Evaluation of existing opening performance on TWA 200S - a qualitative research on children's opening performance

Abstract: Tetra Pak Carton Ambient has developed a package called Tetra Wedge Aseptic (TWA) for their emerging segment. The package is a V-shaped package that has a straw attached to one of its front panels, which makes it ideal for the on-the-go consumption. It immediately attracted young people but unfortunately has the package not motivated their parents in the same way. Lately, several market companies have given feedback that the opening performance of the package needs to be improved since many complaints from consumers has been received. The purpose of this master thesis has therefore been to understand and define the three most common problems that children are having when they are opening and consuming a TWA 200S package. Furthermore, should these demands be translated into technical terms. To define the most common problems a qualitative observation method called usability testing will be used and it will take place in a usability lab at LTH. Usability testing is a method for establishing the ease with which products are learned and used. The underlying model for all usability tests is that real users carry out real work with a product. There were 14 children in the age of 5-10 years old who participated in the research. The children opened several packages both when they were sitting at the table and when they were standing on the floor. For making the analysis easier, each child was videotaped and asked what they thought about the opening performance. When analysing the video material the concentration lay in three areas: ? Where on the package were the children holding their hand? ? Where on the straw were the children holding their hand? ? Where did the leakage come from? These areas were chosen since they strongly affect the opening performance. When the analysis was made, it clearly showed that the three most common problems that children were having with the opening performance were: ? It was hard to perforate through the pre-punched hole. ? It was leaking from the straw hole when they tried to penetrate the straw into the package. ? It was leaking from the straw. It either poured or dripped from the straw. To prevent these problems that the children were having, investigations regarding a new straw solution and the under filling volume needs to be done.