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Global Food Drive

Just like some of the mom's we interviewed at the beginning of the project, we also believe that everyone should have access to good nutrition. We are starting this brand with a goal to make a big global impact. In addition to our products being available at the lowest price possible, every product sale will provide meals to communities who need it most.

We tested this initiative in Kenya on June 10 2021 to look at the logistics, challenges, and feasibility of this program. We are currently looking at communities within the US and Mexico.

The vitamin space has been (mostly) untouched for the last 100 years. Fundamentally, the body needs the right nutrients for a healthy and strong immune system. In uncertain times, our team (engaging ventures) wondered if there was anything we could do to help people get more nutrition and reduce, or prevent people and communities from getting sick. As mom says, “you are what you eat.”

Everybody has specific nutritional needs, and supplements can help support deficiencies to increase overall wellness. Typical supplements do not get fully absorbed by the body which means people are not getting the full-daily value specified on product labels.

I was tasked to conduct initial research that would inform the vision for a new brand in the supplement space as proof of concept that lead to a joint partnership with a manufacturer. I was responsible for delivering on that vision, inclusive of naming, brand identity, visual identity, research, packaging, UX, Website, Amazon sellers page, and direct-to-consumer product experiences while also bringing stakeholders along the journey. Website and refreshed product launch ETA early 2022.

2x4.com

The Team:

Cal C. (CEO), Syed T. (Strategy and Sales), Young Y. (Software Engineer), Fred C. (Design), Hasalyn M. (Content and Project Manager).

My Role: 

Design Lead, Vision, Define goals, Qualitative and quantitative research, Competitive analysis, User journey, Site Map, Workshops, Formula Development, Product development, Prototype, UX Design, Exposition Conference Design, Investor Presentations, User testing, Design System, Branding, Testing & Iteration.

By creating a brand centered around accessible doctor-formulated supplements, and more nutrition for all.

SYNTHY

Data Points

Market

$31.7b

Daily Supplement U.S. sales in 2019

Growth

2.8%

Expected by 2024 (pre-corona virus numbers)

Demand

Natural

Is the most on-demand keyword based on online shopping data

Usage

16.7%

Jump in American user

Hottest Products

Ayurvedic

Is expected to surpass 14.9 billion by 2026

Herbal Supplements

6.2%

Currently worth $5.26b (pre-corona virus)

1. Audit. Oldest (1934) and world best-selling brand is Nutrilite

2. Hypothesis: Mom learns about vitamins through pregnancy.

3. Wellness and the new normal

Survey

Metagenics

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Now Vitamins

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Zarbee's Naturals

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Olly

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We started by surveying 40 women around the world for demographics, age, supplement shopping habits, how and when they absorb information, and what makes them purchase a specific supplement.

We learned that their top factors to taking supplements and go-to brands are:

1) Improve health  2) Price/Value  3) Quality  4) Convenience

5) Dietary support  6) No non-sense 7) Customer reviews 8) Packaging

Concept Development

We then used that information to formulate an internal point of view with concepts. Sketches along with mood images were presented to our cross-functioning partners for discussion. This helped us create 5 different strong directions with digital sketches to present to our customer segments for qualitative research.

We want to have conversations with this group of moms. Starting with open-ended questions where we can probe for more specific answers. We made the interviewer(s) comfortable and let them know they could stop at any point if they like. We introduced ourselves, who we are and why we were reaching out / how we’ll use this information. We showed the 5 different concepts to get a read on what they gravitate towards. When they looked at concepts, we ask them if they would buy these for their husband/wife/partners/kids/parents.

My biggest issue with my current supplements is how expensive they are.

Amissa C.

Age 40

I have "mom" brain now, so I rely on lists and Alexa to keep me on track.

Erin Q.

Age 42

It has to taste good, or I have to be able to hide the taste for my kids to take it.

Camille D.

Age 31

Ingredients are the most important to me. Organic, non-GMO, all of it.

Icy W.

Age 37

I exclusively buy in bulk now. It's made life so much easier and lets me focus on my family.

Leah M.

Age 41

I put vitamins in my Amazon cart for the next purchase so I never forget. 

Ashely A.

Age 52

I'll admit, I haven't been taking care of myself as much as I used to.

Anna E.

Age 39

Sustainable packaging is super important to me. I want my kids' kid's to have what I had growing up.

Tiffany M.

