DAP Spray Foam

Project Scope: Product Design, Experience Design

Role(s): Primary Research, Synthesis of data collected from 13 team members, Design of final presentation materials

We partnered with a company called DAP, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. DAP is the leading marketer of caulks, sealants, adhesives, insulating foams, spackling, glazing, and other general patch and repair products. DAP tasked our class to better understand how and why DIYers use spray foams and how they feel about spray foams so that DAP can design new products that get the spray foam jobs done, but in a more satisfactory way.

We recruited 8 different research participants, with a variety of different backgrounds and experience levels, for 90 minute in-depth interviews. By observing and asking them questions as they tested out DAP and competitor products we were able to gain insights and empathize with the users as they used spray foam

Our solutions were two-fold:

  1. A variety of easy solutions that would solve immediate user frustrations, such as replaceable nozzles, and a color change of the spray foam as it hardened
  2. Innovative uses for spray foam and methods of use that were safer to handle, less toxic

Key Learning Moments:

  • Working across teams in research and development
  • Iterating based on client feedback
  • Using disparate knowledge to create unexpected innovation

Sample Prototypes

DAP Foam Pen: designed based on the consumer need for an intuitive and easy to use spray foam product. Operationally, the DAP Foam Pen is much like the Tide-To-Go stain remover sticks. Users simply pick up the pen, give it a…

DAP Foam Pen: designed based on the consumer need for an intuitive and easy to use spray foam product. Operationally, the DAP Foam Pen is much like the Tide-To-Go stain remover sticks. Users simply pick up the pen, give it a shake, and then begin drawing over the crack in the wall that they are looking to fill. The substance comes out of the pen as you draw in liquid form, but after 5 minutes, the liquid bubbles up in the form of traditional spray foam, sealing the crack.

DAP Expanding Pellets

DAP Expanding Foam Pellet: Inspired by the XSTAT by RevMedX (expanding pellets used to treat wounds on the battlefield), this prototype is for a water-activated foam pellet that can be put into place, then sprayed with water so that it expands and hardens into the shape of the gap or crack that it is filling. Consumers can either use as many pellets as suits the size of the job, with an injector to get the pellets into hard-to-reach areas. With water activation, users have another level of control, and pellets are safe to handle until users choose to activate the expansion. Consumers can easily manipulate the pellet, and they can be certain of exactly how much they are using for a task because they can see the pellet size, and determine how many they would like to use for a job.