August 2009 Issue #3

What women want

Now especially, in recession, companies are turning their focus to women, the largest untapped market segment.

But most companies think pink in their attempts to target women - and fail as a result.

What women want

How do you design products and services to meet the needs of women?
Pinkwashing without pink

Tom Tom and Dell have both, unsuccessfully, attempted to target women.
Guide to female-centred design

Read our guide to female-centred design

What women want

Product designers Sofie Holstein and David Granath talk about female-centred design

When it comes to purchasing, women wear the trousers. They control 83% of all consumer purchases and more than half of all corporate purchases, making their economic clout indisputable. In a decade, 70% of all retail customers will be female.

In the current economic downturn, where the household budget gains significance, women’s purchasing power is bigger and more relevant than ever.

Hello girls!

And if that’s not reason enough to target women, consider this: women are more loyal customers than men. Once you’ve convinced them to buy your product, they can be fans for life.

They’re also more likely to recommend products through word of mouth and social networking sites – making them a powerful, self-sustaining marketing engine.

So it’s no surprise that companies are currently waking up to these growth opportunities and proactively attempting to woo women.

Full article

Pinkwashing without pink

Tom Tom's GPS for women is a missed opportunity

Tom Tom and Dell have both attempted to target women this year, but with limited success.

Missed opportunity

Tom Tom, a leading navigation solutions provider, launched Pearl White in June – a GPS especially designed for women.

But Pearl White doesn’t deliver much added value to women. Tom Tom have merely applied a flowery pattern to their ONE IQ Routes model and added a few “girly features” such as ‘Places to be seen’ and ‘Shop ‘til you drop’.

It’s a missed opportunity. Tom Tom could have applied its wayfinding expertise to create a product that suits the way women navigate.

Research has shown that women tend to navigate using landmarks: “Turn right at the town hall and continue past the park.” Men have a better sense of north, south, east and west. They are also more likely to describe distances.

Backlash to gimmick

Dell, meanwhile, created a website to promote its Inspiron Mini 10 netbook to women. The site was originally called Della and contained dieting advice and cooking recipes in an attempt to get women to use the netbook.

But women pronounced the site as ‘gimmicky’. The backlash prompted Dell to alter the site and remove the name.

Judging from the comments on the site, however, they’re still not on target. One woman writes: “Come on Dell! Treat us like intelligent consumers and not like trained monkeys. Give us useful advice. Show women how to start blogs, upload images and establish e-commerce business.”

Max effort, min impact

Office Max's mistake was going 'girly'

Despite a lengthy and dedicated effort to target female consumers, America’s second-largest office-supplies company failed to deliver value to women – who account for $44.5 billion of office supply sales every year in the US alone.

Right approach

OfficeMax’s approach was actually spot on. First the company conducted user research with a customer advisory panel comprising of 5,000 women. Then they developed Eve, a persona that represented the target segment’s needs and was ‘consulted’ in design decisions.

Wrong result

On the basis of this insight, OfficeMax created a new shop layout, online shop, catalogue, packaging, service offerings and email marketing – rightly recognising that women buy the whole experience.

Nevertheless, their ‘Life is beautiful. Work can be too’ television commercial, launched earlier this year, is a tribute to all things ‘girly’.

The flowery product packaging has been criticised by women bloggers for oozing ‘girl’ rather than ‘professional’.

And the biggest mistake of all: OfficeMax didn’t alter the usability or function of products. Women were offered the same products with different packaging.

Guide to female-centred design

1.

1. Engage her throughout the design process

- ensure that her actual needs define the outcome

2. Simplify her life

- give her clear benefits, don't offer gizmos, bells and whistles

3. Create a holistic product experience

- all touchpoints are equally important when she buys a product or service

4. Appeal to her social mindset

- she rarely buys a product just for her

5. Relate to her life cycle

- her focus depends on her current state of life

6. Consider identity, function, and fashion

- the priority of these parameters will vary from woman to woman

7. Create a flexible solution

- she expects adaptable solutions fitting her dynamically changing roles in the course of a day.

8. Communicate a product's value proposition

- not its features

9. Never market a product as a 'women solution'

- the label 'for women' doesn't appeal to her

10. Give her solutions that fit her physique

- consider her ergonomics and never shrink your male products to XS

11. Communicate to her through realistic role models

- tell stories that she can identify with

12. Give her products with future

- she wants value now and over time

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August 2009 Issue #3

What women want

Now especially, in recession, companies are turning their focus to women, the largest untapped market segment.

But most companies think pink in their attempts to target women - and fail as a result.