ACexperiences
A service to enjoy food-related experiences
The challenge
The leading consumer association in Italy came to us with a clear vision of how to shape its strategic future and expand its presence in the Italian market, focusing on the food, health and wellness sectors. The goal was to stimulate the growth and retention of their current customer base by attracting new user segments, creating innovative digital services that aligned with their core values and offered a seamless shopping experience.
The problem
Having more than 20 years of experience in providing product and information-related services, our client has established itself as a trusted voice in the industry. It has created a number of outlets to reach its audience, including magazines, websites, podcasts, and videos, but communication remains a challenge for the association. While it has a strong following for its print publications, the rigid tone with which it addresses its audience often results in a lack of engagement and limits the association's ability to attract new followers.
Our solution
The concept of a service focused on food experiences, reflecting the client's brand values. Our goal has been to create pleasure associated with food by taking a proactive approach and meeting the needs of customers interested in food.
Project details
Type
Strategic design
When
2022
Role & responsabilities
Market analysis Service design Business model development
Team
1 x Design lead
2 x Service designers
2 x Strategic designers
1 x Visual designer
ACexperiences
A service to enjoy food-related experiences
The challenge
The leading consumer association in Italy came to us with a clear vision of how to shape its strategic future and expand its presence in the Italian market, focusing on the food, health and wellness sectors. The goal was to stimulate the growth and retention of their current customer base by attracting new user segments, creating innovative digital services that aligned with their core values and offered a seamless shopping experience.
The problem
Having more than 20 years of experience in providing product and information-related services, our client has established itself as a trusted voice in the industry. It has created a number of outlets to reach its audience, including magazines, websites, podcasts, and videos, but communication remains a challenge for the association. While it has a strong following for its print publications, the rigid tone with which it addresses its audience often results in a lack of engagement and limits the association's ability to attract new followers.
Our solution
The concept of a service focused on food experiences, reflecting the client's brand values. Our goal has been to create pleasure associated with food by taking a proactive approach and meeting the needs of customers interested in food.
Project details
Type
Strategic design
When
2022
Role & responsabilities
Market analysis Service design Business model development
Team
1 x Design lead
2 x Service designers
2 x Strategic designers
1 x Visual designer
ACexperiences
A service to enjoy food-related experiences
The challenge
The leading consumer association in Italy came to us with a clear vision of how to shape its strategic future and expand its presence in the Italian market, focusing on the food, health and wellness sectors. The goal was to stimulate the growth and retention of their current customer base by attracting new user segments, creating innovative digital services that aligned with their core values and offered a seamless shopping experience.
The problem
Having more than 20 years of experience in providing product and information-related services, our client has established itself as a trusted voice in the industry. It has created a number of outlets to reach its audience, including magazines, websites, podcasts, and videos, but communication remains a challenge for the association. While it has a strong following for its print publications, the rigid tone with which it addresses its audience often results in a lack of engagement and limits the association's ability to attract new followers.
Our solution
The concept of a service focused on food experiences, reflecting the client's brand values. Our goal has been to create pleasure associated with food by taking a proactive approach and meeting the needs of customers interested in food.
Project details
Type
Strategic design
When
2022
Role & responsabilities
Market analysis Service design Business model development
Team
1 x Design lead
2 x Service designers
2 x Strategic designers
1 x Visual designer
Understand
To understand the problem, you need to understand the client
After carefully studying our client's organization and what had been done in the past that did not work, a listening phase began to thoroughly understand what the needs were. So we started by interviewing 6 stakeholders to understand what their desires were and what was wrong. Our focus then shifted outward, continuing with interviews with 17 prospects and customers. These interviews were critical for us to gather valuable qualitative insights that allowed us to understand what were the underlying motivations driving their choices.
Insights from the market
Next, we dove into desk research, clustering common patterns and finding 33 case studies from the market. The end result of this divergent phase of Understand was to produce an Insight Report to present to the client during the co-design workshop. Within this report was a Trend Reframing, in which we included the main evidence, needs, and values generated for the client. For each trend, we chose to show some case studies, which illustrated the main characteristics, the values they reflected in the customer, and the most prominent experiential moments. Insights were then generated from the research, which we showed in the final part of the paper, highlighting what might be opportunities to follow in the workshop.In our project, people have always been at the center. In our project, people have always been at the center. Prospects provided us with valuable insights during interviews and active participation in the workshop in collaboration with the client.
Define
Describe the opportunities
During the first Co-design workshop, we told the client about the evidence from the research phase, which served to identify opportunities. This workshop involved stakeholders who, together with prospects, pulled out ideas through generative tools. These ideas were refined into 4 concepts of value-added services that would go into the customer journey to-be integrated.
