Advanced HCD: Blonding Innovation with Edulis Labs

This Spring, Professor Asha Srikantiah’s Advanced Human-Centered Design class partnered with Edulis, a new material science company reinventing hair color, founded by Pomona alum Nina Warner (’17), to assist with introducing a new product to market.

The product, NovaBlonde, is Edulis’s first major launch. NovaBlonde is a professional-grade hair pigment lightener designed to cause 95% less damage than traditional bleach. Nina’s chemistry background and her PhD research at Cambridge led to the development of the product, which offers a science-driven solution to an age-old challenge in haircare: how to lighten hair without chemical damage to the customer, the stylist, and the environment.

Students worked in small teams throughout the semester to bring a human-centered lens to the Edulis go-to-market strategy. Each team took a different approach to designing the launch of the Edulis brand, ranging from in-salon customer experiences to creating educational models for professional colorists. They created launch marketing strategies, identified key early adopters, and developed implementation strategies. Over ten weeks, students brainstormed, prototyped, tested, and pitched ideas directly to the Edulis team. Nina’s feedback illuminated that working with students brought fresh creativity and real value to the early stages of her startup. “The students’ ideas weren’t just interesting. They were thoughtful, detailed, and immediately useful,” she said.

Beyond contributing to the startup’s momentum, the partnership gave students first-hand entrepreneurial experience and a look at the mix of uncertainty, ambition, and real-world problem solving that drives new ventures. Nina sees entrepreneurship as a practical bridge between personal passion and meaningful impact. “Building something new isn’t just about starting a business, it’s about using your unique knowledge and experiences to make something that genuinely improves people’s lives,” she said. “There’s no more fulfilling purpose than using what you know to create positive change in the world. It’s risky, but incredibly rewarding.” After the presentations, the Edulis team was glowing with excitement about using several student-generated concepts in their upcoming brand launch.

____________________________________________________________________

by Salina Muñoz