Peach Ruby
Parsons the New School of Design
Class
Senior Project 1
Term
Spring 2018
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Peach Ruby was founded to make women’s monthly cycle a more pleasurable experience and make switching to reusables a less daunting process. The problem with disposable menstrual products are the major environmental, economic, and health costs to using these products. However, what makes switching to reusables difficult is the stigma behind them. As a solution I created a website that is comprised of the following components: resources, ecommerce, and social platform. This new system allows women to connect with other members of Peach Ruby to both discuss and explore alternatives for their menstrual cycles.
THE PROBLEM
Environment
On average, one woman disposes about 10,000-15,000 tampons and pads in her lifetime.
Economic
Women can end up spending over $100 per year on pads and tampons alone.
Health
Tampons and pads aren’t required to list ingredients.
Female Empowerment
This project is meant to help break the stigma around the menstrual cycle by getting women to speak up about their concerns.
ONLINE SHOP
Peach Ruby’s primary objective is to serve as a web platform that will increase access and education to menstrual product alternatives alongside building a community center for all women. The web platform will partner with as many wholesalers that want to partner with Peach Ruby to offer their products. All wholesalers must have some sort of FDA approval or registration to be listed on the site as the products are considered medical devices. Brands to be considered include companies such as the Diva Cup, The Lunette Cup, Skoon, The Moon Cup, GladRags, Thinx Panties, and more.
RESOURCE CENTER
The second outlet is a resource center that will educate women on both how to take care of their bodies on their periods as well as how to properly use reusable menstrual products.
COMMUNITY
The final part of the website will include a community center that will allow women to interact with each other. Everyone will be able to curate content that will be moderated by in-house editors whether its in the form of artwork, poetry, music, writing pieces etc. The community center will run weekly activities such as sharing “period horror stories” or interacting with a forum that will run weekly prompts/topics that women can answer and talk amongst each other. This is a place for women to speak their minds and finally feel like they are being heard!
Other Opportunities
PERIOD KITS
Peach Ruby will offer certain products in bundles to make purchasing cheaper for users and more efficient. If Peach Ruby offers these in bundles where the set reduces the cost of buying enough menstrual underwear to cover the week, consumers will find the start up cost to be less daunting than if they purchased 7 pairs of underwear individually.
Since many teenage girls often don’t have supplies before starting their period when they are young, mothers can buy their daughters period starter kits from our site that will include fun activities or treats for when you first start your period.
Another kit idea would be to create a bundle of items to help cope with your period such as tea for cramps or chocolate for cravings.
PARTNERSHIPS
Partnerships would allow us to start introducing the reusable menstrual products to women who cannot afford it. We would work with nonprofits to help us reach out to locals, then perform more global outreach. Another possibility includes education boards to see what it would take to get more reusable menstrual products into school programs.
We will also aim to partner with programs that also relate to building their women’s careers.
Research and Strategies
Target Audience
Peach Ruby targets to hit three main demographics, which include young teenagers who are just starting their periods and their mothers. We would also aim to capture the attention of those entering adulthood as they make their own purchasing decisions.
Stakeholders
The stakeholder map shows everyone involved within the corporation from both the consumer and professional ends.
Consumer Journey Map
Here we look at the steps a consumer takes throughout their entire relationship with reusable menstrual products. We follow them all the way in the beginning from when they are still discovering the products up until deciding if they would repurchase from Peach Ruby again.
Website Design
View Full Project
Click here to see the full project documentation and outcome.