Depend Global Redesign

For years, the global online presence of the Depend brand has been disjointed and inconsistent. Each region had its own website, voice, and agency, hindering the development of a strong global brand identity. There was no cohesive story or visual language to support the brand's integrity.

The team's challenge was to create an online experience and a reusable visual design system that was modern, fresh, clean, and flexible enough to accommodate the business and content needs of each region while prioritizing the users' needs.

Roles & Responsibilities

As the acting Global UX/UI Creative Director, I was involved in every aspect of the project. I collaborated with the product managers and engineering team on a daily basis to assist with sprint planning, understand business requirements, communicate team updates, risks, or blockers, and facilitate the design deliverable handoffs. At the end of each sprint, I was responsible for presenting the findings and advocating for the team's design work to the stakeholders and extended team.

I guided a global team of researchers through the discovery phase and user testing while setting the visual styles/direction for the product and managing a team of UX/UI designers through the creation of wireframes, prototypes, design comps, and a component-based design system.

Stakeholders & Partners

Stakeholders
- Global Head of Adult & Fem Care
- Brand Managers from North America, EMEA, Australia & New Zealand

Partners
- Product Manager
- K-C Internal IT
- Cognizant
- UX Research & Design

Problem Statement

The current challenge lies in providing users with a comprehensive platform where they can access information about their condition, discover products tailored to their specific needs, and cultivate a sense of optimism. Meeting these expectations requires the creation of an intuitive and inclusive experience that integrates educational resources, product recommendations, and positive experiences, addressing the multifaceted needs of individuals seeking support and guidance in managing their incontinence.

Users/Target Audience

We were provided with a consumer research study that the brand team conducted, which was to be used as the basis for our users:

Women living with incontinence, 45+
Men living with incontinence, 45+
Caregivers, 40+

Design Process

The Depend® brand stems from a foundation of strength, but one that is always evolving. In the same way the Depend® products create game-changing solutions that push the boundaries, I led the team to create an experience that matched the brands drive for innovation that was empowering, in touch and empathetic to the user.

With five three-week sprints and only one sprint dedicated to discovery, we had to adopt a lean UX design approach. We began the project by engaging with the business to understand their needs. Simultaneously, we analyzed the current site’s analytics, user journeys, live sessions, and examined heat/scroll maps to understand user behaviors and frustrations. After our gathering initial user insights, we designed a survey tailored to our various personas, aiming to delve deeper into their priorities, emotions, and any missing information. By combining our findings with SEO recommendations, we organized the information into similar groupings, allowing us to identify emerging themes from our research. These insights guided our direction for the MVP.

In the following sprints, we addressed the site structure, global navigation and user needs/frustrations that were pain points for our users while simultaneously exploring the visual language that would form the foundation for the global brand. To meet the demanding timeline, we established a sprint board based on the engineering team's requirements, prioritized by high-to-low difficulty. We would wireframe, prototype, and test page content, functions, and flows in one sprint and then add the visual layer to them in the following sprint. This cycle continued throughout the project.

Testing Process

To test our navigational structure, we used tree testing to ensure that our hierarchy, findability, and terminology were in line with our users' expectations. Through the testing, we quickly gained insights into their mental models of the product and how they naturally thought about exploring it.

For testing our flows and content, we created high-fidelity wireframe prototypes that we presented to users via UserTesting.com. We watched and listened to users' recorded sessions to identify any pain points or missing content. Depending on the severity of the issue or user frustration, we iterated and re-tested as needed.

Impact

Educating consumers through content and tools to help them make informed decisions about the right product to manage their condition.
Developed a Visual Design System to create a global brand consistency.
Cost & time savings for the business with future development efforts.

Reflection

Looking back, this was a new global team of PMs, SEO experts, UX/UI designers, and engineers who had never collaborated as a single unit before. As anticipated, there were initial challenges as each team brought their unique perspective on how to collaborate effectively. While there were moments of respectful disagreement, as senior leaders, we established effective communications and gained an understanding of each team's individual needs to enhance our process.

As a key takeaway, it is imperative to ensure that all teams are represented and their voices are heard right from the beginning.

Client

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