\nBut for larger companies and brand conglomerates that may have the capital, the size of their portfolio can pose a challenge, according to Bryan Rahning, a director at PERLab, the product redesign practice of Kearney.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have their tried-and-true designs that they continue to iterate upon, and those designs have been grounded in classical designs that are not meant for a variety of different levels of accessibility, whether it be vision, mobility or other sort of cognitive ability,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that the ability to get that change requires a momentum effort when you have a portfolio as large as they do. They haven’t started to move that elephant yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rahning noted that some companies in the personal care space are making more noticeable efforts when it comes to increasing product accessibility. For example, Procter &\u00a0Gamble has taken steps to add tactile indentations and symbols to products like shampoo and conditioner and laundry detergent pods to help low-vision and blind individuals identify the products. But the prestige beauty space has been slower to adopt tools to make packaging more accessible, Rahning said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the prestige beauty space, it is really hard to get new designs approved,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have a lot of packaging suppliers that they’re consistently dealing with, and the new product launch cycle just takes a long time for some of these larger companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smaller startups, he added, might actually have an advantage over larger companies in that they are more nimble and can test out new designs quicker.<\/p>\n
Another factor brands are considering is how sustainability fits into making a product more accessible.<\/p>\n\n\u201cMost of these design elements require additional packaging from a design perspective, and the industry is definitely in a process of trying to become more sustainable,\u201d Rare Beauty\u2019s Kim said. \u201cIt’s kind of strange \u2014 trying to hit accessible packaging with using less plastics because we’re trying to be more sustainable, while trying to have the capital, or the money basically, to do these customized tools. There’s just still barriers in the space of how to accomplish all of that. \u2026 I don’t know if it’s easily scalable at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
How companies are addressing the barriers<\/h3>\n Creating packaging that was easy to open and close came about organically for Rare Beauty because of Gomez\u2019s personal experience.<\/p>\n
The brand started to hear feedback from its customers about how accessible\u00a0they thought its products were. Rare Beauty wanted to learn more about what elements made its products easier to use, so it launched the Made Accessible Initiative in partnership with the Casa Colina Research Institute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe plan to use all the information and education that we’re learning and apply that to future packaging decisions. The biggest goal is that the beauty industry does the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Joyce Kim<\/p>\n
Chief Product Officer, Rare Beauty<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The Casa Colina Research Institute conducted a study to determine what features make a product easier to open and close, apply or hold for individuals with upper extremity disabilities. Over the course of two weeks, participants tested seven of Rare Beauty\u2019s products and provided feedback on usability.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis study gave our patients the chance to reintroduce makeup into their lives in a way that was more accessible,\u201d Hannah Cone of the Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare said in a statement on Rare Beauty\u2019s website. \u201cIt showed that even with limited hand and arm mobility, you can still partake in the beauty community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study examined the brand\u2019s Soft Pinch liquid blush, Soft Pinch tinted lip oil, Positive Light liquid luminizer, Liquid Touch brightening concealer, Positive Light tinted moisturizer, Liquid Touch weightless foundation and Kind Words matte lipstick. Following the study, the brand has identified three key features to make its products more accessible: packaging that\u2019s easy to use, packaging finishes that give users a secure grip and applicators that are comfortable to hold and use with precision.<\/p>\n
Rare Beauty found that its Positive Light liquid luminizer, for example, features a cap design that allows for a secure grip, an applicator that can easily be removed and a bottle size that allows for comfortable hold and a firm grip.<\/p>\n\n\n
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\nRare Beauty\u2019s Positive Light liquid luminizer.\u00a0The brand is focused on developing packaging that\u2019s easy to use, incorporating finishes that give users a secure grip and creating applicators that are comfortable to hold and use with precision.<\/p>\n
