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FASTENING &
THE HUMAN SENSE OF TOUCH
GEOFF MCGREGORGlobal Marketing Director of Personal Care, Velcro Companies
PETER A. BOTTICELLI, Director of Customer Solutions, SynTouch
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Worldwide leaders in fastening systems for over
70 years, offering a wide-range of solutions from
standard hook and loop to complete finished
products across the Personal Care, Medical,
Apparel, Transportation, Industrial and Consumer
markets.
ABOUT VELCRO COMPANIES
▪ First-to-market with hook on diaper;
▪ Direct lamination (no adhesive) of hook onto substrate;
▪ High tab comfort with skin-friendly edges versus traditional pre-combined tab solutions;
▪ Proprietary hook technology, including VELCRO® Brand FLEX-ZONE™ Solutions, provides the ideal combination of performance, softness, and flexibility for disposable products within multiple categories.
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PRESENT DAYFASTENING
4PRESENT DAY FASTENING
▪ MOST DISPOSABLE DIAPERS HAVE VERY SIMILAR CONSTRUCTION & FASTENING FEATURES
▪ USER EXPERIENCE IS BASIC & OFTEN NEGATIVE
5PRESENT DAY FASTENING
▪ NARROW INNOVATION FUNNEL
▪ INCREMENTAL VS BREAKTHROUGH
6FASTENING CONSIDERATIONS
▪ IS INCREMENTAL INNOVATION ALIGNED WITH USER EXPERIENCE TRENDS IN DIAPER?
▪ HOW CAN WE EXPLORE & QUANTIFY USER EXPERIENCE OF FASTENING?
▪ WHAT IS THE ROLE OF FASTENING IN DIAPER?
7THE HUMAN TOUCH & FASTENING
EXPLORING USER EXPERIENCE OF
DIAPER FASTENING THROUGH THE
PERCEPTS OF HUMAN TOUCH.
8ABOUT SYNTOUCH The BioTac®
▪ Founded in 2008 as a spinoff from USC.
▪ Based in Los Angeles, CA,
▪ Develops human-like tactile sensors and quantifies the qualities of materials and consumer products for product design and quality control by leading manufacturers around the world.
SynTouch is the world leader in Machine Touch®, the
robotic equivalent for the most human of our five senses.
9CLIENT PARTNERSHIPS
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HOW DO YOU QUANTIFY TOUCH?
11HOW TO PERCEIVE TOUCH?
CAN WE DESIGN AN INSTRUMENT TO DO THE SAME THING?
X Not Relevant
✔ Precise
✔ Relevant
X Not Precise
12QUANTIFYING TOUCH
It’s like PANTONE® for Touch!
Human-Like Tactile Sensing
Quantifies 15 Dimensions Describing the
Way Things Feel
Signal Processing Inspired by Human
Neurophysiology
Human-Like Exploratory Movements
13COMPLETE PERCEPT ANALYSIS
14WE HAVE THIS DATA…HOW DO WE USE IT?
ASSEMBLY LINE CONTROLDiscover and diagnose inconsistencies in manufacturing processes.
BATCH QUALITY & PRODUCT DEISGNQuantitative measurements enable specifications and tolerances for
touch.
THE “BEST” INTERIORJustifying a specific market claim about a product feel.
MAINTAINING A CONSISTENT FEELEnsure feel is maintained through various
product design changes.
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PURPOSE:
1) Quantify the human touch
experience;
2) Identify new definitions of
fastening;
3) Validate with consumer
STUDY: FASTENING & THE HUMAN TOUCH EXPERIENCE
OBJECTIVE:
Demonstrate at least one unique
definition of fastening with consumer
preference that exceeds market
for soft.
16RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
▪ Utilize SynTouch Technology to Benchmark Market
▪ Leverage Results to Identify Unique, Unexplored User Experiences
▪ Prototype Concepts that Elicit a Unique and Delightful User Experience
▪ Benchmark Prototypes Leveraging SynTouch Instrumentation and Human
Evaluation.
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CURRENT HOOK FASTENING HUMAN TOUCH CANVAS
18CURRENT HOOK FASTENING HUMAN TOUCH CANVAS
19UNEXPLORED USER EXPERIENCE HOOK FASTENING
20ANCHOR ATTRIBUTES
ANCHOR S: Satin ANCHOR F: Fleece
21SATIN & FLEECE VERSUS MARKET
22PROTOTYPE DESIGN
ANCHOR S: Satin ANCHOR F: Fleece
PROTOTYPE S
▪ ON TREND
▪ REDUCED MACRO & MICRO
TEXTURE
PROTOTYPE F
▪ UNEXPLORED
▪ LONGER FEATURES (HEIGHT),
MEASURABLE GIVE & RETURN, SOME
CONFORMANCE TO FINGER
23PROTOTYPE S&F VERSUS MARKET
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CONSUMER PANEL/FOCUS GROUPKEY INSIGHTS
25KEY INSIGHTS
CONSUMER PANEL – RANK VISUAL & TACTILE SOFTNESS ATTRIBUTES
▪ Not soft to extremely soft
CONSUMER PANEL – RANK LIKEABILITY OF VISUAL & TACTILE SOFTNESS
▪ Extreme dislike to extreme like
ALL FASTENING SAMPLES WERE SIMILARLY CONSTRUCTED ON A TAB
26PERCEPTION OF SOFT
“FEEL” “VISUAL PERCEPTION”
EVIDENCE OF UNIQUE USER EXPERIENCE WHEN ADDING
ATTRIBUTES OF COMPLIANCE
27SUMMARY OF RESULTS
PROTOTYPE S PROTOTYPE F
INTENSITY – Consumer1. Prototype F was statistically higher than all other samples for visual softness
2. Prototype S & F were statistically higher than all others for tactile softness
LIKEABILITY - Consumer1. Prototype S which was lower than Prototype F & Market B for visual softness
2. Prototype S was ranked most likeable and Prototype S and Market B were statistically softer
tactile feel than all others
28FOCUS GROUP INSIGHTS
“If is too soft, it will never work”
1. PERFORMANCE IS A BASIC REQUIREMENT – MOST NOTICED WHEN FAILURE
2. PERCEPTION OF A LACK OF PERFORMANCE HAD SOME INFLUENCE ON
LIKEABILITY ACROSS SOFTNESS CATEGORIES
29CONCLUSION
▪ MICRO-TEXTURE “TACTILE FEEL” IS AN
INVERSE LINEAR SATISFIER
▪ IDENTIFIED ONE UNIQUE USER
EXPERIENCE THAT OUTPERFORMED
MARKET FASTENING FOR
PERCEPTION OF SOFT
30IMPLICATIONS
▪ METHOD FOR MEASURING DIFFERENCES IN
MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES
▪ MICRO-TEXTURE: NANO HOOKS / MICRO-
FIBERS / OUTER COVE
▪ COMPLIANCE: MACRO FEATURES /
TEXTURES, 3D
▪ OPPORTUNITY FOR COLLABORATION &
DESIGN