Shampoo Bottles

Using a shampoo bottle in the shower happens when hands are wet. Opening shampoo should not be difficult, but so often it is. Furthermore, both expensive shampoos (like Bumble and Bumble) and inexpensive shampoos (like Herbal Essences) often have the same generic packaging, which contributes to the difficulty in usage.

There are two main reasons for this.

The first has to do with production process. Shampoo bottles are blow molded and have a standard orifice diameter dimension. In other words, most shampoo bottles share the same size opening at the top. This means that shampoo companies usually source a preexisting twist cap or design a proprietary cap that is emblematic of the brand of shampoo. Often times, this design is geared towards ensuring that it works with the dimensions of the bottle rather than the expectations of the user. The consumer is not getting a good experience.

Which leads to the second problem - differentiation at the shelf. Like most consumer products, shampoo brands have to win at the first moment of truth, the purchase decision. And this means they rely on graphics, bottle shape and cap shape to stand out from the crowd. So their designers create unique and attention grabbing designs to draw the eye at the store. However, these designs are tested in focus groups rather than in the context of use, the shower. So what we get is interesting and unique looking shampoos bottles and caps that just make us mad when we finally get wet.

How about a shampoo bottle that actually looks and works like it belongs in a wet environment to be used by people who are half awake and not very dexterous in the morning. Is that so hard?