Mixed service and business design approach
In our design process, we combined methodologies and tools from both the service and business design fields. During the Strategy Alignment workshop we focused together with stakeholders on creating the business model canvas.
The client's primary goal was to create services that allow for fulfilling experiences related to food and wellness. Also present were secondary objectives regarding enjoying food by obtaining reliable information while building knowledge about healthy eating and deepening the connection with the local area by discovering products and traditions.
Based on these assumptions, we mapped the food experience market competition. We selected 21 case studies, which were then clustered into the following 6 categories: food-related experiences, food and wellness vacations, places discovery, art and culture activities, gift-box and active and sport vacations. These 6 categories were distributed within a Competitive Arena, in which we divided the competitors into direct, indirect and potential/experiential.
Taking a step forward
We did not just identify best practices and map them but wanted to go further. With the customer journey in mind, we highlighted areas of opportunity for the customer by indicating which steps in the journey were best to innovate with service.
We also identified 6 design drivers that were key to designing the user experience. In addition to being consistent with the objectives identified by stakeholders and the business, Design Drivers reflect both the needs that emerged during research activities and market trends identified in selected benchmark cases. Each Design Driver contributes to the identification of a value to be considered in the design phase and is concretely translated into indications of functionality and service features that can be implemented in the final output. The generation of Design Drivers is therefore an essential prerequisite for designing a solution consistent with design requirements and user needs and behaviors.
Concept Design Sprint
Co-create & Ideation
Following the workshops, a 2-week Sprint phase was held, during which a document outlining the project was produced.
Starting with the 4 concepts generated, which were explored in detail and varied in theme and feasibility, stakeholders then voted on one that would be carried forward. The final concept was AC Experiences, refined over the weeks to make it more feasible and closer to the client's needs.
Scenario building
In the sprint part of our process, a map of the service system was drawn to highlight the roles of stakeholders inside and outside the organization, the clients and how they were connected to each other. We also went deeper into delineating what the types of experiences were in our service, dividing the always-on experiences from those that were part of the client schedule. Experience Building Blocks were created that allowed us to define experience formats and break them down by moments in the customer journey. To contextualize the concept generated during the co-design workshop, we created a storyboard of the service that would help us better tell the customer about the needs of the target audience by showing the digital touchpoints we had designed for the experience. This story fit into the customer's experiential journey that the consumer alliance had initially asked us to create.
Deliver
Validating the desirability of the concept
To validate the effectiveness of our solutions, we sought feedback from our target audience through qualitative and quantitative testing.
The interviews considered the opinion of 6 participants from the customer research panel and ideation workshop. Together with them, we conducted a 1:1 remote interview of 1 hour each, where we told them the storyboard of the experience and showed the prototype to describe the concept.
We then reached more than 1,000 people nationwide with a survey targeting members of our client's community.
Iterating on the prototype
This feedback was critical in determining the desirability and feasibility of our results and allowed us to refine our ideas to better meet their needs. From the first concept version we wanted to validate, there were improvements. We added relevant features to address their needs and clarified some of their concerns.
Learnings
From this short but intense project, I learned a lot but most importantly I derived 3 principles from it that will guide my design in the future, which are as follows:
Understand the underlying problem before attempting to solve it
People often think they have the solution in their pocket from the beginning but they do not. Only by being in contact with users and doing research do you realize what are the relevant problems to solve for them.
Optimize for relevance using data
Data Driven Design may seem like something very distant and abstract but it is not. Indeed, it can be very useful to collect data and using it to your advantage in design can make all the difference in a project.
Let the stories shine
Last but not least, give stories their due. Stories are key in communicating with your users and stakeholders. They help connect us with other people and better convey our message.
Understand
To understand the problem, you need to understand the client
After carefully studying our client's organization and what had been done in the past that did not work, a listening phase began to thoroughly understand what the needs were. So we started by interviewing 6 stakeholders to understand what their desires were and what was wrong. Our focus then shifted outward, continuing with interviews with 17 prospects and customers. These interviews were critical for us to gather valuable qualitative insights that allowed us to understand what were the underlying motivations driving their choices.
Insights from the market
Next, we dove into desk research, clustering common patterns and finding 33 case studies from the market. The end result of this divergent phase of Understand was to produce an Insight Report to present to the client during the co-design workshop. Within this report was a Trend Reframing, in which we included the main evidence, needs, and values generated for the client. For each trend, we chose to show some case studies, which illustrated the main characteristics, the values they reflected in the customer, and the most prominent experiential moments. Insights were then generated from the research, which we showed in the final part of the paper, highlighting what might be opportunities to follow in the workshop.In our project, people have always been at the center. In our project, people have always been at the center. Prospects provided us with valuable insights during interviews and active participation in the workshop in collaboration with the client.
