Downy Defy – Industrial Design Portfolio

Defy

Downy FE

Downy Defy Damage: Beyond Softness, True Fabric Protection

Optimistic

The benefit is inherently hopeful. The product promises to help strengthen and prolong the life of your favorite clothes. Taking care to a new level.

Future

The promise is something consumers haven't seen before. It's a new way of caring for a garment. The package and the usage need to be new for the form to convey the benefit.

Project Approach

Phase 0

Map out the opportunities and perceived constraints

Phase 1

Concept exploration
Mild to wild - pushing to the most disruptive solution possible

Phase 2

Refinement and detail exploration. Other usage opportunities

Phase 3

Delivery of detailed design intent. Working hand in hand with engineering

Brand Immersion - Category Extension

DOWNY

UNSTOPPABLES

DEFY

Phase 0

Considering the Fabric Enhancer category this new offering needed to be ownable while still having elements of the brands in the lineup. This manifested in leveraging the new Downy bottle pattern, and half of the uplifting waist from Unstoppables. The link to Unstoppables is important, Defy uses the same product form to deliver its fabric conditioning benefit

Key Elements to Explore

The team deconstructed the tub into essential functional elements, creating a guide for exploring shape. Starting with the silhouette, they prioritized the cap’s interaction point and the depth dimension as key focal points.

Phase 1

Leveraging the team's experience in the baby formula category. We were quickly able to start generating solutions to the tub. We had a keen understanding of usability. We understood the pain points around using the package. Such as one-handed opening, stackability, scoop placement, and accessibility.

Ideation

After isolating the functional opportunity spaces the team sorted the ideas and flagged the most promising ones. These concepts were then built upon and presented to the client in a collaborative session. When the client has an internal design capacity we leverage both their knowledge and skill to quickly develop concepts that deliver on the range of touch points need to make the design a success.

Concept Samples

Pouring

Venting

Scoop

Grip

Phase 2

The team provided a range of solutions addressing the key functional elements. Collaborating with the client to identify and develop the fit for use that would dictate go-to-shelf design intent. Early consumer research was performed to validate that tub was ownably different from Unsttoppables with its pour-to-dose cap.

Key Learnings:

The tub is the preferred form factor
Scoop Volume was in flux and needed to be defined.
The lid assembly was a challenge and needs to be optimized
A strategy for sizing was needed as well.

Visualize Impact

Unstoppables and Defy offer distinct benefits to consumers: Unstoppables caters to personalized scent levels, while Defy acts as a fiber conditioner that enhances fabric care. This creates a unique dosing experience for each product. The team visualized how adjusting dosing could change consumer perceptions, impacting the pack size directly—larger doses require larger primary packaging.

Unstoppables Volume

50% 60ml

75% 90ml

Phase 3

The work culminated with a series of collaborative exchanges with pack development and engineering. The team fought to keep the silhouette as it is the link to the product form.
In an effort to maintain the purity of the design intent the oval remained top and bottom, even as we navigated large touch flats for packing and conveying.

End to End

Problem-solving is part of every phase. A late-stage requirement was to make both the lid and the tub stackable. We used this as an opportunity to turn the flair in the cap into a skirt to keep plastic use as low as possible.