A Human-Centred Approach to Owning the US$5 Billion Tattoo Removal Market
A Human-centred Approach to Owning the US$5 Billion Tattoo Removal Market
Removery
Connected Health, #Innovating for Thriving Futures
What does it take to get under the skin of the US tattoo removal industry? In this case it took codifying the cultures of four merged organisations, tapping into latent and unmet needs and building deep empathy between the business stakeholders, investors and clients. By deeply immersing ourselves with all of the different cultures at play – putting people at the heart – we were able to gain trust, and drive authentic experiences and valuable outcomes for clients, staff and investors.
What does it take to get under the skin of the US tattoo removal industry? In this case it took codifying the cultures of four merged organisations, tapping into latent and unmet needs and building deep empathy between the business stakeholders, investors and clients. By deeply immersing ourselves with all of the different cultures at play – putting people at the heart – we were able to gain trust, and drive authentic experiences and valuable outcomes for clients, staff and investors.
Design Research
Awarded in 2021
Design Research
Awarded in 2021
Identifying opportunities for growth and defining the value proposition
As part of an aggressive strategy to ‘own’ an emerging US$5 billion market for tattoo removal, venture capital firms Normanby Capital & APC acquired four clinics in North America. Their aim was to codify and operationalise the optimal client experience before scaling this across 200 new and existing sites, and asked Tobias to help.
The brief to Tobias was to identify opportunities for new customers as well as defining strategies for retaining existing customers and a value proposition.
Strategic research to inform a 12-month roadmap and a six-year vision
To start with, Tobias user researchers embarked on a 5 week research trip, conducting exploratory research with staff and clients in 12 cities across America.
We conducted:
- 38 in-depth customer interviews
- 47 in-clinic customer interrupt interviews
- 177 customer survey responses
- 26 staff in-clinic interviews
- 36 stakeholder interviews or workshops
- 13 tattoo artist interviews
Our research questions were clearly defined as:
- Understand the current state of how the companies operate
- Identify user pain points and identify areas for client experience improvements
- Inform the best practice for the overall service design
The team then returned to Australia to unpack the research data. Through thematic analysis we surfaced missing information and new hypotheses and as the project progressed we were able to translate data into insights, journey maps, service maps and opportunity areas. The final research output was a prioritised list of programs of work to execute, including a tactical 12 month roadmap as well as a longer term strategic roadmap with a 6 year vision.
Strategic research to inform a 12-month roadmap and a six-year vision
To start with, Tobias user researchers embarked on a 5 week research trip, conducting exploratory research with staff and clients in 12 cities across America.
We conducted:
- 38 in-depth customer interviews
- 47 in-clinic customer interrupt interviews
- 177 customer survey responses
- 26 staff in-clinic interviews
- 36 stakeholder interviews or workshops
- 13 tattoo artist interviews
Our research questions were clearly defined as:
- Understand the current state of how the companies operate
- Identify user pain points and identify areas for client experience improvements
- Inform the best practice for the overall service design
The team then returned to Australia to unpack the research data. Through thematic analysis we surfaced missing information and new hypotheses and as the project progressed we were able to translate data into insights, journey maps, service maps and opportunity areas. The final research output was a prioritised list of programs of work to execute, including a tactical 12 month roadmap as well as a longer term strategic roadmap with a 6 year vision.
A strong brand for what today is the largest and most trusted laser tattoo removal company in America
To ensure that the outcome of this project continued to deliver value, the mass of data was synthesised down into key insight reports, behavioural archetypes, customer journeys, service blueprints, opportunity areas and recommendations to support the future vision.
Together with our client we immediately began executing on this strategy, creating tangible outcomes informed by the research. This included a full rebrand with a digital web presence optimisation strategy (website, SEO and SEM), as well as a branded employee handbook detailing best practice operations.
Today, our client operates as the largest and most trusted laser tattoo removal company in America, and is continuing to execute on the roadmap recommendations.
A strong brand for what today is the largest and most trusted laser tattoo removal company in America
To ensure that the outcome of this project continued to deliver value, the mass of data was synthesised down into key insight reports, behavioural archetypes, customer journeys, service blueprints, opportunity areas and recommendations to support the future vision.
Together with our client we immediately began executing on this strategy, creating tangible outcomes informed by the research. This included a full rebrand with a digital web presence optimisation strategy (website, SEO and SEM), as well as a branded employee handbook detailing best practice operations.
Today, our client operates as the largest and most trusted laser tattoo removal company in America, and is continuing to execute on the roadmap recommendations.
