Following a skincare prototype through repeated use at home

The question

A beauty company had a new skincare product that asked women to make room for it in their routine, again and again.

Before committing more development, the brand wanted to see whether that would happen beyond a first try: where the product would fit, how often women would reach for it, and what they would notice in their skin. It also wanted women’s ideas on the concept and the format.

Our approach

We kept what the product did apart from what a concept promised: some women used the prototype without seeing any concept, and others read an unbranded concept before they began.

Morning and evening users were followed separately through repeated use, and the branded concept and pack came in only at the focus groups, once women knew the product itself.

Women shared their use with us online as it happened, in posts and small challenges, so we saw a routine take shape, or fail to, in their own homes.

What the team came away with

One report brought the home trial and the focus groups together, from women’s posts and challenges to the group discussions.

With product and promise kept apart, the brand could see the experience of using the product separately from the response to a concept, and judge each on its own terms. Women’s ideas on the concept and the format came with it, from people who by then knew the product well.

Following the same women through repeated use, the team could see whether a routine was forming, well beyond what a first try can tell anyone.