UX-based Product Design
Project Case Study
Cutcorner Cardholder
A simple, efficient, on-the-go storage design for your cards that allows easy access to your basics and prevents card clash.
UX-based Product Design
Duration
Oct 2016 – Apr 2017
My Role
UX Researcher
My Responsibilities
User research, usability study, marketing strategy, design and manufacture the display stand
Abstract
Cutcorner Cardholder is a product designed for commuters in London. The start-up team first joined forces at Kingston University. The design solved the problems that every London commuter might come across when they use contactless cards. Users will no longer struggle with taking the card out of its slot, or being charged twice when more than one card is stored in the cardholder. The product has been well-praised by the target user and sold 39 units in the first month it was produced.
Our Design Process
Make sure to understand the users’ needs
Based on the design thinking framework, beginning with user interviews, every step ensures that the problems users care about are comprehensively understood and solved.
User Research
From elderly to every London commuter
Our journey began when we observed an elderly woman struggle taking out her card from her purse and felt stressed obstructing the queue to purchase a cinema ticket. A first prototype was created as a “fold-out purse” and we went to Kingston town centre to test one assumption: we suspected this was a recurring problem for the elderly population.
We walked down the street and talked to people. In the beginning, we only targeted the elder generation. However, as we talked to more and more people, we realised these problems do not only occur for the elderly. Therefore, we decided to expand our vox pop to include more people since soon it became clear that our assumption was correct and this issue was not age-related and affected all generations.
Definimg the problem
When expanding the age group, we also discovered that people who have adopted contactless technology experience problems with storing their cards together – their magnetic fields clash and damage the cards’ contactless feature. Due to these discoveries we decided to pivot our strategy regarding the target market. This target group being commuters and shoppers who own and use contactless cards. As a start-up in London, we decided to initially focus on the young commuters who frequent public transport on a daily basis.
We used tools such as empathy map, value proposition canvas, business canvas, and user journey map to empathise with users and find out their pain points.
Forming the Design: Ideation and Prototype
The first version included a mechanism that would stand the cards up vertically at opening, inspired by 3D pop-up birthday cards. After testing, we realised that the lack of resources and time restrictions limited our options and we decided to pivot. The new prototype, introducing cut corners on each side was still following the prioritised features, yet the design was simpler, more compact and easier to manufacture, given that the whole product was made out of one piece and didn’t require a mechanism.
At first, we started with using cardboard to ensure every feature we wanted was still present. The next step was to create an MVP (minimum viable product) to test.
Testing the Usability
Second-round research and testing the MVP
When we completed the MVP, we took the products to the trade fair and conducted a survey. Based on the findings, we understood that customers agreed that the design fulfills their needs, but they also stated there is still room for improvement.
For instance, they are interested in new colours and materials. Thus, we changed to recycled leather and launched the white version as a new option.
As the study demonstrated, the problem that bothers users the most is card clash. Therefore, we also improved the design. As we wanted to create a mechanism that would simply make the cards more accessible, we explored the card clash technology and brought the feature of an inner metal layer into the design.
The Product
Listening to the users and optimising the design
Based on the users’ feedback, our product has finally released. Each product is handmade individually, using a special leather crafting technique
What have we improved?
Storage: customers could only insert two cards, but now they can insert four cards in the cardholder.
The material: the final design consists of six equal pieces, which allow better use of materials. The fabric is recycled Eco-leather made out of used, shredded and processed pieces of leather.
The colour: we made a white version to cater to users’ need.
Delivering the product as an experience
Core message: Accessibility and sustainability
We believe in the power of branding. Therefore, we consider every possible point that a new user might discover us as an opportunity. From online to offline, we built an official website with a shopping cart, we created Facebook / Instagram accounts, and made an ad to demonstrate how the product has been used in different situations.
We shot a short ad campaign: ‘It’s about now’. The video highlights people’s feelings of satisfaction. The ad was designed to promote the Cutcorner brand and evoke the pleasantness of having your card problems solved instantly.
We shot a short ad campaign: ‘It’s about now’. The video highlights people’s emotions of satisfaction. The ad is designed to promote Cutcorner brand and evoke the pleasantness of having your card problems solved instantly.
Package and event marketing
Eco-leather is the primary choice of material for the cardholder and the packaging follows the same logic: using recycled paper. Made in one piece, there is no need for glue or stapling. By folding and cutting, the package is built and used both as a display hanger and a take-away wrapping.
The stand design followed the same logic and ethos as the package. The wooden display rack was made with waste wood, and only black and white colours were used so the product package would stand out. The stand design also won the “best trade stand award” by Young Enterprise.
Word of mouth
Word of mouth is extremely important to build brand awareness and expand our customer base. We encourage customers to post their thoughts on social media. This has proven to be an effective way to reach more customers.
Lessons Learnt
Think of every detail when delivering the product
The customers not only buy the physical product, but also an experience. This includes the ads, package and stand design. Clear visual communication at fair-stands is important for sales. After changing our strategy, we added posters that highlighted the features and the product itself, which resulted in a sales increase.
The initial assumption is just an assumption, we focus on “real human needs”
Firstly, we overcame our fear of talking to people, and were consequently able to improve the design, materials and variety according to the customer wants and needs. Secondly, by reading shared reviews on social media and from personal interactions, we were able to validate the success of the improvements and confirm the actual value created for the customer.
Cross-department and cross-culture communication
This being the first project I worked on with members from all over the world, it was very important to keep myself open-minded and keep my language honest and simple, in order to avoid misunderstanding accrued by language or culture. As a result, we managed to work as a team and help each other. In addition, despite all having separate roles in the team, we understood the importance of collaboration and communication. Weekly meetings helped us keep track and troubleshoot. Members shared their favourite moment of the week as well as their main concern. This helped us overcome crisis and also encourage each other along the journey. These “storming and norming” sessions improved our weekly performance.