Unilever Experience Design
Led end-to-end experience strategy, product design and development, and service design in a 10-week brand activation project.
ROLE
Lead product designer and experience strategist
TIMELINE
June 2024 — August 2024
SKILLS
Experience Strategy, UX Research, Wireframing, Prototyping, Interaction Design
BACKGROUND
In addition to the official client work I did while at Siegel+Gale, a global brand strategy agency, I also worked on an intern cohort project. In short, we were tasked to define, design, and activate a new brand identity, with each of us responsible for managing our respective divisions of the project. As the Experience Intern, I handled all of the experience strategy, product design, and service design.
The project spanned the length of the internship, which was 10 weeks. The general breakdown of work followed a chronological timeline by discipline, modeled after the general order that Siegel+Gale uses for its client work; however, though each intern led their respective section, we all contributed during each stage of the project to ensure that the final product was a collaborative effort.
I led the Experience section, outlined in red.
PROJECT BRIEF
In early 2024, Unilever spun off its ice cream division, opening an opportunity to create a brand serving as the new leader in the space.
On the company-level, a new parent brand would cohesively tell a brand story across pre-existing product holdings, while a net-new brand at the product-level could breathe new life into the overall portfolio. We were initially presented with the objective of just creating a parent brand (ParentCo) with the option of also creating a net-new brand (NewCo). Ultimately, we chose to do both within the same timespan as a challenge.
Our goals for the new brands were to:
Create enough buzz for a successful spin off from Unilever
Build a strong connection and distinctive seal of quality across all products
Become a differentiated and undisputed ice cream leader
SURVEYING AND INTERVIEWING
To first gain a better understanding of the current landscape, we conducted research through several comprehensive discovery inputs:
21 brand audits spanning parent companies, portfolio brands, and competitors
21 qualitative interviews, split between internal and external stakeholders
3 quantitative analysis tools to extrapolate findings, namely EyeOpener, Infegy, and YouGov
We surveyed
183
consumers across the U.S.
A series of multiple choice and open-ended questions.
We asked about
Perceptions on frozen desserts
Which frozen desserts are consumed and how
Opinions on various ice cream brands
Respondent demographics
57%
18-34 years old
45%
work at Siegel+Gale
After synthesizing and analyzing our research results, we uncovered the following findings and insights for ParentCo.
BRAND STRATEGY
Guided by Siegel+Gale’s motto of “Simple is Smart”, we sought to boil down the essence of our new brand identity into a singular strategic direction to ensure that it was memorable and punctual for users.
Out of the main three concepts we had brainstormed, we ultimately went with the option of “Moments” for its emphasis on the diverse array of human experiences that ice cream represents.
1.
Joy, not Happiness
A primary value in ice cream is "joy", but that's often conflated with happiness. We define joy as a much more profound, and enduring state of contentment.
2.
Communion
Ice cream is commonly social—an indulgent companion for communion and shared activities with those we hold close.
3.
Moments
Our fondest associations with ice cream tie back to simple, sweet moments in our everyday lives.
This brand is the embodiment of that concept.
Using our discovered opportunities and mantra of 'Moments', we outlined the core themes, tones, and syntactic qualities that we wanted our brand name and identity to communicate. We then combined all of these components to develop the brand's unique platform.
Themes:
Sweet moments
Joy in the small things
Tone:
Warm, Firm, Modern, Serene
Word Type:
Single word, suggestive, adaptable
BRAND NAME
Dulcet
Def. A metaphor for the sweet sound we’re adding to moments
Inspired by the parallel between good ice cream & good music
With a brand foundation to work off of, I then conducted a competitive audit of other umbrella companies in the category to gather information on best practices and potential pain points.
COMPETITORS AUDITED:
Audit takeaways
Based upon the insights above and my individual notes for each website, I assembled the touchpoint profile and website objectives below to guide my designing.
EXPERIENCE OBJECTIVES
Dulcet’s website experience serves to reinforce the Moments company through subtle, but intentional design choices and letting the design system breathe.
Empathetic
Connect to consumers while still appealing to target customers
Human
Highlight the array of experiences associated with ice cream
Simple
Using these deliverables as references, I then built out the website architecture. Unfortunately due to time constraints across all of the interns’ ends, I was only able to deliver a prototype of the homepage; however, the page was still designed with the potential to add full functionality.
Introducing Dulcet.
Dulcet's website caters to its key audiences of investors and employees while establishing a human connection and warmth.
It is after all, an umbrella company to ice cream—possibly the most exciting consumer product.
Using the same survey results from earlier along with some additional secondary research, we were left with the following findings and opportunities.
BRAND STRATEGY
Again as before, we created three potential strategic directions to base our brand identity around.
Ultimately, we went with the option of 'Cultural Intrigue' to guide our name creation, brand positioning, and visual identity.
1.
Culturally Artisanal
Product-oriented positioning that elevates the brand's craft—making the highest quality ice-cream based in cultures around the globe.
2.
Melting Pot
Positioning around the idea of culture from a more American POV, as a country made of diverse cultures.
3.
