Context & Challenge
In 2021, sales through digital commerce channels accounted for 22% of all retail sales worldwide. Multiple digital commerce options have increased the complexity and scale of operations. Furthermore, new services like retail media are challenging traditional customer engagement and investment models.
In order to thrive and succeed, consumer packaged goods companies must develop integrated cross channel experiences that leverage data and analytics, operations and technology to create winning consumer and customer relationships.
The project partnered with three clients across industry, categories and market units, covering areas such as snacks and beverages, personal care and pet food.
Design journey milestones
Research
Prior to project kick off the design team and I began extracting and developing use cases from prop dev material, uncovered e-commerce themes, users and buyer’s personas, identified competitors and existing landscape in secondary research and conducted internal SME interviews and use case workshops.
Early use case development workshop
Semi structured user interviews were then conducted in parallel with all three clients, followed by synthesis to uncover insights and findings. To prepare for these detailed interview guides, surveys and a Mural synthesis template were created.
Client interview synthesis Mural workspace
With synthesised data collected, I co-facilitated individual client use case workshops to align on highest value data and technology use cases. Subsequent to these workshops, I aided in assembling all interview insights, synthesis, and findings from the workshops into research reports which were then presented back to clients.
Client use case prioritisation workshop Mural workspace
Storyboarding
Design played an important role in such a strategy-focused project. The prioritised use cases were brought to life rapidly through early sketches and storyboards, developed in whiteboard sketching sessions. These sparked immediate discussion, feedback and buy-in from industry sponsors and clients.
Quick scene sketches from whiteboard sessions
I then refined the storyboards to a clearer fidelity in Illustrator and Figma, annotated notes were added and went onto be used in pitching materials and aided in service blueprint development.
Use case storyboard scenes
Service Blueprinting
Following storyboarding, I developed service blueprints from our priority use case and storyboards. Collaborating with the data and analytics team to define points of interaction and the lifecycle stages between our users, secondary users and backstage actors and how these all interacted with the back stage processes within the use case journey.
Service blueprint
These were designed in a Mural workspace, printed and discussed in person sessions. Then iterated on to develop further versions.
Service blueprint from walk through session
Project Wrap-up
Over the course of the project the design team applied methodology, facilitated workshops, produced assets and deliverables that helped realise the project was too premature to be accomplished in the targeted timeline.
In addition to saving the company time, resources, and budget, this will also add value to future e-commerce projects. Following this, I played back our findings, design journey and lessons learned to the wider team and department, providing value and education.
