team

1 product manager, 3 service designers & UX researchers

role

Service Designer / UX Designer / Researcher

Skills applied

Service Design, User Research, Value Flow

date

Oct 2023 - Dec 2023

Leverage the power of aesthetics through service design to unlock growth opportunities in retail.

In this service design project, our team focused on creating new services for Amarah, a Pittsburgh boutique and fitness store. Our solution, 'Art at Amarah', a monthly art gallery that collaborates with the local art community, was designed to boost the store's physical and online foot traffic, ultimately aiming to increase sales.

Video Showcase: Blending art, boutique fashion, and fitness to empower women

Primary Challenge

Overcome budget limits, unify scattered services, and boost foot traffic in one month

low foot traffic

Initially, the store experienced low in-store and online traffic. Consequently, the client's primary goal was to boost both types of traffic to increase sales.

limited budget

Due to current low sales, the store has a limited budget for new services. The client has requested that we integrate with the existing service system to minimize the costs of change.

scattered services

The store's offerings are diverse but disjointed, including boutique sales, gym classes, and sessions for massage and mental well-being. This variety creates a sense of complexity for customers.

Therefore, in one month, we need to introduce a new service that not only draws more visitors to the store but also boosts online engagement, providing a sustainable and compatible solution with the store's existing services.

Solution

We proposed a monthly art gallery in partnership with local artists. This strategy intends to introduce Amarah to new communities, combine its services, increase community awareness, and establish a mutually beneficial relationship among Amarah, the artists, and customers.

Our service proposition of hosting monthly art galleries creates a win-win-win scenario for artists, Amarah, and customers.

Process

On-Site Visit

To gain a comprehensive understanding of Amarah's operations and its position in the market, we conducted on-site visits, analyzing its value flows, physical layouts, employee management system, and interviewing customers.

A pivotal moment was emerged from customer interviews: the customers revealed a desire for nighttime physical activities and stores that are similar to Amarah.

"I usually go to Amarah after work. I came here to have something fun at night. Simply staying at home is boring."

Competitive Analysis

Based on feedback from customer interview, we extended our exploration to Amarah’s competitors: we visited a local boutique store and a yoga studio and conducted more interviews. The sample questions are as follows:

Our research of competitors provided us further insights about user needs and marketing strategies.

Brainstorm

Utilizing SWOT analysis, we identified Amarah's strengths and opportunities. Combining with our insights collected from competitive analysis, we formed the foundation for our brainstorming session.

In our brainstorming session, we used diverse methods, including value flow, concept maps, and service blueprints, to articulate our ideas. Following the session, we evaluated their values within a service ecology to determine which would bring the most value to both Amarah and its customers.

After discussion, we narrowed down to the idea of holding monthly art galleries at Amarah by collaborating with local artists.

The reason is as follows:

We used a service blueprint as a tool to consider details to ensure their successful implementation in Amarah's existing systems. Through this process, we considered a series of critical steps aimed at boosting both in-store foot traffic and online engagement.

Our service blueprint clearly outlined the roles and cooperation needed between different stakeholders and store areas. This made it easier to connect everyone involved, ultimately guiding us in planning the event logistics for our client.

Feedbacks

Our detailed service proposition received praise from the client, and the instructor commended it as innovative and thoughtful.

"I can see implementing this service into my store. Very interesting idea. I definitely will consider this." -- Client

"this service innovation is incredibly thoughtful considering the intersection of women, community, and empowerment – excellent work!." -- Instructor