Contextual Design for the Retail Experience

Cingular Wireless (AT&T)

Because Cingular Wireless has over 1800 retail stores nationwide, it costs millions to change a procedure, to reposition products, or even hang a new sign. For a company that effectively sells the intangible concept of “air time”, how do “we ensure that our very real dollars spent on real estate are used effectively?”

A workshop was held with Cingular and Matter to identify key areas of focus for the initiative. Matter’s facilitated working session enabled the team to brainstorm a detailed list of questions that should be addressed. The list was then categorized into larger areas of inquiry and then the areas were prioritized using an effort vs. value matrix. The results were three high-level areas of focus: Who are our customers? Are we spending our marketing dollars effectively on in-store messaging? How do customers shop our stores?

With the strong guidance garnered from the workshop, the Matter team developed a research plan and selected three techniques to understand the Cingular retail environment: customer intercept interviews, in-store video ethnography, and in-store observations. The immersive study was done quickly over the course of just a few days in three stores of varying layout and demographics. It resulted in over 100 hours of data captured on videotape.

This volume of information was the basis of a deep analysis that generated a new framework for the Cingular retail experience. The framework was comprised of a customer focused shopping process as well as new customer categories defined by customers’ behavior in the store.

Additionally, for each area of focus we were able to answer questions that previously were only guessed at. For example: For “in-store messaging” we investigated whether customers noticed front window signage and how the hierarchy of messaging in stores was being received. We evaluated the effectiveness of focused messaging and assessed some conceptual signage that was under consideration.

To better articulate “how people shop”, the team developed a model for how customers expect to move through the shopping process, clarifying where to go and what to do first. Specifically, we addressed how to make the process easier and less intimidating, how to make it easier to find the product being sought, and most importantly for Cingular, how to better position merchandise on the floor. The combination of large stores and tiny (or invisible) products presented interesting design opportunities.

In an effort to better understand “who are our customers?” the team explored reasons that prompted the visit and their converse-reasons for abandonment. In working directly with customers we were able to answer questions about why they bought what they did and why they didn’t buy more, what made Cingular special and different than the competition, and why they chose Cingular.

As a result of this study, Cingular has evaluated its entire retail operations from actual store floor plans Documenting experiences in the retail environment and product placement, to sales methods and processes, to personnel training and staff scheduling. By finding the answers to some very difficult questions, Matter was able to deliver a wealth of opportunities for Cingular to better serve its customers.

Matter identified and prioritized a number of missed opportunities piece that was causing customer support issues not only in the stores, but also downstream at the customer support centers. We redesigned a specific voicemail instruction sheet that when introduced back into the store, reduced customer inquiries at both customer call centers and retail stores, lowering or re-prioritizing work efforts for this issue. The cost savings were immediate - just one example of contextual insight allowing a small change to make a big financial impact.