Have you experienced the time when you do not have any opinion on the products but on their containers? Cosmetic tubes are widely used as the container for facial cleanser, however, do you enjoy using it?
There are a few reasons that reduce my enjoyment when using the cleanser with this kind of container. For me and perhaps for most of the people, both hands are needed to apply and rinse the cleanser from our face. However, most part of our hands will unavoidably touch the container in order to get the cleanser. Then, it is very unclean if we directly use that hand to wash our faces because we just touched the container. We have to wash that hand beforehand and it can be very troublesome even though many people have already used to it.
In contrast, pump dispenser bottle is much more convenient because all we have to do to get the cleanser is to press the pump head. We can even press it by the back of our hand to avoid the dirtiness. Moreover, some of this bottles has a lockable pump head which function in a different way to avoid leaking.
The bottle above can be locked by putting the small clip under the pump head. This clip has a foolproof design which enable the first time users to use it without any error. There is a handle which inform the users where to hold and its shape can fit into our mental model of a clip, hence, it is not hard to figure out how to use it.
The only concern of this clip is that it may be quite easy to get lost if we are careless since it is not attached to the bottle and is small in size.
The picture below shows the icon on a pump head from the other pump dispenser bottle which is lockable as well.
The icon that is used to convey this function is ambiguous. I do not know which direction I should turn my pump head to so that I can lock or unlock my bottle. After using it, I just realized that this bottle can be locked or unlocked by turning its head to either way. So when it is locked, I can either turn its head clockwise or counter clockwise to unlock it, and vice versa. Other than the unclear icon, this bottle is unable to inform its users if the bottle is locked or unlocked. Hence, I have to press its pump head to check if it is locked. This may resulting in waste as the cleanser may be pumped out.
Lastly, the design of the container which is shown below is the worst design among what I have mentioned above.
First, due to its short spout, users have to pick it up in a slanted way when dispensing the cleanser to avoid the cleanser flowing to the bottle. This has against the design of a pump dispenser bottle which is aimed to bring convenience to its users.
Besides, it cannot be locked. Its spout can only be covered by a cover and the users have to put on that cover carefully without accidentally pumping the pump head to avoid the leakage of the cleanser.
Due to the findings of negative impact of inconvenience on customer satisfaction and its subsequent influence on the purchase decision (Avaya, 2013), skin care companies are suggested to not only focus on the formula of a facial cleanser but the ease of use of their container as well. If not, users like me who greatly emphasize convenience will really consider to purchase another brand’s product which is more easy to use.
Reference
Avaya (2013). 2013 Avaya customer effort impact study: The cost of inconvenience. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:JD_TQGv7CHkJ:www4.avaya.com/usa/campaignsResources/SME7395-Cost-of-Convenience-WP-final.pdf+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&client=firefox-b-ab
A Little about Daily Life Design 