Product development is one of the most arduous and time consuming processes in a business. It involves countless steps and at any point there is potential for something to go wrong and set the whole project back weeks, months, years.
Booster in particular was a real doozy. All up our beloved booster took three years to make and get right. We decided to break it down into a few key steps and reasons:
The first step is developing and testing the formula:
This involves making sure it works and damn well. The process goes develop, put on stability for three months, performance test, repeat. We wanted to make sure that it not only worked, but is the best on the market (which we’re very sure of, it’s become one of our grail products in the office).
The second step is to get some packaging that will work.
We looked into cardboard, because at face value, this is a material that makes sense. Unfortunately we found that a lot of cardboard packaging for boosters actually requires a small amount of plastic to line the container. This requirement is because oxygen activated boosters cannot be packaged only in cardboard, they need some plastic. This was of course not an option for us.
We ended up going with glass, one of our tried and tested favourites. Just in case you didn’t already know, glass is a naturally made material that won’t degrade or react to temperature. It’s also see-through so that you can see when you’re almost out.
The third step is getting input from people that will actually be using it.
We have to give an enormous shout out to Clean Cloth Nappies who tried and tested the booster, and loved it. They narrowed down the scent, and gave us our very first vote of confidence. Our bosses are, after all, our customers.
The final and sometimes the most stressful part is final stability.
This is ANOTHER 12 week process in which the product is tested to see if it’s too reactive or unsuitable to be stored in the home. And it was!
And there you have it, the very shorthand story of how we developed our brand spanking new and brilliant booster. We hope you love our latest edition, we’re super proud (and a little obsessed) with it.
The Dirt Team.