Cultural Intrigue
Diversity stems from a natural fascination of experiences beyond our own
Themes:
Discovery
Gateway into new worlds
Travel
Tone:
Accessibly elevated, modern premium
Word Type:
Short, single-word, culturally neutral
BRAND NAME
VOiA
Sourced from ‘voyage’
Inspired by the moment of discovery.
Tasting a new flavor, meeting a new friend,
listening to a new artist.
USER TYPES AND STORIES
Next, I created two user types based on the characteristics, tone, and motivations conveyed by our brand platform in order to gain a better sense of the kind of consumers VOiA would want to appeal to.
Note that while I created two separate user types, the characteristics in them are not mutually exclusive from one another.
Life-long Learner
Attitudes:
Open-minded
Explorative/experimenter
Curious
Tries everything once
Values:
Memorable experiences over materialism
Authenticity
Pain Points:
Lack of brand direction or grounding value
High barrier to entry
Usual Channels:
Word-of-mouth
Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok
Yelp
Rabbit Hole Researcher
Attitudes:
Always researching
Gets to the bottom of things
Values:
Credibility
Trust
Pain Points:
Lack of educational information or transparency
Usual Channels:
Yelp,
Substack
Reddit, Twitter
Creating these user types allowed me to better understand what platforms a consumer may need in order to enter and uplift their brand experience with VOiA. Ultimately, I decided on a main website and a rewards app.
I then organized this information into various touchpoint profiles, to help the team visualize the role of each touchpoint in the customer journey better.
The commonalities amongst all of these touchpoints later became my grounding goals for crafting VOiA's user experience.
EXPERIENCE OBJECTIVES
The experiential objective, through all of VOiA's touchpoints, is to encourage users to explore all the flavors that the world has to offer—specifically through VOiA ice cream.
Reflecting an entire world’s worth of flavors is a challenge equally as exciting as it is daunting and undone; thus, the experience should speak to this.
Immerse
Engage visitors in the world of flavors through VOiA
Excite
Set ourselves apart experience-wise from competitors
Respect
JOURNEY MAPPING
My goal with VOiA's brand experience was to leave every consumer feeling more informed and enriched than when they began.
So using our user types as guidelines, I aligned all of our touchpoints under a holistic user journey, such that each continuous interaction with the VOiA brand pushed consumers along a series of phases that contributed to a progressively positive experience.
Before: First draft of the full user journey map! Lots of ideas bouncing around, quite convoluted :P
After: The simplified journey map I presented in our final presentation.
My intention with the journey map was to make it cyclical and self-facilitating.
I made loyalty as the last phase of the journey map, in the sense that when newly loyal consumers felt compelled to share their VOiA experience with others, they would also be driving new consumers into the discovery phase—ensuring that VOiA is continuously expanding its outreach.
So, what's it like to discover VOiA?
PHASE: DISCOVERY
First, discovery of the brand—marked by the user’s introduction into and their first impressions of the VOiA world.
Socials
Word-of-mouth
Ad campaigns
News
Entering the website further reinforces the user’s understanding of the VOiA brand through its distinct visual narrative and content placement.
More specifically, VOiA’s core values are communicated immediately upon entering the website.
Immersing through full-width screen and gateway visuals.
Exciting by introducing unexpected interactive elements.
Respecting by honoring the culture the flavor hails from.
PHASE: CONSIDERATION
Users are encouraged to consider flavors next, once they’re familiar with VOiA’s brand identity and values.
Even the product consideration process is branded.
Flavor map concept
Flavor origin stories
PHASE: PURCHASE
Offering numerous ways to obtain the ice cream helps to further reduce the barrier of entry.
Nationwide shipping
Local pickup and delivery
Grocery stores
Storefronts
Physical activations
Those shopping in-person have an additional opportunity to cash in through VOiA’s rewards program, the Charter Club.
PHASE: LOYALTY
The inherent shareability of VOiA’s signature experiences facilitates the cycle of new user discovery and loyalty.
Bus tours during new flavor drops (akin to music tours)
Exclusive member events (tastings, workshops, flavor pre-releases)
REFLECTIONS & TAKEAWAYS
I learned countless lessons during my time at Siegel+Gale, both from the intern project and from my company work, more than I could ever list here! The following, however, were by far my largest takeaways.
Have confidence in your opinions, skills, and capabilities!
Siegel+Gale was my first truly corporate workplace experience, so when I first began I was often afraid that I wasn't qualified enough to give my opinion or contribute my own work amongst such experienced senior colleagues. However, everyone in the office never failed to reassure me that I had landed the internship for a reason, and thus my perspective was highly valued at the table. They helped give me the confidence to speak my mind, ask big questions, and be bold—things I intend on taking with me wherever I go!
There is a story, an essence to be summed, in everything.
Branding, business strategy, and user experience are all similar in that if you can capture the underlying through-line and apply it clearly in the product, you can connect with users much more deeply. This learning has since undoubtedly informed my design philosophy of lucidity—simplifying down to the essence in order to create a greater impact.
Endless thanks to the Experience team, my fellow interns, and everyone in the LA office for such a memorable and transformative summer! Having the opportunity to work alongside such creative, visionary minds inspired and motivated me greatly to create my best work. I will forever be preaching the mantra of "Simple is Smart" from now on :)
