Why Inclusive Packaging Design Is Becoming a Brand Loyalty Strategy: Packaging World

What does it really mean to design packaging for everyone? 

Senior editor Anne Marie Mohan sits down with Deb Gokie from the Arthritis Foundation. They discuss how testing for arthritis and chronic pain conditions, disciplined attention to grip, strength, and dexterity can make products easier to use across the entire consumer base, not just those with accessibility needs.

But inclusive design isn't just a matter of goodwill: consumers overwhelmingly say they'd pay more or switch brands for easier-to-use products.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Through the Line, the podcast exploring innovations and information across the packaging and processing landscape. From topics impacting consumer packaged goods and healthcare packaging to the latest technologies in food processing operations.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

I'm Anne-Marie Mohan, Senior Editor with Packaging World. In this podcast, I'm speaking with Deb Gokie, Vice President of Consumer Health and Ease of Use for the Arthritis Foundation. Gokie and I discuss why designing packaging for people with arthritis and chronic pain ends up making products easier for everyone, and why there's a real business case for doing it. One clarification. Gokie says that a survey by the Arthritis Foundation showed that 89% of consumers living with arthritis said that they would be willing to pay more for a product if it was easier to open. The actual number is just slightly lower at 86%. I've been covering packaging for quite a while, but I feel like it's only been maybe the last five or six years that I'm hearing more and more about designing for inclusivity. And I know the Air Foretis Foundation is providing guidance on very specific, a very specific condition that a brand should design for. But I was wondering if you had seen that trend as well of more spots given to people with disabilities, people who have physical ailments or issues.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Yeah, it's a great question, and we are seeing it more. And we really test products and packaging for arthritis, chronic pain, because what we think too, and even our design guides, if you design for that particular audience, it makes it easier to use for everyone in general. And I think what it's almost a consumers are incredibly smart. And I think for so long they have used things that are difficult to use. It might be a product, it might be a package. And I think we're starting to ask the question why is this so hard? And from a consumer that might have an accessibility issue, whether it's arthritis or chronic pain or some limb functionality, and beyond that, to a consumer that doesn't necessarily struggle with any of those issues, the packaging and trying to open or use it is extremely difficult for the arthritis community. And it is also difficult for regular consumers. I think part of what I'm seeing too, and we have really spent the last four years talking to media. I've been speaking at conferences all over the US and sharing about what we're doing and why it's so important. And I think companies are starting to also think about there's an aging population out there that we need to address because the aging population spending power is in the trillions and a consumer audience that companies are going to want to make sure that they get a part of from a brand loyalty and a revenue perspective. So I think it's really important. And I think that's why companies are starting to talk about it a little bit more. As consumers learn about it and think about it, they're asking for it more. And obviously, the the communities that really struggle with it with some kind of an autoimmune or a joint dexterity issue, it becomes really relevant because it also then ties into you can't open something or you can't use something, the frustration also topples into a mental health issue. And so I think we've started to see even brands that are designing to go beyond that frustration level and support the mental health part of it, because that makes it an issue as well.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

It's amazing. There are so many things that went through my mind as you were speaking. The first one was if I ever tell anyone what I do, what I write about, they always tell me about a package that they can't open. And why is this package like this? I have to use the scissors or with blister packs, or I can't get this cap open or this lid. Why do they do that?

SPEAKER_01 4:27

So it's so funny that you say that because it's the same for me when people ask what I do for a living, and I tell them that I oversee this use it and use program, and this is what we do. Even if I'm at a cocktail party, everybody comes over and it becomes the subject of conversation where it's like, oh, could you get a company to do this? Because I can't get this product. I can't use it, and I can't get it. Could you help them fix this? And it is becoming to your point, it's like everyone has something. And when I speak of conferences, I start out by saying, I want you to take a moment and think about personally what you struggle with, whether it's a product or a package that is difficult to open or it's hard to use. And then I want you to think about a parent who maybe struggles, or I want you to think about a partner or even a child, because there are more than 300,000 kiddos with arthritis, and it's not, there's a lot of kids with autoimmune disease that struggle with strength and joint issues. And so what I do is talk because I want them to start thinking about oh, I have a lot of things and I don't have any dexterity issues. And then when I finish my talk, I usually will say, now I would like you to go back into your company and start the conversation. If you haven't already started the conversation, start the conversation around what are we doing to support inclusively accessible design, whatever terminology your company uses, what are you doing to impact change in that space?

