Every product tells the story
of the decisions behind it.
Product development requires decisions about what to create, how it should perform, what the evidence is telling you, and what should happen next. Kulima works with haircare brands across these decisions, from early product direction through ongoing development.
from project to partnership
Product Direction
For brands determining what to develop or how an existing product should evolve.
Kulima brings together consumer behavior, category and portfolio context, practitioner expertise, and product analysis to establish the role, direction, and performance requirements for a product before development moves forward.
Engagements may include: consumer and category analysis, product opportunity assessment, portfolio analysis, product concept development, competitive benchmarking, performance and sensory requirements, and development briefs.
Product Performance
For brands developing or reformulating a product that need clear performance requirements and structured direction through prototype development.
Kulima defines what the product needs to accomplish, evaluates prototypes against those requirements, identifies performance gaps, and translates findings into direction for subsequent development.
Engagements may include: performance requirements, competitive benchmarks, prototype evaluation, practitioner assessment, comparative testing, sensory and application analysis, performance-gap analysis, development recommendations, and collaboration with formulation partners.
Product Experience
For brands that need direct consumer evidence to understand how a product is used, experienced, and evaluated.
Kulima designs research around the development question at hand, examining what consumers expect from a product, how they use it, how it performs under those conditions, and how they perceive the experience. Findings are translated into clear implications for continued development.
Engagements may include: in-home usage testing, salon-use studies, consumer perception studies, structured observation, surveys, qualitative interviews, practitioner assessment, and use-behavior analysis.
Product Development Partnership
For brands that need ongoing product development leadership across products, partners, or development stages.
Kulima works as an extension of the brand's team, bringing continuity across product direction, performance development, consumer research, and the specialists involved throughout the process.
The scope is structured around the brand's pipeline and may include product strategy, development planning, prototype evaluation, research and testing direction, partner coordination, and ongoing development decisions.
Understand
Not every perceived opportunity deserves to become a product. Before deciding what to build, it's important to understand what people are actually trying to accomplish, how they're solving it today, and whether an opportunity for meaningful improvement exists.
Define
A promising idea still needs a clear job to do. Before development begins, the product’s role, intended experience, and performance requirements need to be defined so everyone involved is working toward the same outcome.
Evaluate
A formula is tested in a lab. A product is tested by people. Technical testing can tell you whether a formula performs as intended. It can’t tell you how people will use it, what they’ll expect from it, or how it will perform in their hands. Truly understanding the product and identifying opportunites for improvement requires both.
Evolve
Product development doesn’t end when a prototype performs well. What we learn through evaluation should shape what happens next, whether that means refining the product, preparing it for launch, improving how it is understood and used, or applying those insights to what comes next. Each stage of development creates new information, and that learning should continue to inform the product throughout its lifecycle.
work with KULIMA
Products evolve as new information emerges. Kulima helps brands make sense of what they’re learning and use it to determine what comes next. Start a conversation to explore how Kulima can support the next stage of development.