Launching a venture to inspire natural living through the power of herbal medicine.
Jan 2020 – present
Team: Samantha C., Xiao Z., Gene K., Mehak N. // Role: founding team & product lead
Bringing my product and design-driven approach, I joined a 3-person team to build and launch a Kellogg-funded venture, The Caring Medicine. Our team leveraged the lean startup methodology to rapidly iterate our product, business model, and customer experience. I was directly responsible for managing our end-to-end customer journey by optimizing our digital and product experience.
The Caring Medicine officially launched in January 2020. On a mission to empower wellness more naturally, The Caring Medicine currently sells drink formulas that are inspired by traditional Chinese medicine, made for the modern lifestyle.
OUR PROCESS
PROBLEM VALIDATION
Herbal medicine was a growing market in the U.S. with increasing interest from both healthcare stakeholders (CDC, physicians) and individuals. To better understand this space, I led my team through a design thinking sprint, starting with research and insights analysis.
Users told us that they had 3 key considerations when evaluating wellness products and medicines:
– Interest in the wellness product
– Ease of integration into their daily routine
– Trust in the source and company
We saw this intersection as a gap in today’s market and a white space where The Caring Medicine could differentiate.
PRODUCT-MARKET FIT
This led us to the concept of ready-to-use, one-serving drink mixes made from traditional Chinese herbs and backed by physicians.
Our niche market was customers who are familiar with herbal medicine but stopped using them due to lifestyle shifts.
We validated this product concept through a series of hypothesis tests – what were our riskiest assumptions about the business and customers?
FIRST 10 CUSTOMERS
After getting early traction, we spent the next months on customer awareness and acquisition.
Our goal was to acquire our first 10 customers (not including our very supportive friends & family), give them the best experience ever, and continue to learn about our target market.
Through an ongoing process of test-analyze-learn, we continue to optimize our website experience and go-to-market channels (digital + in-person + partnerships).
Product page for our flagship product, the Immunity Booster
Custom packaging