SPEAKER_02 6:00

I think the other thing that came to mind was I went to London Packaging Week last year. I think it was in October, but I said in on two presentations about inclusive design, and Kevin Marshall of Microsoft said something that really stuck with me, and then it was reiterated in the other presentation that we all have some form of disability or are impacted by some form of disability at some point in our lives. It could be an accident, it could be something more chronic, but we all have that. We should all start thinking about designing for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yes, yes. And that's so interesting. And I think Kevin is a friend of mine, and Microsoft has really they have an accessible summit, and they have really taken and brought together the we were part of a video they brought together several thought leaders in industry to talk about accessible design. It was Microsoft, Google, Apple, Coca-Cola, Tilt Beauty, and the Arts Brightness Foundation. And it's a video that just was went live to the public yesterday. And I'd be happy to share a link to it if you want to at least look at it. But I think what's so interesting about it is we are working with Target, who's funding a lot of ease of use design guides for us in household goods and child resistant caps, and we're moving into apparel. And Microsoft has created a design guide for the boxes that they are utilizing for their product and bringing thought leaders together to start a conversation around why it's so important to design for these audiences. And I think when you look at brands like Coca-Cola and Microsoft and Google and Apple, who are really, I would call them heavy hitters in brand industry as far as leading the wave from different perspectives. I think bringing us all together for a conversation was so exciting because we're all looking at this from different perspectives. And how are we coming together to really collaborate on what we're doing? And it was such an exciting just video, if you will, to be part of. And I think you'll see more things from us collaboratively as we start moving the needle a little bit to really help companies start changing the thought process on what design should be, and to also help consumers think about there's a demand and a need for it, and how do consumers speak up and say, I can't use this, this is important, and what can you do to support my lifestyle?

SPEAKER_02 8:39

Looking from it from the perspective of we want to make our products easy for all consumers to use is one thing. But there are also a lot of very financially driven reasons that you would want to do that, also. And you uncovered some of this in your use of use study. What were some of the takeaways from that?

SPEAKER_01 9:00

I think some of our some of the things that were extremely interesting were 89% of people living with arthritis and 76% of consumers also that they would pay more for products if they were easier to use. And over 50% of both audiences would switch brands if there was a brand that was designed easier for them to use. And there are a lot of reasons why companies should think about serving not only the arts writers community, but all communities. But I also think when you think about from a company perspective, what inclusive design provides is for engineers and designers, gives an opportunity to creatively think about human factors and design to that particular use. For brand teams, it really gives an opportunity to expand into market and build brand loyalty, perhaps among a consumer base that they haven't connected with yet. And for executive teams, a company, it really helps have them look at overall strategy and what they're doing and thinking about from meeting each of those different audiences and stuff. So it really does layer into support companies and their business growth while at the same time offering something when they have a product in market that can offer really immediate impact to somebody who is struggling to utilize a product or a package and to a consumer who doesn't typically struggle. So I think it really what it's doing today is it's serving a consumer need and it's also really helping companies start looking at how do we drive brand loyalty and how do we expand our audience too. So I think it it really is meeting needs on both sides of the economic wheel, if you will.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Okay. So the the arthritis foundation's ease of use certification programs is not new, correct?

SPEAKER_01 11:17

It's not. It's been around for 25 years, but we in the last four years have really taken a focus. I came on board and did an analysis of what we were doing and started talking to our executive team about, I think we really need to think about what we're doing in this space. And I think that we might want to look at expanding our resources, which we have done. We are currently we have I have an engineer on in-house that works for us who just started in February, Dr. Bobby Watts, and she is doing all of our testing in-house. She's very qualified, her credentials are amazing, and she's able to do the lab and human factors analysis in-house, which is exciting because it's given us an opportunity to really work with more companies to offer consultations in early design and prototype stage. We're meeting them for designers who want to have an hour consult with her. So we're giving that early stage design a great place to collaborate with because we don't want a product to get to market and then come to us and test and have it fail, right? Because it's too expensive once a product gets to market. And we do test a lot of products that are in market already, and that there are some companies who are and have been proactively thinking about design. And we just had four companies. I just got an email this morning that the four companies that were in testing they've all passed, which is really exciting because that means there's four companies with products that can go out to market to make it easier for people not only living with arthritis, but for everyone.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Thank you for listening to Through the Line Packaging and Processing. You can listen to more episodes on all streaming platforms. Be sure to visit us at packworld.com, profoodworld.com, and healthcarepackaging.com for more packaging and processing news. This podcast was edited by Brady Guns.