Design Thinking: Bag All

(Image courtesy of Bag All)

In Graduate School, one of the buzzwords professors love to discuss is "Design Thinking." Design Thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding (Dam and Siang). Design Thinking enables a company to understand consumer needs to serve their audience better. For this project, I contacted different companies to learn how the organizations apply Design Thinking into their market offerings. I had the opportunity to talk with Bag All to learn more about their organization.

(Image courtesy of Bag All)

1. What makes Bag All different from other bag brands? The owner and founder of Bag-all, Jennifer Jansch started with no money and no business training but knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur and do something to help the environment. As a mother of three, she felt she needed to stop thinking and start doing something for this planet. The product and concept is unique at Bag-all, some brands have a shoe bag, or a packing cube, but noone has the range of products Bag-all has. Bag-all has multiple collections and that range from, travel, home, work and more. Bag-all wants customers to feel special and relate to the products, we offer personalizations through monogramming. We really try to implement our core motto of "reuse" in all parts of the business, from design to freight to daily operations etc.

(Image courtesy of Bag All)

2. How does Bag All stay ahead of upcoming organization trends? We work closely with our factory which allows us to move from idea to actual product within 2 months. Our greatest ideas come from our amazing customers, we are always hearing and listening to customers' new needs and feedback, which allows us to create the perfect products for them. Since we have stores & offices in Manhattan, Stockholm, Paris, Kuwait and Seoul, our customers are from around the globe and we get a wide range of input!

(Image courtesy of Bag All)

3. How does Bag All incorporate its mission and vision into its product offerings? Bag-all's mission is the idea that all products are based on the thought of reuse without compromising on design or style, We want all our products to fulfill a customer's need in a sustainable way. We believe in reuse and rebuild. Using reusable gift bags saves wrapping paper from being produced, used and thrown out. Reuse is also done by compostable packers, vintage furniture , recycled PET bottles for our ribbons. Each product is also made to be used over and over. Rebuild is made by planting trees (for every monogram) and making micro loans through Kiva. Kiva helps to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive.

(Image courtesy of Bag All)

4. What is the future of the company? At Bag-all, we will continue to develop new designs to make packing and organizing easier. We are constantly looking into using new sustainable material . Currently we want to find a more sustainable alternative for nylon. This year we were able to plant an additional 4500 trees through the organization onetreeplanted. In total, we have planted 13,700 trees. We are dedicated to making this planet a better place for many years to come.

(Image courtesy of Bag All)