Permission granted by Rare Beauty<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe plan to use all the information and education that we’re learning and apply that to future packaging decisions,\u201d Kim said. \u201cThe biggest goal is that the beauty industry does the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Target has also taken steps to make resources available for creating more accessible packaging. The Arthritis Foundation in May announced it partnered with the mass merchant to develop its Ease of Use Design Guides, which it said are the \u201cfirst guidelines for easy-to-use products and packaging developed in the United States as resources for engineers and designers in the requirements definition and design development stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were having a lot of companies that were bringing products to us, and it would go through testing and they wouldn’t pass,\u201d the Arthritis Foundation\u2019s Gokie said. \u201cThe design was fabulous, but they might have forgotten to put a tab on the inner seal, and no one could get it open.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we were trying to do with the design guidelines, and what we are working in collaboration with Target to do, is to design and offer up resources and design guidelines for engineers and industrial designers, so that when they’re at the stage of design, they have a very easily accessible design guide to help them when they’re in the prototype stage versus when the product is already at market because if there’s something that they need to change, it’s often cost prohibitive to go back in and redesign once it’s at market.\u201d<\/p>\n
The guidelines were influenced by the Arthritis Foundation\u2019s Ease of Use Certified program, which independently tests products to determine if they are easy to use for individuals with mobility limitations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The effort, funded by Target, has led to the creation of several guides, including one on \u201cBottles and Bases\u201d and another on \u201cComponents,\u201d intended to help designers and engineers across the industry develop packaging that\u2019s easier to use.<\/p>\n
The \u201cBottles and Bases\u201d guide highlights some potential factors that could make using a product more challenging, such as being too heavy, having a linear force requirement that\u2019s too high and requiring excessive grip span. The guide offers several suggestions to make products easier to use such as making products under five pounds for items that require a single-handed carry or less than 10 pounds for a two-handed carry; easy-to-remove seals; and comfortable grasp areas that do not exceed 2.5 to 3 inches.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny product that comes through, it\u2019s our goal \u2014 we want them to pass because we want to bring more products to market that are eligible for the arthritis community,\u201d Gokie said.<\/p>\n
Who benefits from universal design<\/h3>\n Arthritis is the No. 1 cause of disability in the U.S., according to the Arthritis Foundation, and it alone affects some 60 million adults and about 300,000 children. And over one in four adults in the U.S. have some type of disability, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important for brands to consider the various needs of people with disabilities when creating a product\u2019s packaging. The benefits, however, extend beyond those communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody benefits from it,\u201d Gokie said. \u201cWhen you have packaging that is accessible, if it’s easy for someone with arthritis or chronic pain or visually impaired, it’s really much easier for all consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n
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“The disability community is the one community that anyone can enter at any time.”<\/p>\n
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Kailey Waskall<\/p>\n
Occupational therapist and creator behind the Occupation Beauty Instagram account<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Beyond the beauty industry, many things that were originally designed with accessibility in mind have become fixtures in everyday life.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurb cuts were originally made for people in the disability community \u2014 having those little tactile dots right by a curb,\u201d Waskall said. \u201cBut now moms with strollers or families with strollers, it helps them. If you’re trying to unload something heavy and you’re pushing a dolly, you’re not going to want to go up a curb.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo these changes that seem \u2026 like, \u2018Oh, you’re only catering to this one community\u2019 really help everyone. Universal design is there to just make the world more accessible and that helps everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prioritizing universal design can also play into customer loyalty: More than 70% of consumers said they would switch brands or products if they were Ease of Use Certified, according to a 2016 Nielsen Ease of Use Survey cited by the Arthritis Foundation. And it can determine whether a consumer continues to use a product if they develop a disability.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe disability community is the one community that anyone can enter at any time,\u201d Waskall said. \u201cWhen you get older, you can \u2026 develop a disability. Just think about if you, right now, have this holy grail product, and you plan on using it your entire life, and then you hit an age and you acquire a disability, and all of a sudden you can’t use this holy grail product. That’s going to leave a [bad] taste in your mouth about that brand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from hindering brand loyalty with customers, not prioritizing accessible design can pose a business threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a logistical business side, they are missing out on a huge subset of the population, especially as we have an aging population,\u201d Waskall said. She noted that for individuals who develop a disability,\u00a0it could cause them to change how they interact with their products. \u201cIf you’re able to right now say, \u2018Hey, we design products accessibly,\u2019 you’re going to continue and really foster a very engaged and loyal customer base,\u201d Waskall added.<\/p>\n
