Children’s Clipper Design

Children's Clipper Design

Consumer Research

Shanghai, China

Introduction

I led research to help Wahl Clipper Corp. identify opportunities in the Chinese consumer-hair-cutting market.

Specifically, I was gaining insights on the popular eastern practice of home haircuts for babies.

These insights would be used to help Wahl address interests of end users, develop strategic advantages in this category, and build awareness of its brand in China.

Findings and recommendations are withheld due to privacy, though I can provide insight on the process below.

Objectives

Glean children’s hair clipper preferences in China
Learn purchasing behavior of children’s hair clipper consumers
Vet current product designs through local consumers
Gain insights for development of a compelling children’s clipper

Challenges

Approaching a market in which Wahl Consumer had little presence
No prior qualitative intelligence
Cultural barriers
Designing a product that could have multi-market appeal
Product development timelines

Outcome

The initial report was developed. Insights were visualized and communicated with the product team
First focus group provided actionable insights and influenced design modifications
Go-to-market strategy was influenced due to purchase behavior findings
Second focus group validated updated designs
Development steps proposed
Improved cultural understanding influenced following product decisions for the China market

I was responsible for the entirety of this project.

Personal contributions included:

Defining the project scope
Procuring Chinese research agency
Establishing contract, and scheduling
Competitive audit
Focus group design
Writing moderating questions
Requisitioning prototypes and assisting in prototype design
Acquiring & preparing competitive samples

On-site setup
Data recording
Video review
Data analysis
Authoring findings report
Data visualization of key findings
Establishing priorities for following R&D

Methods:

Competitive Audit
Focus Groups
Cultural Probes
User Survey

Overview

A competitive audit was completed to determine which products participants would observe. A total of 20 respondents were interviewed. Two separate focus groups were held. Each focus group lasted two hours and hosted ten participants.

Focus Group 1) An exploratory focus group would help validate our competitive analysis. It would also enable us to gather behavioral and perceptual inferences. Finally, it would shed light on alignment with existing prototypes Wahl could develop for that market.

Focus Group 2) The following focus group would be centered on our interpretation of the first focus group. It would reveal whether new designs based on the first focus group could be accepted in the market. It would also demonstrate the degree of design competence our prototype had against existing product. Lastly, it would offer insights on how to further improve Wahl’s prototypes, thus promoting a better user experience.

A local moderator presented questions to each group about their experiences purchasing and using children’s hair clippers.

Open discussion was encouraged.
Participants were presented with several top-selling children’s clippers in the market and with Wahl’s prototypes.
All branding was removed to reduce marketing influence.

Observation of the groups was conducted from behind one-way glass.