Studio Every Conversations: Ed Sims from Elvie (acquired by Willow), talks ‘Everyday Experiences’ with Kelly.
We caught up with Ed Sims, Design Team Lead at femtech startup, Elvie (acquired by Willow), to discuss the topic of everyday experiences, and what can influence our engagement with brands.
1. Can you share a bit about your role at Elvie?
My role has changed quite a bit during my 5 years at Elvie, from building our in-house design capabilities to exploring what our next product might be and how we can help women in adjacent areas of life.
As our focus switched to delivering our product roadmap, my role also became more delivery focused.
I now manage our in-house design team, which is made up of industrial designers and digital product designers working across all our product touchpoints—from our hardware and apps to packaging and content.
Image credit: Elvie
2. What do everyday experiences mean to you? What springs to mind in your day-to-day life? What makes something shift from good to great?
For me, a great everyday experience is often one that you take for granted. They’re the experiences that have had so much consideration go into them that they have removed any physical, cognitive or emotional burden from you—what is left is seamless and enjoyable.
For me, that’s a well-dialled-in espresso or bite of food from somewhere that has spent years honing their craft (can you see a theme here?!). I think when products and services get the same level of care as good chefs give their food, you get something really special.
“I think when products and services get the same level of care as good chefs give their food, you get something really special.”
3. How do you have an opportunity in your role to shape and influence everyday experiences?
We design intimate products and deal with highly emotional topics. So we have to place as much emphasis on how we want people to feel when they use our products as the function it provides.
By removing these physical, cognitive and emotional burdens, we hope to free people from the worries they would typically experience using these kinds of products. Our goal is to leave them with a great experience.
Take our breast pumps; we spend a significant amount of time figuring out how to make them incredibly quiet, comfortable and discreet so moms can pump in places previously unimaginable. I’ve recently spoken to an anaesthetist in the US who wears her pump during surgery, which is game-changing for her!
Image credit: Elvie
“We have to place as much emphasis on how we want people to feel when they use our products as the function it provides.”
4. What would your advice be to consider an 'experience first' approach in innovation? What could everyone do more of during an innovation process?
One of the things that surprised me when I joined Elvie was the pivotal role that research played in decision-making. Many companies have honed their craft and know how to build great product but so many still keep their customers at arm's length during the development, meaning a lot of decisions are assumptions or personal views.
I can’t make any assumptions when it comes to the burdens people experience with the kind of products we make, so I need to rely on our research team. So my advice, if you haven’t already, is to hire a researcher and/or bring users into your design process as often as possible—I’ve always learnt something valuable from a study that we’ve run.
5. Which brands are creating memorable extraordinary experiences that you admire? What stands out and feels well considered?
I think companies that build strong communities are usually the ones that are delivering extraordinary experiences because they know what their people want. A couple of brands that spring to mind are Gozney (outdoor cooking ovens) and Yoto (children’s audio player).
Two very different companies but both have very loyal customer bases. I think their products feel so considered because they’re part of the community that they design for and they genuinely know what people want.
Image credits: Gozney and Yoto