Define
Describe the opportunities
During the first Co-design workshop, we told the client about the evidence from the research phase, which served to identify opportunities. This workshop involved stakeholders who, together with prospects, pulled out ideas through generative tools. These ideas were refined into 4 concepts of value-added services that would go into the customer journey to-be integrated.
Mixed service and business design approach
In our design process, we combined methodologies and tools from both the service and business design fields. During the Strategy Alignment workshop we focused together with stakeholders on creating the business model canvas.
The client's primary goal was to create services that allow for fulfilling experiences related to food and wellness. Also present were secondary objectives regarding enjoying food by obtaining reliable information while building knowledge about healthy eating and deepening the connection with the local area by discovering products and traditions.
Based on these assumptions, we mapped the food experience market competition. We selected 21 case studies, which were then clustered into the following 6 categories: food-related experiences, food and wellness vacations, places discovery, art and culture activities, gift-box and active and sport vacations. These 6 categories were distributed within a Competitive Arena, in which we divided the competitors into direct, indirect and potential/experiential.
Taking a step forward
We did not just identify best practices and map them but wanted to go further. With the customer journey in mind, we highlighted areas of opportunity for the customer by indicating which steps in the journey were best to innovate with service.
We also identified 6 design drivers that were key to designing the user experience. In addition to being consistent with the objectives identified by stakeholders and the business, Design Drivers reflect both the needs that emerged during research activities and market trends identified in selected benchmark cases. Each Design Driver contributes to the identification of a value to be considered in the design phase and is concretely translated into indications of functionality and service features that can be implemented in the final output. The generation of Design Drivers is therefore an essential prerequisite for designing a solution consistent with design requirements and user needs and behaviors.
Concept Design Sprint
Co-create & Ideation
Following the workshops, a 2-week Sprint phase was held, during which a document outlining the project was produced.
Starting with the 4 concepts generated, which were explored in detail and varied in theme and feasibility, stakeholders then voted on one that would be carried forward. The final concept was AC Experiences, refined over the weeks to make it more feasible and closer to the client's needs.
Scenario building
In the sprint part of our process, a map of the service system was drawn to highlight the roles of stakeholders inside and outside the organization, the clients and how they were connected to each other. We also went deeper into delineating what the types of experiences were in our service, dividing the always-on experiences from those that were part of the client schedule. Experience Building Blocks were created that allowed us to define experience formats and break them down by moments in the customer journey. To contextualize the concept generated during the co-design workshop, we created a storyboard of the service that would help us better tell the customer about the needs of the target audience by showing the digital touchpoints we had designed for the experience. This story fit into the customer's experiential journey that the consumer alliance had initially asked us to create.
Deliver
Validating the desirability of the concept
To validate the effectiveness of our solutions, we sought feedback from our target audience through qualitative and quantitative testing.
The interviews considered the opinion of 6 participants from the customer research panel and ideation workshop. Together with them, we conducted a 1:1 remote interview of 1 hour each, where we told them the storyboard of the experience and showed the prototype to describe the concept.
We then reached more than 1,000 people nationwide with a survey targeting members of our client's community.
Iterating on the prototype
This feedback was critical in determining the desirability and feasibility of our results and allowed us to refine our ideas to better meet their needs. From the first concept version we wanted to validate, there were improvements. We added relevant features to address their needs and clarified some of their concerns.
Learnings
From this short but intense project, I learned a lot but most importantly I derived 3 principles from it that will guide my design in the future, which are as follows:
Understand the underlying problem before attempting to solve it
People often think they have the solution in their pocket from the beginning but they do not. Only by being in contact with users and doing research do you realize what are the relevant problems to solve for them.
Optimize for relevance using data
Data Driven Design may seem like something very distant and abstract but it is not. Indeed, it can be very useful to collect data and using it to your advantage in design can make all the difference in a project.
Let the stories shine
Last but not least, give stories their due. Stories are key in communicating with your users and stakeholders. They help connect us with other people and better convey our message.
Understand
To understand the problem, you need to understand the client
After carefully studying our client's organization and what had been done in the past that did not work, a listening phase began to thoroughly understand what the needs were. So we started by interviewing 6 stakeholders to understand what their desires were and what was wrong. Our focus then shifted outward, continuing with interviews with 17 prospects and customers. These interviews were critical for us to gather valuable qualitative insights that allowed us to understand what were the underlying motivations driving their choices.