Beyond the revenue opportunity, working toward making packaging more accessible can also help support companies\u2019 goals around inclusivity, according to PERLab\u2019s Rahning.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of these brands are built on stories and claims around inclusivity,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of the elements of universal design are very much in line with the types of brand stories that they’re trying to tell. I think that they can give them some credibility in some of those stories that they’re putting on their products already \u2014 actually put some teeth behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is a more accessible industry within reach?<\/h3>\n Rare Beauty and Target have funded research to determine what makes a product\u2019s design accessible. And Lam said E.l.f. Beauty\u2019s partnership with Pagonis marked \u201cthe first step in our journey\u201d to make beauty more accessible.<\/p>\n
But there are \u201clow-hanging fruit\u201d ways for brands to make their products more accessible, according to Kim.<\/p>\n
\u201cCreating an entire collection is the more challenging part,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I think there’s small things that brands can do to make their packaging more accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waskall has created videos on her Occupation Beauty account that show how users can adapt their beauty products to make them more accessible, like adding rhinestones to a compact to add texture or wrapping self-adhesive tape to a lip liner to make it easier to grip.<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\nBut there are relatively small changes brands can make to their designs to make them more accessible to begin with.<\/p>\n
Adding texture or using a matte finish, for example, can allow users to better grip a product, while a shiny exterior can make the product slippery. Integrating angled edges into a product\u2019s design, like Fenty Beauty did with its Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint, can also make it easier to grip and prevent it from rolling away when set down.<\/p>\n
And giving users the ability to use a single product in multiple ways can also help make it more accessible, according to Waskall. She highlighted the Makeup by Mario Softsculpt Multi-Use Bronzing & Shaping Serum with Hyaluronic Acid, which allows individuals to use a pump to dispense the product or unscrew the cap to access a wand applicator for more precise application.<\/p>\n
\u201cUniversal design doesn’t need one design. It needs options,\u201d Waskall said. \u201cIt can be this product that you can apply multiple different ways and you can interact with in multiple different ways, so that it can reach a wider variety of the consumer base.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brands should also consider at what step in an individual\u2019s routine a product will be used. \u201cEven if you don’t have a disability, if you’re trying to open a container right after you’ve put on your morning moisturizer, your hands are going to be slippery and it’s going to be harder to get grip onto the packaging,\u201d Waskall said.<\/p>\n
There isn\u2019t a one-size-fits-all solution to making products more accessible. Some formulations require specific packaging to prevent the product from drying out, to protect it and to ensure there aren\u2019t issues when storing and shipping the product. And consumers have individual needs when it comes to a product\u2019s packaging.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t think it’s realistic to think every single product is going to work for every single person,\u201d Waskall said. \u201cThere are certain foundations that are for people with dry skin, there are certain foundations that are for people with oily skin. But overall, people with all skin types can easily find a product for the most part.\u201d<\/p>\n
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“Universal design doesn’t need one design. It needs options.”<\/p>\n
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Kailey Waskall<\/p>\n
Occupational therapist and creator behind the Occupation Beauty Instagram account<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Including people in the disability community in the conversation and finding out what elements make it easier or harder for them to use a product will naturally lead to companies creating more inclusive designs.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisability is not a monolith,\u201d Waskall said. \u201cThere’s not going to be one right answer. But I think making small changes can make big impacts, even if that’s as small as putting a QR code on your packaging [or] adjusting your packaging texture so that it’s more matte or more of a soft touch versus slippery.\u201d<\/p>\n
A more accessible beauty industry is within reach, Kim said, \u201cit just has to be a priority.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think once these types of brands that have a big reach make it a priority, then definitely others will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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