Learning UX from the design of a biscuit

Parle Products is one of the world leaders in biscuits and confectionery. They retail at major grocery chains across Canada, U.S.A., UK, Australia, New Zealand, India as well as the Middle East. One of their most widely successful and timeless product is their Parle-G biscuit, which is not just a simple piece of baked biscuit — it’s an experience, a story.

In India, the penetration of Parle-G is everywhere, from cafes making Parle-G based cakes to their shops in deep forests, and also over the Himalayan peaks- this biscuit is India’s delightful snack. The journey is as simple as opening the packet, dipping it in the tea/coffee, eating the mushy piece before it turns too soft (and drops), and finishing the packet without over-feeding oneself, and yes, the Glucose content is decent enough to be recommended by a Nurse to someone feeling low on energy.

Let’s take a dive into the user journey of this biscuit, and see how it energizes a UX designer.

How many biscuits are enough for one person in a packet?

I’m sure you might have experienced how cumbersome it is to store the unfinished pack of biscuits in a bag where:

• they won’t get crumpled or soil other items (if they get loose),
• later find them attracting ants,
• worse if the bag gets wet with the biscuits inside,
• soggy biscuits taste pathetic.

Hence, introducing a little factor of guilt for the unused items (and money) getting wasted while wishing for a smaller packet. The rule says that a person should not feel heavy after consuming the full packet.

Now I am imagining, a team of geniuses setting this constraint initially when designing the package, and consciously choose that the packet once opened should be in a stomach and not a bag. This packet has 10 biscuits, enough for a person to consume and resume their journey.

Feed your users the balanced amount of information that they can easily digest. Example: consider breaking long forms into Steppers. Prioritize the information in the flow. Package your similar offerings together.

Should a biscuit fit in the cup or the cup fit a biscuit?

Dipping the biscuit in your tea is a usual behavior in India and the process of-

• Breaking the biscuit is a crumbs-some process, it makes a mess of crumbs around.
• The other half uneaten biscuit needs to kept somewhere or held in hand.

The geniuses considered the diameter of the usual Cups in India while deciding the width of a biscuit, and that they should smoothly fit into each other like the ring on a finger without breakups.

Your product should fit the user’s surroundings and not disturb its natural flow. In short, respecting (and accepting) constraints of user’s behavior including their environment will give them a seamless experience of your product.

On a similar note, I’m reminded of the founder of a mobile phone company, who said ‘make the phone fit the usual pocket’ (this was decades back). But I guess now it’s time our pocket sizes to change, with the ever-increasing sizes of our phones ;)

How is the taste? How much does a packet cost?

This aspect is subjective, but it is at the center of the whole user journey. The biscuits have the right amount of Glucose to even save a life for someone low on energy. In my personal experience, it’s delicious, especially when served with warm tea.

• Visually, the brand name is engraved at the center with designer borders. The crunchiness and baking quality meets your expectations.
• Initially, it was for 10 rupees per packet, but in recent times I’ve seen smaller packets, along with family packs. It is a good value for the money.
  All this said and done, but nothing will ever replace the core value of your product, but the path to feeling value — is tricky.

Let me tell you a story from my childhood, the schools around the city visit the Parle-G factory in Mumbai as a part of their Industrial visit program. They educate the kids about the giant machinery, the process, the history, and at the end give them a warm biscuit coming out straight from that big hot oven. That’s an experience! Whoa!

Let me know in the comments, which one is your favorite lesson.

For brilliant concept photography, credits — Photographer Apuroopa Reddy. Love from India.

Read more about the history of Parle-G here. This article is in no way linked to the Parle company, I am only trying to connect the dots looking backward.