Insights from the market
Next, we dove into desk research, clustering common patterns and finding 33 case studies from the market. The end result of this divergent phase of Understand was to produce an Insight Report to present to the client during the co-design workshop. Within this report was a Trend Reframing, in which we included the main evidence, needs, and values generated for the client. For each trend, we chose to show some case studies, which illustrated the main characteristics, the values they reflected in the customer, and the most prominent experiential moments. Insights were then generated from the research, which we showed in the final part of the paper, highlighting what might be opportunities to follow in the workshop.In our project, people have always been at the center. In our project, people have always been at the center. Prospects provided us with valuable insights during interviews and active participation in the workshop in collaboration with the client.
Define
Describe the opportunities
During the first Co-design workshop, we told the client about the evidence from the research phase, which served to identify opportunities. This workshop involved stakeholders who, together with prospects, pulled out ideas through generative tools. These ideas were refined into 4 concepts of value-added services that would go into the customer journey to-be integrated.
Mixed service and business design approach
In our design process, we combined methodologies and tools from both the service and business design fields. During the Strategy Alignment workshop we focused together with stakeholders on creating the business model canvas.
The client's primary goal was to create services that allow for fulfilling experiences related to food and wellness. Also present were secondary objectives regarding enjoying food by obtaining reliable information while building knowledge about healthy eating and deepening the connection with the local area by discovering products and traditions.
Based on these assumptions, we mapped the food experience market competition. We selected 21 case studies, which were then clustered into the following 6 categories: food-related experiences, food and wellness vacations, places discovery, art and culture activities, gift-box and active and sport vacations. These 6 categories were distributed within a Competitive Arena, in which we divided the competitors into direct, indirect and potential/experiential.
Taking a step forward
We did not just identify best practices and map them but wanted to go further. With the customer journey in mind, we highlighted areas of opportunity for the customer by indicating which steps in the journey were best to innovate with service.
We also identified 6 design drivers that were key to designing the user experience. In addition to being consistent with the objectives identified by stakeholders and the business, Design Drivers reflect both the needs that emerged during research activities and market trends identified in selected benchmark cases. Each Design Driver contributes to the identification of a value to be considered in the design phase and is concretely translated into indications of functionality and service features that can be implemented in the final output. The generation of Design Drivers is therefore an essential prerequisite for designing a solution consistent with design requirements and user needs and behaviors.
Concept Design Sprint
Co-create & Ideation
Following the workshops, a 2-week Sprint phase was held, during which a document outlining the project was produced.
Starting with the 4 concepts generated, which were explored in detail and varied in theme and feasibility, stakeholders then voted on one that would be carried forward. The final concept was AC Experiences, refined over the weeks to make it more feasible and closer to the client's needs.
Scenario building
In the sprint part of our process, a map of the service system was drawn to highlight the roles of stakeholders inside and outside the organization, the clients and how they were connected to each other. We also went deeper into delineating what the types of experiences were in our service, dividing the always-on experiences from those that were part of the client schedule. Experience Building Blocks were created that allowed us to define experience formats and break them down by moments in the customer journey. To contextualize the concept generated during the co-design workshop, we created a storyboard of the service that would help us better tell the customer about the needs of the target audience by showing the digital touchpoints we had designed for the experience. This story fit into the customer's experiential journey that the consumer alliance had initially asked us to create.
Deliver
Validating the desirability of the concept
To validate the effectiveness of our solutions, we sought feedback from our target audience through qualitative and quantitative testing.
The interviews considered the opinion of 6 participants from the customer research panel and ideation workshop. Together with them, we conducted a 1:1 remote interview of 1 hour each, where we told them the storyboard of the experience and showed the prototype to describe the concept.
We then reached more than 1,000 people nationwide with a survey targeting members of our client's community.
Iterating on the prototype
This feedback was critical in determining the desirability and feasibility of our results and allowed us to refine our ideas to better meet their needs. From the first concept version we wanted to validate, there were improvements. We added relevant features to address their needs and clarified some of their concerns.
Learnings
From this short but intense project, I learned a lot but most importantly I derived 3 principles from it that will guide my design in the future, which are as follows:
Understand the underlying problem before attempting to solve it
People often think they have the solution in their pocket from the beginning but they do not. Only by being in contact with users and doing research do you realize what are the relevant problems to solve for them.
Optimize for relevance using data
Data Driven Design may seem like something very distant and abstract but it is not. Indeed, it can be very useful to collect data and using it to your advantage in design can make all the difference in a project.
Let the stories shine
Last but not least, give stories their due. Stories are key in communicating with your users and stakeholders. They help connect us with other people and better convey our message.
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