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Touching

Part of
Equity

Explore the pleasure without the pressure.

MA 2024
Keywords
LGBTQ+ | Sex Positivity | Sexual Health | Sexual Pleasure | De-stigmatization | De-sexualization
Overview

We are Touching, a multicultural brand passionate about sexual health and pleasure of 18-45 year-old LGBTQ+ women in the UK.

Our mission is to reclaim the often-overlooked space of LGBTQ+ sexual communication, fostering a supportive community that encourages guilt-free exploration of sexuality with multichannel services that deliver queer-friendly content and products.

Collaboration

Launched in China in 2023, 触·Touching is a women-owned lifestyle brand focused on female bodies and sexual pleasure.

With care for women of all types and passion about sexual diversity and inclusion, we were invited by 触·Touching to expand its influence in the UK, exploring new ways to build sex positivity for marginalized communities such as LGBTQ+ women.

Learning from the existing product and engagement strategy of 触·Touching’s China team, we initiated the project from a series of anonymous surveys, interviews, and organic prototype testing. With inspirations from a wide variety of experts, educators, brands, and organisations supporting LGBTQ+ women’s sexual health and pleasure, we constantly refined our prototypes to enable safer, more enjoyable sex for our community members.

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CONTEXT

UK sex education is increasingly inclusive.

With schools at England, Scotland, and Welsh implementing LGBT+inclusive policy in their sex education curriculums, 1.5 million people are more representative in the discussion about sex, providing a more informed environment for the new generations.

However, significant gaps remain, especially for LGBTQ+ women.

According to LGBT foundation, there is a lack of knowledge about sex between women in LGBT people, and limited understanding about LGBTQ+ women’s health needs among healthcare providers.

The Challenge

An insecure, frustrating sexual journey

After analyzing 116 anonymous surveys collected from online and offline LGBTQ+ active communities, 21 interviews with straight and non-straight individuals, and observations at 3 different queer bookshops, we discovered significant challenges beyond just gaps in knowledge about LGBTQ+ women’s sexual health. These challenges include:

Stigma, shame, and misinformation around sexuality.

The absence of inclusive sex education and the trend of objectifying and misleading women in the sex industry result in LGBTQ+ women lacking the knowledge and confidence to explore sex safely, enjoyably, and equitably, which then leads to various insecurities and frustrations throughout different stages of their sexual journey.

HMW Statement

Reducing the insecurity and frustrations in LGBTQ+ women’s sexual life requires a multifaceted and holistic approach that includes inclusive education, accessible resources, and supportive communities tailored to their specific needs.

  1. How might we provide inclusive education by offering practical and science-based sex tips to enable effective, inclusive learning about LGBTQ+ women’s sex?
  2. How might we provide accessible resources such as protective pleasure-enhancing exploration tools to support risk-free, painless sexual experience?
  3. How might we build supportive communities by organising online and offline events to normalise sexual communication and create a sense of belonging around LGBTQ+ women’s sexuality?

Concept Development

CPC Strategy

Thinking systematically, we proposed the CPC strategy (Content, Product, and Community), promoting sex positivity step by step within a service system.

  1. User get more access to accurate, inclusive knowledge about sex through Content.
  2. Have safer and more enjoyable sex through Product, have more agency in sexual journey.
  3. Join in our Community and have open sex conversation, find support, build confidence and be proud to be themselves.

In that way, we build trust over time, reducing misinformation and shame, ultimately creating a stigma-free world for LGBTQ women.


Prototype Testing

  • Content: Created 3 accounts on Instagram, Tiktok and Spotify, posted 24 posts across 14 categories, and have 110 followers in about one month.
  • Product: Collected the views of people in the UK on finger condoms for finger sex that have been sold in China.
  • Community: Hosted online film watching and provided interactive props at RCA's public events to increase user engagement

The feedback and opinions collected from the testing helped us refine the CPC strategy and develop a more effective way of service delivery.

Outcome & Vision

Touching

Learning from the testing, we created Touching, a one-stop service that enables LGBTQ+ women to learn about sex, explore pleasure without fear or shame, and find a sense of belonging in a safe and proud community.

We create not only a service, but also a culture that empowers all women to touch beyond their sexuality.


How To Bring Touching To Life?

Our strategy is to drive traffic to our website through online and offline touch points, where users can buy Touching products and stay active in our community so as to form a positive feedback loop.

Our costs are mainly from product development and promotion, and we can profit from product selling and subscription services.


Future Plan

  1. Reform sex culture professionally and consistently to promote sex positivity for LGBTQ+ women
  2. Develop unique design concepts, technologies and materials to create products that meet their needs and desires.
  3. Empower women to make all the decisions about sex, explore pleasure without pressure, and...

Touch beyond their sexuality.

SPECIAL
THANKS

With the deepest gratitude to the following individuals and organizations whose support and guidance were instrumental in the successful completion of this project, we want to thank:

  • David Eveleigh-Evans, for his invaluable guidance, encouragement, and constructive feedback throughout the project. His expertise and support were essential in shaping the direction and success of our work.
  • Qian Sun, Andrea Edmunds, Judah Armani, John Makepeace, Nicolas Rebolledo-Bustamante, Richard Atkinson, Carolyn Runcie, and Federico Vaz, for offering their time, knowledge, and insights, and for providing a strong foundation upon which this project was built.
  • Anyone who helped Touching grow directly and indirectly, for their participation, collaboration, enthusiasm, and dedication. This project would not have been possible without their suggestions and contributions.
  • 触·Touching, for providing the resources necessary for the completion of this project.
  • Rose Ryan (Intimacy Coordinator, Movement Director, Educator), for reminding us touching is not just about sex but much more.
  • Our family and friends, for their constant encouragement and emotional support, which helped us stay motivated and focused throughout this journey.
Team

Minzhen Wu

[email protected]

+86 13815119602

Portfolio

Approved

Qinghanyue Li

[email protected]

+86 15912723007

Portfolio

Approved

Wei Zhang

[email protected]

+86 18340297333

Portfolio

Approved

Community
Diversity + Inclusion