Design Thinking: junedays
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 companies to understand consumer needs to serve their audience better. For this project, I contacted different companies to learn how organizations applied Design Thinking. I spoke with junedays founder Nicole Verspyck to learn how her company incorporates its mission and vision into its products.
1. What makes junedays different from other cooler companies?
Junedays products are designed to help anyone feel prepared and at peace on their own adventure. Our range of products provides storage and organizational solutions for people who lead an active lifestyle. Basically, we wanted our products to take the fuss out of packing for an outdoor outing. Our products are modular and collapsible so you can build a system that can flex with your needs and space. They take you from your kitchen to your vehicle to your outdoor destination. They work in cars, vans, campers, RV's, and boats (power & sailboats) and are great to pack for a vacation or cruise.
I like to think of it as a modern jump bag. I used to have a ton of tote bags and could never remember what was in each one, which led to unnecessary unpacking to find the one thing that was at the bottom of the bag. Our caddies allow you to see everything at a glance, so it is easy for not only you, but others to identify readily what they are looking for. Our coolers are designed to fit inside a variety of caddies, allowing you to pack for yourself, 2 people, or a larger group. As I said, everything collapses for easy storage when not being used.
2. How has junedays evolved since its founding?
We launched in 2023 so we just passed the first year mark. Check back with us next year and we'll be in a better place to answer that.
3. How does junedays incorporate its mission and vision into its products?
We started with what we felt was the biggest opportunity and challenge for any consumer product company - packaging. How do you share the brand ethos and eliminate unnecessary waste? Junedays packaging is minimal, and our boxes are made of up to 75% post-recycled material, the inner packaging is brown recycled paper. Our products are all packed in a reusable mesh bag, and we have used fabric remnants to make our signature pouch that we include with each order.
Junedays is proud to be a member of 1% for the Planet. 1% of all gross sales goes to this organization. We are audited yearly by 1% for the Planet so our give back is factual. Many companies may have a give back based on net sales or net profit which can be very misleading.
Junedays is currently working on a campaign to offer up to 20+ camp scholarships to underpriveledged youth for 2025. Our hope is to be able to offer a camp scholarship for each state by 2026.
4. What is the future of the company?
We are in the early stages of our launch and have a lot of work ahead in getting the junedays's name out in the marketplace and growing our audience. We have had some nice early wins, with Goop picking up one of our products for their gift guide and working with the Telluride Film Festival. We have some more exciting collaborations planned for 2024 and 2025. In addition, we have some new designs in the works. We are looking for steady and manageable growth. We want to be thoughtful and deliberate with where and how we grow in the years ahead. And at the end of the day, we want people to find our products useful and helpful in preparing for their juneday.
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