Pack Innovation: Streamlining success through smarter use of tech

Designing or redesigning packaging for a new or existing product is no easy feat — it's a whirlwind of decisions, iterations, and stakeholder opinions. Do you remember a time when every version of a pack design was unanimously approved by all stakeholders? Me neither — probably because that’s never happened!

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Investments in product packaging design vary across industries but can account for up to 10% of total product development costs, particularly in sectors focused on sustainability and consumer appeal. For instance, Häagen-Dazs' packaging for reusable ice cream containers reportedly underwent 15 iterations before finalization, as noted in Packaging Design.

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The pack innovation process: From ideas to decisions

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Successful pack innovation follows a clear, research-driven process that brings structure to creativity and decision-making. At EyeSee, our approach divides the pack development journey into three stages: Pack Screening Plus, Pack Validation, and health Pack Check. Each stage is aligned with the product's packaging iteration life cycle, ensuring insights are provided at the right time to optimize outcomes and minimize costly missteps.

Pick the right packaging design to invest in for further development

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During the ideation phase, teams must efficiently narrow down design options. This is where early-stage research comes into play, offering a quick and reliable filter for initial concepts.

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Tools like MaxDiff, Predictive Eye Tracking (standalone), Click Tracking, and Surveys enable you to:

• Pinpoint winning designs that captivate attention and outperform competitors.

• Establish preference rankings grounded in purchase intent.

• Uncover and quantify strengths and weaknesses to drive further optimization.
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By focusing on early-stage data, teams can avoid investing resources into ineffective directions and gain clarity on where to iterate.

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Test in the cluttered in-store environment arena

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Once strong candidates emerge, it’s time to validate them in a realistic setting. Virtual shelf provides a dynamic simulation of real-world shopping environment, allowing researchers to understand consumer shopping behavior in a controlled environment using Virtual Shopping.  

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Combined with Eye Tracking and findability analysis on shelf, it helps pinpoint how consumers navigate the shelf and how easily your product is discovered. Then, we zoom in to evaluate the pack in standalone where Eye-tracking measures visual attention, clarifying what captures consumer focus, while Click Tracking assesses actual engagement to reveal which elements of design drive interaction.

Finally, Survey provides valuable feedback from consumers, rounding out the picture with perceptions and preferences as they are also being empowered by Reaction Time Measurement behavioral method.

One final check is better than wondering if the tweak was good enough

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The team has optimized the final winning pack design, and now it’s time to ensure the fine-tuning is spot on. Pack Check serves as the ultimate pre-launch health check, confirming optimizations with AI-powered insights into key Areas of Interest (AOIs) and attention metrics. It provides an in-depth analysis of how consumers engage with specific AOIs and generates heatmaps that visually highlight areas of focus, ensuring your design is ready to make an impact.

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Additionally, Pack Check evaluates key brand and pack attributes, ensuring that the packaging aligns with brand identity and resonates with the target audience. It also assesses brand fit and consumer reactions through stated purchase intent, offering fast, actionable insights. These AI-driven tools enable a quick, cost-effective evaluation, empowering clients to refine packaging designs with confidence and precision.

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In Conclusion

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Innovating pack designs is a balance of creativity and precision. While design thinking unlocks possibilities, behavioral market research ensures these possibilities are tested and validated with real-world insights. By applying a structured, research-based approach, brands can streamline the process, reduce uncertainty, and make confident decisions that save both time and resources. Whether you’re in the early design phase, optimizing for launch, or fine-tuning post-launch, leveraging the right tools at the right time makes all the difference for successful pack innovation.

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