Design Thinking Tool Assignment: Learning Launch

Challenge

As a technology design consultancy, we were engaged by a large retail client with a request to “design  an app” for their store locations that would trigger an alert on a shopper’s phone when that shopper  was near clothing items the retailer wanted to promote. This retailer had good intentions and a clear  understanding of the ultimate business goals they sought to achieve; however, they had not fully  investigated other technology options that might prove less expensive, more effective, less risk to their  IT infrastructure, and faster to implement.  For this reason, we worked with them on further refining the  scope to establish the shared criteria of a great solution, and then used these criteria to design a suite of  five compelling concepts, including their beloved app. The problem, however, was that the concept  everyone loved the most was a ‘digital mannequin’, not the app that the SVP’s had tasked their teams  with delivering.

Selection

While we had the marketing and store-ops teams on board the new mannequin concept, we all  understood that it would take a fast test with compelling metrics and anecdotes to justify the change in  direction. This led us to the use of a tool called a ‘Learning Launch.’

A Learning Launch is a real-world experiment that is conducted quickly and inexpensively to challenge  our assumptions and to inform our final product design.  The purpose of this tool is not to evaluate the  project concept as a finished implementation, but to challenge our assumptions and learn any new  confirming or disconfirming data.  The launch needs to be constrained in time and sample size so  changes can be made quickly and inexpensively. It is also vital to track specific, measurable metrics and  behavioral data.

Application

The “Digital Mannequin” design called for double-stacked, flat panel TVs which could show video of a  life-size model wearing clothing items placed on tables and racks near the displays. We knew from prior  work with the retailer that traditional mannequins created a 10-15% increase in sales for the displayed  items and that 20-25% of passersby would glance at the mannequin.

The assumptions we wanted to question were:

1) The motion of a digital mannequin would increase attention given to the items on display.  2) The increase in attention would be significantly greater to that of a static traditional mannequin.  3) The expected increase in attention would lead to increased sales of the items on display.  4) The increase in sales would be significantly greater to that of a static traditional mannequin.

These assumptions would be proven or disproven with two metrics:

(1) Gaze Captures: A gaze measurement device from Intel would be mounted to a traditional mannequin  as well as to the digital mannequin. The technology notices every time a human looks at the device and  measures how long the visual engagement lasts.

(2) Unit of Sales: The sales numbers for the clothing items on display would be counted and compared to  each other.

The mannequins were installed, and the test was run for 7 days to accommodate the different shopper  patterns that occur throughout a week.  The gaze capture data and the sales receipts were plotted, and  our results were delivered.

Insight

While I am not allowed to reveal the exact results of the Learning Launch, I am able to say that the sales  increases were significantly greater with the digital mannequin than it was with the traditional  mannequin. The number of gaze captures was almost double for the digital mannequin and correlated  with the unit sales numbers through the week.  The client team was empowered to return to their  management armed with very persuasive numbers as well as positive customer intercept interviews  that we conducted as another aspect of the Learning Launch.

Alternative Approach

In retrospect, the tool was exactly what was needed for this project as we had limited time and budget  to unhook the team from their focus on a mobile application. While I would not change the Learning  Launch tool as described above, I would change the scoping process by immediately setting up an SVP- level meeting with the retailer to meet Jeanne Liedtka’s goals of aligning around a common definition of  the problem and the criteria of a great solution.  If the alignment had been done earlier, we could have  avoided a lot of tension and internal frustration in choosing the most appropriate answer to the  challenge.

Thank you for reviewing my assignment.

Daniel

