Erica Eden
“I have to be honest, I very rarely am stuck creatively. I have the exact opposite problem.”
Citizen Collab founder Erica Eden sees each challenge through the eyes of the consumer and guides ideas into globally scalable opportunities across diverse industries. Throughout her career, Erica has translated user needs and cultural shifts into tangible experiences for Fortune 50 clients, amassed 100s of product launches, and secured 25+ patents.
Prior to Citizen Collab, Erica was Director of Global Design Innovation for PepsiCo and founded Femme Den – a design lab for female consumers, powered by Smart Design.
“When I can’t hear myself think, I drive. No music, no podcasts, just quietly driving. I come up with the best ideas when I'm driving.”
What's an everyday thing you use that could use a design overhaul?
My regular struggle is getting anywhere with my kids, and particularly getting my toddler safe and attached in his car seat. I can't stand buckling him in, it makes me crazy, and this is a real opportunity for innovation.
I wish it were more like one of those swings at the playground or the bar on a roller coaster seat, where you just bring the thing down and click them in with no wrangling or straps. Strollers are killing it lately, but with car seats, I think there's a lot of regulation to overcome.
Also, my husband just bought a Tesla on his app and I really appreciated how that works. Tesla fought hard not to have to go through the physical dealership model. Every other car company is forced to go through a dealer to sell their product. Tesla simultaneously shortcut the shopping experience and got rid of one of the most frustrating interactions when buying a car. More car companies should follow that lead.
Citizen Collab Case Study - Clean Label Shift: Transforming PepsiCo's Snack Portfolio
What is a sneaky design trend that you think more people should be paying attention to?
One example I talk about regularly is a cultural shift in how people buy products based on tribes, lifestyle groups, or cultural-led groups they affiliate themselves with.
Tribal-led Innovation‘s basic premise is that in order to be relevant, you not only have to have smart, good design. You have to connect to subgroups of people that are aspirational and represent a way of life audiences can aspire to and buy into. It not only has to work well, it has to fit their lifestyle. It's a really interesting shortcut for innovation.
For example, Gatorade does research and innovation based on athletes. That's their tribe, so to speak, and they use that design target for product innovation, brand activation, and advertising. That's not totally new, but it's becoming more relevant as people are putting themselves in these cultural bubbles.
“Look for big numbers and check the box on the products for women agenda. That was 50 years ago, and not how it works now. It's just not how to come up with anything interesting.”
What annoys you the most when brands try to appeal to women through design and branding?
Being boring, that’s what I've noticed the most.
Understanding functional needs is something any designer can figure out. Women have different needs for packaging or products or nutrition. You can find out what those are. But there are so many brand expressions for women I find lacking in inspiration, boldness, and risk-taking.
Compare any of the brands that skew to male consumers—I'm thinking Doritos or Mountain Dew—whether you like those brands or not, they're ballsy and bold, and they take a chance. They are actually exclusive. They are not for me, and I know that, and that's okay.
But for people in innovation seats at many women's brands, they're unwilling to have strong voices in the same way, and I don't understand that. Why can't women's brands be wildly exclusive? goop is a great example. goop is wildly exclusive, it is not for the norm, but it is a massive opportunity because of that focus. When it comes to innovation for women, it’s hard to find interesting, relevant, opinionated, or different voices.
I think there’s pressure for the first play to be a big play. “We’re a big brand, and we need to get all the women.” Look for big numbers and check the box on the “products for women” agenda. That was 50 years ago, and not how it works now. It's just not how to come up with anything interesting.
At some big companies, the marketing team will rotate on and off different brands to keep it fresh. They’ll spend a year in the men's portfolio, and the work is badass and awesome and interesting. Then the same people will go work on a more female-oriented brand, and they'll do the most boring shit. The same people. They just can't imagine a lifestyle expression for women.
When you're stuck creatively, what do you do to get out of it?
Talk to consumers. See what’s going on. But, I have to be honest, I very rarely am stuck creatively. I have the exact opposite problem. I'm challenged to simmer down and focus and prioritize.
When I can’t hear myself think, I drive. No music, no podcasts, just quietly driving. I come up with the best ideas when I'm driving.
The Pratt Institute wants you to come back and teach any subject to any class of your choosing. What would you teach?
I’d teach a class combining culture-led innovation and design research. I think students really need that. It’s become essential to understand how cultural shifts create relevant brands and innovation, because very few people understand the crossover. There's a lot of focus on culture-relevant brands, but not necessarily in the innovation space, and innovation is really good at understanding consumers, users, and needs.
That dovetails nicely with design research, which is essentially gaining intel about an opportunity. Talking to consumers of a certain kind of product, service, experience, or brand, and learning from those conversations to level up insights, ideas, and observations that can lead to the next big thing. A lot of current design research is very static. Projects are scoped and delivered in a deck with 10 insights, and that's about it.
A person’s choices, needs, affiliations, and preferred brands can shift from year to year, month to month, week to week. Research should involve ongoing groups of human interactions with real groups of people that we can continue to co-create with and ask questions to and probe ideas with over time ongoing..
Take Glossier. When they were starting out, they had a Slack channel with 150 beauty influencers and consumers responding to questions and telling them what was going on. A group like that can react to a possible solution, react to a fall design concept, support communication about that concept, talk about it once it's launched, and celebrate that it's working in that space post-launch. That's the future of design research.