YOSEKALAB
Creators: Amy Hong & Bethany Wu
Year: 2023
Creators: Amy Hong & Bethany Wu
Year: 2023
With the myriad planner options out on the market, it can be an overwhelming search to find the right one. It was apparent that the market lacked an effective tool to try out the various planner layouts without either purchasing the full product or manually drawing in a notebook. So Amy and I set out to create a resource that would allow consumers to experiment freely and help decide which product is best suited for them before making a purchase for the coming year. This product is created with a goal to reduce overconsumption as well as increase user satisfaction with their purchases.
The YOSEKALAB Two-Month Weekly Planner is a 32-page, staple bound, B6 cahier with a tan Kraft cover and Tomoe River Paper interior pages. The planner features 4 memo pages, 3 monthly spreads, and 10 weekly spreads (6 designs); with an insert that includes a user guide and planner matrix for ease of reference to related products. While the product serves as a tester for other planners, this is also a self contained product that functions as a short term planner that can be used to document travels or projects over the course of 70+ days.
It was important that the product does not cost too much for the consumer, as it is a resource to inform larger purchases. Additionally, Amy and I aimed to create a stand alone product that could have a purpose of its own and not become a single use consumable item.
These objectives set up the foundation for the product design including manufacturability, content curation, and production timeline. We started with the physical limitations for the product - paper quality, binding method, page count, and sizing. We then worked within these parameters to fill in the blank pages, ensuring that there is visual cohesiveness within the product and allowing multiple use methods.
Amy conducted extensive research on existing planners and curated a list of monthly and weekly spreads and organized them into categorized groups. We also received help from our friends, Ame and Conor, who have collected data from the stationery community on what planners they were using for 2023. This information helped us identify popular products and which layouts to prioritize in the limited page count we had to work with.
After we outlined the structure of the interior pages, I took over design development and generating technical files for review. One of the priorities was to keep the design minimal so that the user has enough “play area” to experiment with, but also provide suggestive guidance so that it is not a daunting experience to get started. Once we finalized the design files, I worked with one of Yoseka’s owners, Neil, to communicate with the manufacturer on printing and manufacturing specifications, and finally coordinating production logistics.
These objectives set up the foundation for the product design including manufacturability, content curation, and production timeline. We started with the physical limitations for the product - paper quality, binding method, page count, and sizing. We then worked within these parameters to fill in the blank pages, ensuring that there is visual cohesiveness within the product and allowing multiple use methods.
Amy conducted extensive research on existing planners and curated a list of monthly and weekly spreads and organized them into categorized groups. We also received help from our friends, Ame and Conor, who have collected data from the stationery community on what planners they were using for 2023. This information helped us identify popular products and which layouts to prioritize in the limited page count we had to work with.
After we outlined the structure of the interior pages, I took over design development and generating technical files for review. One of the priorities was to keep the design minimal so that the user has enough “play area” to experiment with, but also provide suggestive guidance so that it is not a daunting experience to get started. Once we finalized the design files, I worked with one of Yoseka’s owners, Neil, to communicate with the manufacturer on printing and manufacturing specifications, and finally coordinating production logistics.
To ensure that users would have enough time to take full advantage of the tool prior to making their planner purchases for 2024, the product needed to be ready for sale before planner season kicked off in September. To satisfy the product timeline, we did not spend as much time on consumer research as we would have liked, instead we relied on customer feedback from social media that could be received quickly. We hope to survey our users as well as the wider stationery community to create more engaging and exploratory products that the market may be missing.