Age 40

I can afford higher quality products, but I still value a good price. I believe everyone should have access to good stuff.

Renea G.

Age 42

I'm too busy to take additional supplements—even though I worry about my kid's immunity.

Katie P.

Age 39

Resilience is the ability to bounce back. To stay strong. Tough Sleep? Tough days? You can get through it.

Roslyn B.

Age 40

I don't buy supplements in the grocery store. They require research and recommendations from friends. 

Abby D.

Age 38

I purchase supplements on my doctor's advice. I'm skeptical of claims that aren't backed by real science.

Darcey B.

Age 46

I really love it when things have been studied with women in my age group. 

Jenni F.

Age 42

I am very anxiety-prone, finding something that can help me process it in a healthy way would be amazing.

Shannon N.

Age 39

Keep it simple or else I won't do it. Don't make me work harder than taking a pill.

Sidney N.

Age 30

Interview Highlights

Magic Pill

Moms need daily stress support.

Price Matters

High quality at an accessible price.

Trust is key

Recommended by friends, family, or doctors.

New Normal

Planning ahead and buying in bulk.

Earth Friendly

Sustainable is important.

Ingredients

High-quality ingredients only.

Support

Love not having to think about running out and access to responsive customer support.

Simple

Only like solutions that are easy to incorporate into busy day-to-day life.

Who is the customer? Our customer is the caretaker of their family. They carry the mental load related to the needs of their family, and the person who makes the daily micro-decisions that holds their family together - most often we call this person “mom”.  

Is the most important customer benefit clear? We have the technology, backed by science, to create high-quality liquid nutrients for the fastest absorption, at the best price, so that mom can have one less thing to worry about.

How do we know what customers need or want? Questionnaire and research conclude vitamin shoppers crave effective ways to boost their—and their families—overall health, at the best value. 

What does the customer experience look like?  We will offer customers a great-tasting new line of vitamin supplements, that meets all their dietary needs, in fuzz-free packaging that is easy to shop on all shelves. Customers will be delighted with our exceptional shopping experience that rewards them for sharing us with friends and family.  

Opportunity

These are a set of principles or values that define us. They are also a tool for bringing a bold, consistent message to the 2x4 brand story.

Nutrition is hero We deliver results without side effects and make it easy for all customers to stack.

Just enough design We don't overdesign or over-embellish. 
Customers are family We talk to our customers like life-long friends, aka family. 
Safety first We make sure our ingredients are safe and cause no health issues. 
Effortless education How our products work should be understood at a glance.
Cohesion Everything a customer sees, touches, smells, hears or tastes counts toward creating a lasting impression of 2x4.
Energy We design products that will incite action, even if it's getting to bed.
Equitable & Inclusive People's needs shift with time and circumstance, and so do their abilities. We have an optimistic
point of view and consider current events, disability, and diversity to create designs that benefit all.

BRAND PILLARS

Easy Everyday
Personal Made for my loved ones and me
Nutrition Whole-body health

Design Principles

Liposomes are not new to the market. They were invented in the mid-1960s and were actually created for new mothers who could not lactate as a way to give the most nutrients to their newborns. Liposomes are essentially fat that wraps a nutrient (or drug) that the body recognizes and quickly absorb it into the bloodstream.

The innovation in this space comes from taking the slow and expensive process of manufacturing medical-grade liposomes to now being able to mass-produce quickly and at a fraction of the cost. There is no middle man in our product offering so the cost savings are passed on to our customer making a supplement that typically costs $40-60 down to about $20.

We wanted a disruptive name for this new type of supplement brand.

When looking at names like Allbirds for shoes, or Wally for bandages, the one thing in common is that they are memorable.

2x4 came to mind because home is where the heart is and just like a home, your body needs good internal structure to build strength and resilience.

We pitched the name with some explorations that included an 8 sided asterisk as the solution for the 8 pillars to good wellness and she added: “Nutrition Multiplied” which became our tagline.

2x4*
Nutrition Multiplied
Supplement Solutions for the Family

Shortly after the survey, interviews, and pitch the team realized that a brand for women by women would resonate with our future customers the most. So we partnered with Mallory Blair, a Ph.D. Chemist and Lecturer at Colorado State University who had been contributing to the family business since its inception.

