Overview
I designed an aromatherapy wellness franchise to transform Kleenex from a reactive sick-day product into a proactive lifestyle brand.
My Role:
Project Coordinator
UX Designer
Collaborators @ Harvard GSD:
Market Research: Lingxia Lu, Haolei Zhang
Pitch Narrative: Victoria Bartoszewicz, Xiluva Mbungela
Product Design: Alex Limber, Robyn Wang, Jerry Zhang
UX Design: Chloe Ni
2D & 3D Visuals: Leah Bian, Anyang Zu
Timeline:
14 weeks, Fall 2025
Academic Project @ Harvard Graduate School of Design
What I Did:
Design strategy, facilitate decision-making, track progress
UI/UX, Figma prototype & logo animation, AI image rendering
Context
In June 2025, Kimberly-Clark decided to divest Kleenex due to weak profitability and eroding premium positioning. Why did this happen to the facial tissue category’s champion?
Kleenex is boxed into a narrow identity of “sickness“ that now limits its future.
Originally a beauty product for removing cold cream, Kleenex was repurposed by consumers as a disposable tissue for runny noses. The company leaned into this shift, fueling its growth into the facial tissue category champion, but also boxing the brand into a narrow identity tied to snot, sickness, and hygiene.
Problem
What led to Kleenex’s divestment are 3 brand limitations:
Insight
The high-value consumer in need of this convenient wellness are the Glow Getters
My team created an aromatherapy-infused product line - Kleenex GloWell - that integrates essential oils into mist systems and tissues, helping wellness-minded consumers manage energy, stress, and recovery throughout their day.
3 scents reflect user states of mind, making Kleenex relevant throughout the day.
Aroma Mist Pack: Compact & Refillable
Projected Business Impact
A hand-size spray integrating refillable mist cartridge with tissue container. Case made from biodegradable plastic and tissue from potato starch. Starter Kit packaging uses paper pulp.
Essential Oil Pop Pack: Portable Wellness
A rice-sized essential oil bead sandwiched between tissue plys. Pop to release aromatherapy, transforming tissues into daily rituals. The pack comes in 2 sizes, smaller size for on-the-go and larger size for home usage.
AutoReplenish Subscription ensure purchasing convenience.
Retail strategy coverage spans across physical and digital shelves:
GloWell transforms Kleenex's business model through premium positioning, subscription revenue, and market expansion.
Solution
“The Glow Getters”
Ambitious, hard-working, on the go.
Office workers, parents, actors, wellness enthusiasts…
Pain point: No time to catch a breath while balancing work and duties.
Picture this: A manager who meal-preps on Sundays, plans 6am yoga, answers Slack at 10pm, and googles 'how to stop burnout' at midnight.
Aspiration: a simple, personal wellness moment after a busy day.
To escape the tissue commodity trap, Kleenex must expand into adjacent wellness categories with proven consumer demand: Aromatherapy
USD $15.2 million global aromatherapy market by 2030
E-Commerce grows rapidly, as users crave personalized & convenient experiences.
40 million US adults suffer from work-induced anxiety, creating accessible stress-relief solutions
consumers shift to natural wellness products
68% consumers already integrate essential oils into daily routines.
How might we leverage Kleenex's 100-year legacy of care to depart from its sickness identity and create year-round relevance for Glow Getters?
design process
Market Landscape
Glow Getters are not a narrow demographic, but a tribe with 1 shared mindset. A “Messtrix“ maps out their stress patterns throughout the day, revealing a demand for AM-to-PM product coverage.
Brand Architecture
The new, proactive GloWell franchise leverages Kleenex's existing reputation, expanding to wellness-first AM and PM care for everyday use.
Product Design
A revolutionary franchise justifies a revolutionary logo & visual assets.
Studying existing wellness categories reveals a design language that uses filleted rectangles and soft geometries, which informed our products.
There exists a market white space where wellness & lifestyle can be integrated into existing functional routines. Here, Kleenex can merge the familiarity and ubiquity of tissues with the emotional benefits of aromatherapy.
Aromatherapy is the most promising wellness category to explore.