1. What do I see? Time to Pay
Attention
Crash Course in Creativity
Assignment #2
2. Your Task, Should You Choose To
Accept It…
• Visit 6 stores or public places
• Make a series of observations…
• By being open and receptive
• Come up with new insights and opportunities!
• Sounds easy? NOT! (apparently I can’t shop
and observe at the same time…)
3. Hmmm…where to go?
• I decided to use those stores or public spaces I
frequent…frequently….
• The weekly errands involved in running a
family (grocery shopping, hardware store) or
for work (stationary store)
• Those shops close to areas I frequent (hang-
out spots)
4. Location and Space
• Those shops I frequent for errands can be
classified as “big box” or “warehouse” type
shops
• Signage is large and easily visible from the
road as you are driving
• Inside is usually organized with metal shelving,
in a large open space, with either polished
concrete or laminate flooring
6. Location and Space
• However, the “hangout spots” are distinctly
different
• They are all located in an historic part of town,
where the streets are narrow, traffic moves
slow or there are more likely to be pedestrians
• Signage is smaller, often more descriptive, and
insides of shops are varied, as the buildings
have been refurbished and preserved
8. Entrances
• Box stores often had signs with “sales”, the doors
opened smoothly with sensors, or were hidden
behind another type of entrance
– If you didn’t know what type of store it was, you
would be hard pressed to tell from outside, certainly
not enticing
• The “hangout stores” all had their doors open,
often had their products displayed outside or just
inside display windows. Names were more
descriptive
9. Internal Environment
• The box stores all had the same type of “warehouse
feel”.
– Tall ceilings, metal frame shelving, bright flourescent
lighting (not excruciatingly so), many many rows of
shelving and quite a bit of product
– No real distinctive smell
– Often the requisite “muzak” in the background
– Security mostly present in the front (in terms of sensors),
but also with cameras
– Cash registers at the front, staff in uniforms, mostly female
mid-40’s (except for hardware store!)
• Overall, you don’t really want to stay, and you feel like
the product is “no frills”
11. Internal Environment
• In the “hangout” stores
– Every one was unique, and suited to it’s
environment
• The café was in an old warehouse, and the space was
not altered significantly
• The clothing shop was warm, with earthy tones on the
floor, but same limestone walls
• The bookshop had tall wooden shelves, and a squeaky
wooden floor
13. • Staff numbers in “Hangout”
shops were smaller, and more
eclectic in age and gender
• Security was more subdued,
mostly in form of one or 2
cameras, and staff, except for
the café!
• Often the feeling is you feel like
staying, but perhaps the
merchandise is more
expensive?
14. Customers
• In 3 of the locations, the majority of
customers were women, alone, and in their
20-30’s
– Except for the hardware shop (mostly men), and
the stationary shop and café (mix of men and
women)
– This could be a function of my attending the shops
during the working week
15. • In the “box stores” everyone seemed to follow
the “up and down the aisle” pattern of
shopping, beginning at the front and moving
through the whole shop
– Especially true of grocery shopping, and the
stationary store
• In the “hangout shops” the pattern was more
diverse once customers made it through the
front door
16. • The “box shops” were all busy, and approximately
80% of customers bought goods
• This was not the case in the “hangout” shops,
besides the café (100%) the other 2 had more
browsing types
17. So what did I learn?
• The type of shop affects my shopping
pattern…or does the shop reflect my shopping
goal? I am goal oriented in the Box stores, but
browsy in the Hangout Stores
– Box stores: I know who/what they are (because of
popular advertising), I go for a reason, I try to get
in and out quickly, I have things to do!!
– I go to the “hangout” stores to do that…hangout.
I’m not rushing in them, and I don’t expect to be!
18. BUT…
• The format of the box stores
doesn’t let me just get in and
out!
– I find myself wandering up
and down the aisles because I
can’t easily find what I am
looking for! And I noticed I
wasn’t the only one…
– Signage is small, and not really
descriptive
19. Is This On Purpose?
• So we buy more impulse items?
– (in my cynical, conspiracy theory mind)
– Could be…commonly used items/regularly
purchased items up front, less commonly used
items at back of store…..
• OR
• Could it be bad design? What would happen if
we could get through the store more quickly?
20. What I’d love….
• Is an interactive map of
the store
– Give me an app!
– Or let me pick it up from
the front of the store using
a QR code!
– Let me search it and find
my items quickly!
If only I could program….
By Das Photoimaginarium
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dasfotoimaginarium/6761402235/ creative
commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
21. In the future…
• I think I will be more aware of how form and
function influence my shopping patterns!
By Andrewarchy http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewarchy/2527200986/ Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
