Sunlit was the speculative design project for Dawn*, demonstrating the transformation of a global scale from sustainability curious to sustainability integrated, mitigating for both social and environmental risks. Through a thorough design research and business risk assessment and planning tools, our team prototyped an entirely new product line, Sunlit Dish Soap. Sunlit encompassed and entire product system to transition Dawn away from petroleum based products. Sunlit is completely biodegradable with multiple social and eco-certifications. Sunlit’s rolled out would also include with an innovative retail refill station for liquid soap and a family-friendly app to encourage the purchase of the product, educate about Dawn’s partnership with International Bird Rescue while promoting sustainable behaviors through gamification with adorable animals. (*Dawn® is not affiliated with this content.)
Creating a new product line is an industry accepted strategy to move a corporation toward sustainability. Sunlit followed examples such as the Considered Boot by Nike® and Green Works by Clorox®.
Very few companies yet offer bulk liquid soap for customer bottles. Creating a refill station, designed for deconstruction, would put Dawn ahead of the curve and draw in the ‘Aspirational’ (sustainably minded) consumers which make up about 40% of the global market (Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and Globe Scan, 2015).
Tools–such as the Sustainability sSWOT analysis and Stakeholder Engagement maps–were used to organize research and hone in on the effective strategies for balancing the triple bottom line: People, Planet, Prosperity.
Learn more about our teams process below.
View the full PDF of our process book:
Team Ideation & Primary Research
For the Sunlit Dish Soap project, we had three solutions for shifting the company and consumer behaviors: a biodegradable dish soap line in an ocean plastic bottle, a soap refill station for stores, and an app to playfully engage consumers. We first utilized a number of systems analysis sustainability tools (see above for examples) to sort our secondary research. We used this research on Dawn, their competitors, and their supply chain hone in the the biggest issues.
From there, we began the ideation process for our designs. To brainstorm these ideas and hash out how we could make each design feasible, we met weekly and communicated our ideas often through sketches and scribbles.
After the initial round of ideation, we then crafted a primary research ‘cultural probe.’ We tabled at a farmer’s market with a game designed to test people’s knowledge of soap ingredients & certifications and their willingness to do slightly more difficult tasks in order to earn rewards. This game shaped how we designed the app, branded & certified the soap, and the partnership we recommended for Dawn (to deepen with International Bird Rescue).
Every step helped us zeroing in on a delightful and practical way to shift Dawn® into a leadership position as a sustainability integrated company. The process book to Dawn® in hopes that they will soon implement some of the ideas.
LARA ISAACSON 