Packaging calls for universal design

Packaging professionals are reluctant to admit that packaging is not necessarily entirely for the convenience of users. Children's protective packaging is an obvious example of inconvenience to the elderly, and this is not the only example. Due to the need for user convenience, packaging designers began to show interest in the famous "universal design" principle. American architect and designer Ron Mace first created this term in 1985. Mace defines the concept as "all product designs and environments can be used to the greatest extent possible for people without the need for adaptation or special design." As a result of exceeding the needs and abilities of “average and healthy” adults, including the elderly, children, and those with motor and sensory inconveniences, GM products have won the favor of most users.

Since Mace created this term, the sport has been developing for 20 years and has gained widespread recognition. These concepts have been widely used in architecture, product design and website design, but still need to be promoted in the US packaging industry. Japan's general design and application in the packaging field has gone faster. Since 1995, Toppan Printing, the world's second largest printer, has been working to apply universal design concepts to packaging. The company has also developed standards that can be used to measure the versatility of packaging. If the packaging design does not conform to Toppan's universal design concept, the company even suggests that the brand owner change the packaging design. The proposed scope relates to the packaging graphics, shape and structure. Toppan is not the only Japanese company that adopts universal design guidelines. Trend analysis of the Japan Packaging Society stated that universal design movement is an important trend in packaging. This idea has been standardized in the “Guidelines for Packaging for the Aged and the Disabled (JIS00210200)”, which emphasizes that packaging should be conspicuous and handy, portable, and easy to open.

Universal design in the United States United States The universal design applied to the packaging industry is only just starting. The following will introduce several US companies to improve their product packaging design in order to meet the needs of different user groups.

U.S. Procter & Gamble Company has realized that product packaging plays an active role in influencing people's lives. For this reason, the company specially organized researchers to apply these guidelines to laundry products. In order to achieve P&G's "close to life, improve life" service, Procter & Gamble is trying to design all products based on common design guidelines to suit all ages and abilities.

John Bitner, a registered packaging professional and president of any packaging industry consultancy, explains why companies like Procter & Gamble are considering starting to include more scope. "In the last century, the average life span of Americans increased by 30," Bitner said. “We live longer and healthier, the inconvenience caused by old age and the loss of skills are unavoidable. The market is constantly changing. In the next 20 years, we will reach the age of 50 by 10,000 people per day. People aged 55 to 70 are For the first time in history, there are more than 18-34-year-olds.The elderly need more.They do not want to write, do not want to shop.In the convenience test of the elderly, the elderly refused to continue trying to open a new package.They just want to stop, but Do not want to fail. Older people will first protect their right to independence."

Peter Clarke, president and founder of Product Ventures, learned through research how real this situation is. Duracell hired Clarke's company to redesign Duracell's hearing aid battery packs. The packaging used before the redesign is an industry standard. However, it is extremely difficult for some elderly people to remove the batteries from the packaging and install hearing aids. Therefore, they want to save battery consumption as much as possible. Only they wear hearing aids on special occasions instead of using them every day. "The difficulty of loading batteries into equipment has made people discouraged, so that users choose to wait for their sons, daughters, friends or related service personnel to help replace the battery," Clarke said. "If you don't correct this, it will be extremely neglected for the elderly in our society." Therefore, the Duracell project team and the Product Ventures company's designers set out to solve this problem.

First of all, they imitate the difficulties of real users to better understand the target customers. They wear gloves and hands-on bottling tests to comprehend the needs of people over the age of 55. "Our research further strengthens our understanding that the current packaging platform (including Duracell and its competitors' packaging platforms) does not meet the end-user needs," said Clarke. "By understanding the constraints clearly, we can design the right solution." The solution is in the form of Duracell EasyTab. The package actually began to be used as a tool to fit the battery into the hearing aid, eliminating the possibility of the battery being "reverse" and providing the user with a holdable surface. According to Clarke, packaging “for the first time allows end-users to replace batteries on their own, effortlessly. Duracell can sell more batteries because it satisfies end-users. More importantly, end-users can Wear a hearing aid that has electricity.” This design, while targeting the elderly, also makes the new packaging suitable for all users of all ages and capabilities. One sure sign of its extreme success is that Duracell's competitors redesigned the packaging of similar products.

For the young people's market The redesign for improved usability has also proven to be an effective business strategy for products for younger consumers. Bryce Rutter, CEO and founder of Metaphase Design Group, has completed many of the packaging designs focused on users, not targeting the market for people over the age of 55. He found that the design industry often ignored the ergonomic impact of packaging, and therefore founded the company's integrated scientific research and ergonomics to actively influence design. This integrated approach was a method used by metaphase in 1995 when they collaborated with Quaker Oats to redesign its 526ml bottle for Gatorade drinks. The metaphase team conducts consumer research on athletes of various shapes at various sports events. Metaphase investigated how athletes stored, carried, consumed, and perceived beverages. After analyzing the user's needs, the result created Gatorade EDGE (a ergonomic design that gave him experience).

EDGE is a 526ml bottle that focuses on the "hand grip area." The designed grip area is suitable for the 5th to 95th percentile hand shape. The mouth size is based on an anthropometric study designed to open with the lips. In the study, it was found that the 526 ml specification did not meet the athletes, and therefore the specifications were increased. Metaphase and Gatorade improve design utility by making it widely available to athletes and truly understanding their needs and wishes. It turns out that consumers responded well and sales increased by 25%.

Profits are derived from a design that is rich in applicability. As can be seen from the examples given above, when a company considers package users more when designing packaging, it can make a profit. All the packaging listed here not only brings economic benefits to the company, but also won the reputation of the Industrial Award.

Under the current trend, considering the extremely universal design of all users, it may continue to receive economic benefits and rewards. In addition to the market maturity, more and more people live in inconvenient lives. It is estimated that 8.6 million people over 6 years of age have one or more inconveniences in their daily lives, and that in the United States, 4.1 million people need help from others. The 2000 census showed that there are 4.97 million people in the United States with some kind of long-term problems or inconvenience. These people represent 19.3% of the population of non-hospital residents aged 5 years and over 25720000, or nearly 1 in 5 people. If today's packaging design does not consider these people, it may lose sales opportunities.

If today's packaging is not designed with these consumers as the center, then it is possible to miss this sales opportunity. Designing "the widest range of users" by creating user-friendly designs is an effective business strategy. Convenience is what consumers are willing to pay for and the company is focusing on.



Source: Modern Packaging