For an incredibly long time, what exactly happens between the legs of female-sex people has been a great mystery.
It‘s not common to talk about our vulvas and how we feel about them in detailed and specific terms - and yes it‘s vulva and not vagina, the vulva is the entire external genital area, the vagina is merely the internal muscle canal.
It‘s so unusual that many women lack the vocabulary to describe their genitals and the education that‘s practised in the school system is sporadic and often only focused on reproduction.
And the vagina is by no means the star of the show and definitely not the female equivalent of the penis. This is the clitoris, which is by no means just a little (apparently difficult to find) knob above the vaginal opening, but is a large and complex organ located beneath the skin‘s surface. A more or less fun fact, for example, is that it was not until 1998 that the complete anatomy of the clitoris was revealed in a study by the Australian urologist Helen O‘Connell (Fyfe, 2018). In fact, most anatomical books don‘t even show the clitoris and therefore not depicting the vulva correctly. Let that sink in.
Conversations about sexuality, well-being or pleasure find no place and lead to misconceptions, rumours and often leave people wondering „Am I normal?“.
This thesis aims to answer the question “How might a concept car look like for Yoni” as means of process and deliverable exploration for The Young.
In essence this thesis is about the world and future of vulvas and which role Yoni could play to ultimately facilitate positive change in people’s lives.
To explore this notion the method of developing a “concept car” was used to deliver a tangible representation of this future brand scenario.
And because the social climate is changing and brands are increasingly acting as amplifiers of cultural trends and the introduction of questions and topics into the mainstream of society. At this point Yoni joins the conversation. Yoni has been offering organic 100% cotton period products since 2015 after the founder found that the products recommended to her by her gynaecologist were not only unavailable to the majority of consumers but regular period products did not list their ingredients and were full of synthetic fibres.
That‘s why Yoni made it its mission to offer better products, products one would trust to touch their most intimate body part. Yoni wanted to change the market for more transparency and a higher standard of menstrual products and has achieved this, especially in recent years. Big brands are now also offering organic alternatives, explaining the ingredients of their products on the packaging or at least online and other brands have followed Yoni‘s lead. But with the constant fulfilment of the initial mission, it is time to find a new drive, a new vision.
And the time is ripe to do so, people are excited and ready to overcome their inhibitions and have meaningful conversations about their vulvas, and are eager for opportunities to learn. And the market is not yet oversaturated with offerings.
To answer the question of what exactly happens in the world of the vulva, this work started with in-depth research both in an interview study and in extensive literature and media research. It was about exploring the behaviour, feelings, culture, history and economy regarding vulvas and menstruation.
The market, consumer and context research resulted in four distinct directions Yoni could follow in the future to have a positive impact on their users‘ lives. These directions were about pushing the menstruation conversation in society further, for more social justice, to build strong communities of people with vulvas to overcome gaps of knowledge and wisdom, to unlock knowledge about hormonal cycles beyond the binary view of period on-period off and finally to discover how to bring vulva care to the forefront of people’s attention to share knowledge, facilitate experiences and overcome bodily shame.
In close collaboration with Yoni one direction was chosen as the means for Yoni to facilitate meaningful positive impact in the lives of their users and subsequently use this direction as a vehicle for organisational transformation and future vision.
This direction is called “vulva care” and targets the redefinition of what true vulva care might mean on a time axis of 1 to 5 years. At the end of this axis stands the concept product of vulvovaginal microbiome testing and personalised vulvar care products which acts as a beacon for creative brand development.
To make this concept product more accessible from an organisational point of view, the product was contextualised in a three step roadmap showcasing three distinct steps on how the company might develop for their current offering and structure towards a focus on vulvovaginal care using digital and care products infused with science and technology to ultimately future-proof a brand with incredible potential.
At the final pages of the report you will find the translation of this concept product into a website and digital product prototype illustrating how Yoni’s brand future might look like.