Brand and Visual Designer
P004 → LENA THE SWITCH
An onboarding experience for a menstrual care brand that transforms period perceptions by addressing common concerns and promoting a comfortable, eco-friendly alternative designed for beginners.
Project Overview
The Switch by Lena is an onboarding that addresses people’s apprehensions, and emphasizes the benefits of menstrual cups. The Switch hopes to have a meaningful conversation with all menstruators about their perceptions of menstrual cups and suggest a more comfortable and environmentally friendly way of dealing with periods.
Lena is a small online US menstrual cup company that aims to inspire people to improve their periods while loving and respecting our planet. Lena is continually recognized as the #1 cup for beginners by Cosmopolitan, PutACupInIt, and Bustle for their unique bell shaped design, comfort, and stem.
Team Members:
My Roles:
Duration:
Tools: Elena Hsu, Elizabeth Lo, Macguire Rintoul, Isabelle Soares, Jordan Yep
Experience Design, Visual Design, User Research, Video-production
4 week project for a senior design course
Sketch, Figma, Keynote, Adobe Creative Suite
Business Problem 1
Product ApprehensionDue to the lack of exposure in mainstream markets, false assumptions have led to apprehensions and fears, like that they’re uncomfortable, messy, or inconvenient. The lack of exposure has also stopped Lena from successfully communicating that their product is catered to beginners and is preventing people from trying one out.
Business Problem 2
Established HabitsFirst-time menstruators often begin with the products that their guardians or parents use, and can be convinced that disposable menstrual products are more convenient, giving them less motivation to try other products.
Opportunities
Lena is failing to provide a supportive way to make the switch. Guiding new customers through what would normally be an FAQ is an opportunity for them to see how the Lena Cup could fit into their lives.
With their mission to improve periods for all, gender neutrality is an opportunity that could be taken further in Lena's tone and visuals. Accommodating the menstruating population that does not identify as female is a step that many menstrual product companies have yet to take, and can differentiate Lena as a brand. For the scope of this project our team decided to choose a design a solution for those who are interested to try a mentrual cup for the first time.
Insights
While conducting research we focused on main three insights
Personas
We then developed three main personas and decided to focus on Accustomed & Uncertain menstruator who currently uses other menstrual products and does not have enough knowledge to be able to switch to a menstrual cup.
Customer Journey
The firmness, shape, and stem of Lena Cups are catered to the needs of beginners, but due to scattered resources, unfamiliarity, and lack of guidance for newcomers, Lena cannot successfully communicate this value to new customers. Taking into consideration business problems, we decided to focus on pre-purchase which includes "Awareness & Consideration".
Solution
The Switch by Lena directly addresses false assumptions, apprehensions, and concerns consumers may have about menstrual cups.
Social Media
Because Lena is an online brand, social media is a seamless touchpoint. Instagram ads can capture mobile customers as well as promote the Lena account.
Facebook
Facebook ads can capture desktop users and promote Lena’s page.
Landing Page
Clear message leveraging brand status and a reason for the visitor to click on the call to action. The key points present the essential information to owning a menstrual cup. The sequence addresses common pain points brought up in user testing and the questionnaire.
Primary Information
More details are available for each section of the onboarding if people are interested or have follow-up questions. A transparent attitude and tone also provide an opportunity to create an open discussion around periods, in attempt to empower menstruators to speak their thoughts and needs. Supporting the change in products by going through common questions that people may have, and are answered by Lena in a conversational way in order for customers to have more information to base their decision on.
Interactions
Improved information design delivers details in a more understandable way. Asking people to guess the answers to questions helps correct false assumptions. To emphasize the financial benefits, people can quickly visualize how much they could save.
Stories
Lena’s stories section currently doesn’t have personal stories related to menstrual cups, which have helped new customers relate in other cases. We found that people feel more related to personal stories and experiences while knowing other people also going through a learning curve using a cup. Additionally, these stories change the relationship people have with their periods and also present an opportunity to address empowerment of people's bodies.
Follow-up
After 2 months, Lena will reach out to customers to check in and make sure the Lena cup is working for them, with an opportunity to have their story added to the stories section.
Reflection
The scope of this project was too big as our group tried to solve too many problems such period taboo and gender dysphoria. These two topics could've been projects on its own. To me, the most interesting thing about this 4-week project was that we went through a deep process of research, strategy, and concepting and all the digital design work came into play at the very end of our process, where there was a need for it, rather than focusing on that aspect from the beginning.