Untapped Ideal Product Model™
You’ve done the research. You know what matters to your users. So what does all of that mean for the product?
The Untapped Ideal Product Model™ (IPM) helps you turn user understanding into a clear product brief, working from the job the product needs to do to the sensory attributes, technical mechanisms and measures that tell you what to build and how to test it.
R&D expertise trusted by world-class brands
The deeper you get into development, the easier it is to lose the thread.
A technically sound decision can still pull the product further away from what the user truly needs.
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User need
What does this product need to help someone do or feel?
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Experience
What should they see, taste, feel, smell or notice?
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Technical route
What ingredients, materials, components or mechanisms could deliver it?
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Measures
How will you know the product is delivering what it needs to?
needs
attributes
ingredients
and measures
Bring every part of the product into one clear view.
From:
A technically sound decision can still pull the product further away from what the user truly needs.
To:
A clear product brief and consistent blueprint that gives the team something concrete to come back to throughout development.
Inside the Untapped Ideal Product Model™.
The tool works from the user need down, adding more specific product and technical detail at each step.
Job to be done
Verbs
“Help me move without restriction.”
The real-world job the product is hired to do.
Attributes
Adjectives
“Soft. Stretchable.”
The product qualities that signal to the user that the job is being done.
Mechanisms
Nouns
“Moisture-wicking fabrics. Lycra / stretchy fabrics.”
The technical components or ingredients that can create those qualities.
Measures
Numbers
“User feedback + technical textile stretch measures.”
The evidence that shows whether the product is delivering for the user.
Case study: A PE kit designed for girls’ real PE experience.
Using ASICS as an example, here’s how we decoded its success.
ASICS set out to understand why teenage girls were disengaging from PE. The research showed the kit itself was part of the problem: unflattering fits, sweat patches, impractical fabrics and poor period support were making girls feel exposed and less willing to take part.
Here’s how that work maps through the Untapped Ideal Product Model™:
The user need
Move freely, stay comfortable and feel less self-conscious. Manage periods discreetly. Adapt to changing weather. Choose a fit that feels more personal.
Product attributes
Softness, stretch, opacity, discretion, adaptability and personalisation became tangible product attributes.
Technical mechanisms
Stretch and moisture-wicking fabrics, dark textiles, hidden pockets, adaptable silhouettes, weatherproof layers and details like an emergency hair tie built into a zip.
ASICS then tested whether those changes improved the experience. The results?
Results from trials of the redesigned kit at Burnley High School.
said they’d be more likely to take part in PE
said they’d enjoy PE more
Where Untapped Ideal Product Model™ fits in the bigger picture.
Untapped Ideal Product Model™ sits on the Product Design side of Untapped’s Connected R&D Playbook.
It builds on Product User Journey and Deeper Insights, feeds into Untapped MVP & Prototyping™, and can also provide a shared reference point for marketing, claims, commercial teams and the Untapped Product Story™.
