Assignment:  Challenge  Working for a large retailer in the area of product design, can  present challenges. In a recent range review discussing the  menswear product that had been developed in concept/sketch  form to be produced for the stores, many of the store  operations teams came to the review. At that review the  question was asked by one of the lead operations team, would  you wear any of these products? The answer was a  resounding no! That is a problem, particularly when those  same team members would purchase product from a  competitor that is targeted to the same end consumer. Our  product offering in menswear was not meeting our customers’  needs.    Selection  To further understand the challenges we decided to use  ethnography and the mind mapping tool similar to what was  used in the Me-you-health-history in module 3 to be able to  understand what the needs of our customers were and to help  us draw insights.    Application  We identified 20 different male team members within the  operations team of varying age and backgrounds and asked  them to fill out a grid broken out by each day of the week and  separated into the day and evening. We chose the spring  season for the purpose of this exercise. We asked that they fill  this grid out for 2 full weeks, indicating what they wore, listing  all pieces of clothing and if any of the items were a repeat from  a prior day(s). This grid asked for clothing worn during the  weekday as well as during the evening and on weekends. If  they had information on where these products were purchased  or what brand, they purchased, we asked for that as well on

the grid. We also asked that they support this grid with photos  of themselves in their outfit to have a better visual  representation of what they were describing. We also asked  why they had chosen the articles or outfit. What they liked  about it. What they did not like about it.  Finally we also asked  what needs they had in clothing that were being met or not  being met.    We then took all of this data that had been collected from  these grids and put all of the items, attributes, why likes and  why dislikes for the items, and what need the articles of  clothing filled or did not fill on post it notes to look for  connections/insights between all of this information and all  participants.    Insight  By applying the different mind mapping tools, the operations  team were able to identify the key needs and wants of the  group and determined that there was a need for core basics  items including basic tees, underwear, and socks that had a  great price/value equation in basic colours and were different  than our current offering. The team also identified opportunities  in basic bottoms, in both denim and chino. The fits of these  were still to be determined.    In reviewing these insights, the team was concerned if these  findings would be indicative of the customer at large who  shops in the store. We determined that we would run a  learning launch consisting of short production runs to test the  assumptions made by the team of the product needs. Product  could then be tweak as necessary and further product learning  launches could be run as needed.

Approach  We chose mind mapping because it was important to  understand more clearly what the current state was and what  the needs for our customers were that were not being met by  our store, but were being fulfilled by a competitor.    As the sample size were employees- albeit those that wanted  to be able to shop in our store- they may not be completely  indicative of all of our customers.     This approach can be used again with a different audience or  potential customers and at a regional level to further  understand our different customer’s needs in different  geographic regions.     This additional use of the mind mapping tool with different  potential customers can also be followed up with additional  learning launches to quickly test the demand for the product  among a wider/different audience with limited liability.


Assignment : Challenge Working for a large retailer in the area of product design , can present challenges . In a recent range review discussing the menswear product that had been developed in concept / sketch form to be produced for the stores , many of the store operations teams came to the review . At that review the question was asked by one of the lead operations team , would you wear any of these products ? The answer was a resounding no ! That is a problem , particularly when those same team members would purchase product from a competitor that is targeted to the same end consumer . Our product offering in menswear was not meeting our customers ’ needs . Selection To further understand the challenges we decided to use ethnography and the mind mapping tool similar to what was used in the Me - you - health - history in module 3 to be able to understand what the needs of our customers were and to help us draw insights . Application We identified 20 different male team members within the operations team of varying age and backgrounds and asked them to fill out a grid broken out by each day of the week and separated into the day and evening . We chose the spring season for the purpose of this exercise . We asked that they fill this grid out for 2 full weeks , indicating what they wore , listing all pieces of clothing and if any of the items were a repeat from a prior day(s ) . This grid asked for clothing worn during the weekday as well as during the evening and on weekends . If they had information on where these products were purchased or what brand , they purchased , we asked for that as well on the grid . We also asked that they support this grid with photos of themselves in their outfit to have a better visual representation of what they were describing . We also asked why they had chosen the articles or outfit . What they liked about it . What they did not like about it . Finally we also asked what needs they had in clothing that were being met or not being met . We then took all of this data that had been collected from these grids and put all of the items , attributes , why likes and why dislikes for the items , and what need the articles of clothing filled or did not fill on post it notes to look for connections / insights between all of this information and all participants . Insight By applying the different mind mapping tools , the operations team were able to identify the key needs and wants of the group and determined that there was a need for core basics items including basic tees , underwear , and socks that had a great price / value equation in basic colours and were different than our current offering . The team also identified opportunities in basic bottoms , in both denim and chino . The fits of these were still to be determined . In reviewing these insights , the team was concerned if these findings would be indicative of the customer at large who shops in the store . We determined that we would run a learning launch consisting of short production runs to test the assumptions made by the team of the product needs . Product could then be tweak as necessary and further product learning launches could be run as needed . Approach We chose mind mapping because it was important to understand more clearly what the current state was and what the needs for our customers were that were not being met by our store , but were being fulfilled by a competitor . As the sample size were employees- albeit those that wanted to be able to shop in our store- they may not be completely indicative of all of our customers . This approach can be used again with a different audience or potential customers and at a regional level to further understand our different customer ’s needs in different geographic regions . This additional use of the mind mapping tool with different potential customers can also be followed up with additional learning launches to quickly test the demand for the product among a wider / different audience with limited liability .