Lush Soap Container

Background

Lush is a retail cosmetic store that specializes in beauty and bath products made of 100% vegetarian or vegan ingredients. When purchasing soap, shampoo or conditioner bars people are given the option to buy a reusable container for future orders. For this case study I will focus on Lush’s “Round Tin” shown below,

Challenges

It is evident by looking at the product’s reviews that multiple users are not satisfied with their purchase. I bought the container and have also experienced some issues mentioned in the review section. There are two reoccurring complaints:

1. Difficult to Open Container

2. Soap Sticking to Container

These problems became the focus of the redesign.

Redesign

Aside from addressing these problems, I want to keep the redesign simple and represent Lush’s branding. The following is final draft, 

Twist-Open

By adding a threaded base and lid the opening is smoother since you do not need to use the tips of your fingers to pop open the lid. The container keeps a tighter seal that was provided with the original design.

Over-sized Lid and Base Clearance

Another adjustment is to increase the surface area of both parts of the container to allow for a more secure grip to improve opening the container.

Crater in Base 

Crater introduced to the base to limit the contact between the soap and container in order to reduce contact between the container and the soap.

Material Selection

I changed the material from aluminum to polished oak to give a better representation of Lush’s values of providing customers with natural products.

*Motion Study with Solidworks