Background Research

Desitin is owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 2011 and is the number one choice of pediatricians and considered “the brand that mothers use against diaper rash.” They have three different diaper rash creams: Multi Purpose, Daily Defense, and Maximum Strength.

Desitin’s current brand values are love, education, support, comfort, and protection. We wanted to communicate these values in our new packaging ideas and show the brand’s commitment to providing safety, sanitation, and ease when caring for children’s needs.

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These archetypes were created based on primary research. Throughout the design process, we continuously referenced these archetypes in order to prioritize goals, pain points with the current products, and their needs.

The market for diaper rash cream is competitive with many different brands claiming to be the best. Some target sensitive skin, while others promote natural ingredients. While there are several differences in the packaging across the board, all competitors’ products are similar in their goal of rash protection.

Overall, all of the competition is either packaged in tubs or squeeze tubes, which begs the question: is this the best solution, or is everyone just going along with everyone else?

Current packaging for diaper rash cream requires a two-handed process, which means parents must take their hands off their child. I created a survey and sent it out to some new and experienced parents and daycare workers to see what their experiences and struggles were with diaper rash cream and how it was packaged. These are direct quotes from various users.

Background Research

When looking at best practices to base our new solution on, I looked to other baby products, like lotions and shampoos, to see how these products were packaged. I found that they were put in pump bottles and started exploring an idea for a pump-dispensed diaper rash cream.

Johnson & Johnson’s baby lotion has the closest consistency comparison to diaper rash cream. The lotion bottle has a larger pump mechanism for thick lotion to flow through easily.
Clean & Clear’s bottle in the middle features a twist-locking mechanism, which would be good for traveling with the diaper cream.
When thinking about how to make the process of applying diaper cream one-handed, my group and I considered the possibility of attaching the pump to the wall, using inspiration from wall-mounted toothbrush holders.

Testing and Prototyping

My group feared the cream would be too thick to pump through a bottle, so my partner put it in a soap bottle that would be similar in size to our solution. She found the cream was able to easily pump through a medium-sized hole, so we could continue with our making and testing process.
I also thought about mounting the bottle on the wall for convenience during diaper changes, so I tested a heavy lotion bottle with Command Strips stuck to the wall and practiced pushing on it. The bottle stuck great, even though it was much heavier than what the future bottle was going to be.

In order to best adhere to the wall, however, we determined the back of the bottle would need to be flat.
To attach the bottle to the wall, but still be removable for traveling purposes, our plastics engineering partner created a concept for a cup-holder-like solution the bottle could easily slip into. An adhesive strip on the back of the cup sticks the contraption to the wall. Based on his 3D model, I created this first mockup using Adobe Dimension. This helped the entire group to visualize how the bottle would go onto the wall and what materials could be used to create this bottle.

With the new idea a pump bottle and attaching it to the wall, I added more questions to the survey.

Almost 78% of respondents believed a pump solution would make diaper changes easier. Most of the respondents considered the idea of attaching the pump to the wall. In a later question, the reasoning for choosing not to attach the pump to the wall was because many parents change their babies in different areas of the house, or want to easily take the cream in a diaper bag. I believe there would have more results for “yes” and “maybe” if I had been more specific in the question, such as explaining that the pump would be removable.

Based on the feedback of the survey, my group and I tried to find a better way the bottle could attach to the wall without having to manufacture and package a holder separately. The separate cup holder meant more plastic being manufactured with each bottle; or, it meant parents had to purchase the cup and bottle individually, which made buying diaper cream a bigger hassle than before.

I studied a Command Strip hook and its ability to slide into separate piece on the wall. This would be something smaller and cheaper to produce and could be packaged directly attached to the bottle, eliminating plastic, which made the entire production cheaper.

This second mockup I created. The blue plastic on the back of the bottle allows the bottle to slide in and out; the plastic would stay attached to the wall with a sticky strip similar to a Command Strip.

After having a solid bottle shape to work with, my graphic design partner and I began creating new labels for the bottle.

Creating a Label

Desitin also only comes in tubs and squeeze tubes, as most diaper rash creams do. However, even with only these two options, there are still inconsistencies in presentation and brand application, as you can see from the photograph I took in the store.
The product also does not align with its own brand values; it has a cold, medicinal feel and does not look like a product made for babies.

When interviewing some parents about what they looked for in a product label, they wanted it to look natural, and “like water that does something.”

I looked at various brands of baby products and found some labels that had a softer and less medicinal look to them. The simplicity and calming nature of Baby Dove communicates ease and softness. Organic shapes on the Honest bottle look like a very natural and gentle solution for a parent to use on their children.

Based on what parents said about the current branding of Desitin and how they want their products to look, I created this new label design. The new labels reflect the three different products, while still keeping a consistent style and look. The typefaces and imagery are based off of Desitin’s website, and the smooth lines and happy colors aim to reflect a happy baby.

My partner also designed a set of labels that she thought best reflected what parents wanted to see. With the two different labels, we conducted A/B testing to determine which option parents saw as a more suitable option for them and their baby.

Over 64% of parents surveyed said that they preferred the option with the baby best. This was mostly due to the image on the label; most diaper rash cream brands do not have a baby on the label, so this would make Desitin stand out ore on the shelf.

The products are still differentiated by their colors, but the brand is now unified. Because the wall attachment piece will be packaged with the bottles, short but comprehensive instructions were essential for the user. I simplified the design of the label to not overwhelm parents, but kept the baby to help set Desitin apart from the other bottles on the shelf.

Moving Forward

In the future, I would like to conduct more user testing on more parents to get a wider range of data and insight on how to further improve the pump bottle system. Using the 3D printed model, I would love to give it to parents and see what they think of the pump bottle diaper rash cream and get their honest opinions of it in use.
I plan on iterating upon the the label design to make the instructions on the side panel more clean, as well as create a pull tab; this would allow users to peel back the label and see a second layer that reveals all of the ingredients in more depth.

Finding the Problem

Background Research

Background Research

Testing and Prototyping

Creating a Label

Printed Prototype

Printed Prototype

Moving Forward