent is a hypothetical digital commerce sub-brand of P&G focused on delivering nostalgic niche regional scents that can be added to any P&G product to enhance user experience. Full deck available upon request.

LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT

Here’s what people are thinking about memory... Across social media, we see examples of people wishing they could relive an experience or place, usually triggered by smell or taste.

Defining the two target user groups for reminiscent: those who want to reminisce and those who want to discover!

TREND ANALYTICS

Using Mintel, I tracked and analyzed relevant trends. The “buzz” level indicates how ‘loud’ a trend is to the media. The “buzz” of categories concerning scent, personalization, throwback feelings, and moods were at an all-time high! I then researched case studies of how other companies incorporate sensory experiences into their commercial products. 

WRONG ANSWER...OR WRONG QUESTION?

I wrote and distributed a survey to gather experiences from immigrants about nostalgic scents. The first time I did this, I got vague responses that were almost there, but not exactly what I wanted. I learnt that I had to rewrite my questions and give adequate framing to get the answers I wanted from my respondents (which I knew they had all along, but couldn’t get to!) What an interesting experience in human interaction. Below are some of the responses that multiple people brought up!

                   

HOW DO YOU REPRESENT SCENT VISUALLY?

Some people can smell color! Trend research on synesthesia (Myriad) studies popular associations between certain scents and places and their corresponding colors, allowing us to stylize each custom scent in the Reminiscent brand with their representative color gradient.

BRANDING

Since Reminiscent is about regional niche nostalgic scents, location is a huge factor to the brand. After ideating, I began thinking about topographic maps. They show an area’s location and geographic qualities through contour lines. This line detailing combined with the nostalgic color gradients made up the package branding. Each regional scent would therefore be branded with their unique topographic pattern and a unique color gradient.

LOW FIDELITY PROTOTYPING + JOURNEY MAP

Before wireframing the interface, I tested users with low fidelity mockups simply made of sticky notes. This gave me a prototype to quickly manipulate based on the user’s feedback. I noted areas of confusion from the user, and made a thorough user journey map to detail each user action and what they might be thinking or feeling at any point in the journey.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF SCENT?

What other products can incorporate scent into their holistic design experience? What if digital picture frames could emit nostalgic scents with pictures of memories? What if movie projectors emit fabricated scents of fictional lands of Tatooine or Middle Earth? What if Reminiscent was housed in an International supermarket like Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati? Their consumer base is already interested in international cuisine and experiences, so perhaps they’d be interested in international sensory experiences.