ReGenesis -- Design Lessons from Holders of 50 Patents

Earlier this week, I attended the first of a two-day workshop in my hometown of Montclair, New Jersey.  Called "Innovations in Product Development," the title itself initially piqued my interest, since the talks were to be led by the co-founders of ReGenesis, a local New Jersey company that owns more than 50 patents, mostly in Consumer Packaged Goods -- cleaning, personal care, and drug delivery.

 

Even after 30-odd years of doing this work, the passion and excitement displayed by founders Betty Jagoda-Murphy and Jim Smith was pretty remarkable.


Though the ins and outs of Mop and Glo's chemistry or the Jet-Dry delivery system aren't necessarily riveting to me, I took away some interesting lessons from the session.

The biggest:  that user-centered design has been around for a long time, and there are a million ways to approach it. For its part, Regenesis has always gone to three cities around the country and interviewed 30 people in each about their product concept before going through the development stage. After they feel they have something with legs, they start the process all over again, this time with the product in hand. Their 30 interviewees try the new product out for a few weeks, then report back on their experience.

Most of the time, the product or concept has some kind of flaw. Some of the time, it's fixable. The following comment by co-founder Betty Jagoda-Murphy sums it up well: "You want to know what's NOT good about it." 

That perspective says a lot.  Design is fundamentally an iterative process.  By getting out there and prototyping and testing ideas with potential customers, you give yourself a much better chance at success.  I think that's why these two have had such a long, successful career.

 

Here are some of the many household products that Jagoda-Murphy and Smith have created over the years since 1979 when they got together.