Kleenex & Harvard GSD
2026
Revitalizing the champion of facial tissue
Designing a new product line and brand system for Kleenex after its parent company divested its international sector.
Overview
Innovating Kleenex's product and brand strategy
As Project Lead, I coordinated a 11-person team to design Kleenex Aroma, a new product line that helps Kleenex stay competitive after its parent company Kimberly-Clark divested its international sector in 2025. Backing up this new product initiative is a system of brand strategy, digital interface, and visual assets. We also proposed a product launch timeline with a breakdown of actions and north-star goals.
Outcome
Our project was awarded Distinction by Harvard GSD Faculty, and received endorsement by Michael Peng, CEO of IDEO, as well as senior design leaders at Nike and Coca-Cola.
Problem
A trusted legacy brand, boxed into one moment
For over 100 years, Kleenex has been the go-to when people are sick and owns the "soothing for sickness" mission. But now, this positioning is oversaturated by other facial tissue competitors, and this category has gone financially stagnant. Because of this, Kimberly-Clark sold a majority of its Kleenex and tissue businesses outside North America to Brazilian company Suzano, for $3.4 billion.
Our team conducted research on this business deal and synthesized 3 reasons driving this divestment.
Sources: Wall Street Journal (2025); Reuters (2025); Statistica (2024)
Research
Looking beyond the numbers
Based on weaker profitability, slow international growth, and price sensitivity in the North American market.
The Core Issue
Kleenex is a reactive product. People only buy it after they're already sick — creating steep seasonal demand that spikes in cold-and-flu season and collapses the rest of the year.
Opportunity
Break the stigma of sickness. Move Kleenex from a hygiene necessity to a lifestyle companion — one that owns everyday comfort, not just illness.
To better understand where friction appeared across the dashboard, I reviewed financial workflows and conducted user interviews with people regularly managing transactions, balances, and payment activity. The research focused on how users scanned information, interpreted financial context, and navigated everyday tasks across the interface.
5 users
Small business owners and finance professionals.
45 minutes
Moderated sessions focused on dashboard workflows.
3 tasks
Reviewing balances, transactions, and payments.
What we learned
Through interviews and workflow analysis, I identified recurring patterns in how users reviewed balances, tracked transactions, and navigated everyday financial tasks. The biggest issue wasn’t financial complexity itself — it was uncertainty. Users often stopped to compare balances, reopen transaction details, or rescan multiple sections before taking action. Similar visual weight across the interface made it difficult to quickly identify what mattered most.
“Most of the time, I understood the numbers — I just didn’t understand what needed my attention first. I kept jumping between balances, transactions, and reports to make sure I wasn’t missing something important before taking action.”
Interview participant
E-commerce founder
Organizing recurring patterns and behaviors
I used Claude AI to help cluster interview notes, recurring frustrations, and behavioral patterns into broader themes. This made it easier to identify where users experienced the most friction across the dashboard experience.
Key insights
Users struggled to quickly identify the most relevant financial information.
Payments and recent activity lacked enough context before taking action.
Important actions became harder to find within visually dense layouts.
Similar visual weight reduced clarity across key dashboard workflows.
Understanding the user journey
I mapped the most common financial workflows to better understand where friction, hesitation, and repeated actions appeared across the dashboard experience.
01
Checking balances
Friction
Pending, available, and used balances were not clearly distinguished.
Opportunity
Introduce clearer balance separation with distinct visual hierarchy.
Impact
Improve balance scanning and reduce repeated checking behavior.
02
Seeing transactions
Friction
Payments and activity lacked enough context before actions.
Opportunity
Surface merchant details and payment status directly within activity flows.
Impact
Reduce uncertainty and help users understand activity faster.
03
Managing payments
Friction
Important actions became harder to find within visually dense layouts.
Opportunity
Simplify navigation patterns and prioritize key financial actions.
Impact
Improve task completion and reduce navigation friction across workflows.
04
Scanning data
Friction
Similar visual weight reduced clarity across dashboard sections and data.
Opportunity
Create stronger hierarchy between balances, activity, and supporting details.
Impact
Help users scan information faster and focus on what matters most.
Strategy
Exploring interface directions
I explored multiple layout directions focused on balance visibility, transaction context, and workflow clarity. Each concept tested different approaches to grouping financial information, simplifying navigation, and helping users scan important details faster.
Exploring different dashboard concepts focused on hierarchy, transaction visibility, and clearer everyday financial workflows.
01
Focused overview
Explored a simplified top-level summary with clearer balance visibility and primary actions.
02
Modular layouts
Tested flexible dashboard blocks to improve grouping, spacing, and information hierarchy.
03
Task-oriented flows
Structured the interface around key financial actions and recurring user workflows.
Testing interaction flows early
Before moving into high-fidelity designs, I tested early interaction flows using low-fidelity paper prototypes. These quick sessions helped validate navigation patterns, layout hierarchy, and task completion behavior before investing time into polished UI design.
Solution
Refining the dashboard experience
The final redesign focused on improving clarity across everyday financial tasks through stronger hierarchy, simplified navigation, and more contextual transaction feedback. The updated interface made balances easier to compare, actions easier to locate, and activity flows easier to understand at a glance.
Overview of spending trends, category insights, and budget usage designed for faster financial scanning.
Instant card controls allowing users to freeze cards, manage limits, and update payment settings with minimal friction.
A simplified dashboard focused on balance visibility, transaction context, and clearer everyday financial workflows.
Before & after
The redesign focused on improving clarity across everyday financial workflows by simplifying navigation, strengthening visual hierarchy, and surfacing more contextual transaction information throughout the experience.
01
Clearer balance hierarchy
Balances became easier to distinguish through improved grouping, spacing, and visual separation.
02
More contextual activity flows
Transaction details, merchant information, and payment states were surfaced earlier to reduce uncertainty before actions.
03
Simplified navigation patterns
Important actions became easier to locate through clearer layout structure and more predictable workflow organization.
Lessons
Designing for clarity, confidence, and everyday financial workflows
This project reinforced how strongly financial confidence is shaped by interface clarity rather than financial complexity itself. Throughout the redesign, I explored how hierarchy, spacing, and contextual feedback could reduce uncertainty during everyday financial tasks. One of the biggest learnings was recognizing how small interface decisions — such as grouping, transaction context, and action placement — significantly influenced how users interpreted information and navigated the product.
Key outcomes
Clearer hierarchy
Improved separation between balances, transactions, and supporting details.
Faster dashboard scanning
Reduced visual competition across key financial workflows and actions.
More contextual activity
Introduced transaction states, merchant context, and clearer activity flows.
Scalable design system
Created reusable dashboard patterns and modular workflow structures.