Naming and branding

Communicating liquid vitamins

Through our interviews, we found out that shoppers wanted sustainable, recyclable, minimal packaging, and value. Glass is heavy to ship and required excess packaging to protect it from breaking. The plastic containers available off-the-shelf were too utilitarian. I thought about olive oil tins, they are familiar, hold liquid, are recyclable, and would not require additional carton packaging to enclose it, the container is the box which meant that we had a large flat canvas for messaging. This together with vibrant and organic paint swirls would say liquid at a glance.

Actual liquid supplements examples: Turmeric, Stress, Vitamin D, & Vitamin C.

Position / Role
Full
Name

The strong natural colors of Curcumin, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Stress support poured into a shot and then into bowl.

Position / Role
Full
Name

Second test pouring into fresh green juice.

Position / Role
Full
Name

The third test, swirling liquid vitamins over a smoothie, observing the natural organic mesmerizing swirls. 

״I've been to dozens of supplement expos and I've never seen anything as exciting as this"

Dr.  Blair

Ph.D. Chemist and President 2x4

Paint swirls were established as a key way to communicate liquid at a glance. We wanted to also express science and doctor formulations created in a lab while also expressing enhanced visuals at home.

Manufacturing challenges

The team ordered samples and tested them with a variety of liquid supplements at our facilities and they did not pass the high-quality bar test. The container needed to be coated with a specific film based on the acidity level of the liquid inside which varied from supplement to supplement. This meant that this solution was not scalable with a minimum order quantity (MOQ) was 100,000 of each.  

The learnings from this made a custom container much more reasonable. We wanted the same impact with a custom form factor that was unique to our brand and quickly engaged an industrial designer to help with the container form with my direction.

Intermediate testing

Perception

Creating custom packaging is time-consuming and expensive. To make sure we were headed in the right direction we decided to create packaging with the name 2by4 and gather real customer data. There were enough purchases to validate investing in better packaging (currently in development).

Beta Website

All the branding and packing was designed to be simple with just enough design to make the products compelling. We had a subscription rate of 76% with the highest sales coming from Vitamin D and Curcumin.

Customer Feedback

The beta website was not easy to read. Customers let us know they wanted more information at a glance. We simplified the information above the fold with quick-read information and provided in-depth product and brand information below the fold (wireframe shown).

Services I Provide

Chosen direction. This concept was about building your personal stack of supplements in a fun and engaging way.

Services I Provide

This was a bit more formal and mature in brand expression. It leaned on familiarity with authoritative tone.

Services I Provide

This concept was about having a completely immersive experience. Something that was easy to navigate but a customer can endlessly explore and learn about vitamins.

Digital Experience

Started with creating concepts guided by goals that would then inform the website experience and brand expression.

Helping customers find the right supplements through AI

Our team acquired access to openai.com and wanted to experiment with the feature and see if we could incorporate it into our site.

 

Through my research, I found that surveys are a marketing tactic. Customers love to take quizzes because they like learning more about themselves. But companies gather a lot of customer information and some questions do not feel necessary to make an informed recommendation.

What if we could collect customer information with the support of artificial intelligence and use it to customize the experience in a “create your own journey” manner by asking the right questions as customers engage with us.

Creating a customized report that helps customers with their short and long-term goals, building communities with other like-minded customers + 2x4 staff, and experiencing exclusive member content including a customized online experience.

Happy Path

I started by researching and auditing other supplement brands and how they use surveys to create an informed point of view on how we could do it better.

Illustrative Prototype

Learnings

Working with our internal Software Developer, Young Y., we identified what could be the MVP for launch. These stills represent an overview of the flow. The vision of having a more interactive survey is something we are working towards and has become the main goal of engaging.co in addition to launching product brands. 

Website Development

Worked with developers in Ukarane to develop the website, creating redlines and specifics, and iterating async. 

Mobile Translation

Early 2022 Next Steps (Note: I took on a new role on 02/22)

Website Assets

Completing the suite of website assets with design support.

Direct-to-consumer

Flush out the end-to-end brand experience including customer service.

Hero Container

Manufacturing container that is made from 100% recycled plastic underway.

Early numbers

51%

of customers feel a noticeable difference since taking our products.

75%

Subscription customer retention of 2-3 supplements per order average.

76%

Customers tried more products on the second order. 

Product, Branding, Packaging, UX

Work

engaging.co

Company

Year

2021

Multiplying Nutrition

How Might We

Make the most bioavailable supplements for mom and her family, while doing good?

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