Case studies

[email protected]

Joanne Mendel

jxmendel.wordpress.com

Products, services, experiences.

Representative work across industry sectors:

•health care•education •consumer electronics•consumer goods •financial services•technology + software

Joanne Mendel 2010

Health care: Services | Translating customer needs into a better HMO experience

Client objective: A prominent healthcare insurance provider wanted to optimize the membership renewal experience with Seniors by developing a deep understanding of their customer experience. The resulting insights were needed to drive marketing and communications strategies – and development of communications experiences.

A series of HMO ecosystem maps dimensionalized multiple

aspects of Senior’s experience, perceptions and interactions with

the HMO system of care. These resulted from analysis of

information gleaned from member diaries and 1:1 interviews.

A key insight was that it was more important to Seniors that the

HMO tangibly demonstrate that “they care” during their treatment

experiences throughout the year rather than at the annual

membership renewal time .

4 experience scenarios depicted the most common interactions

members have with the insurer between renewal periods. They

identified member’s pain points across multiple touch points

(also opportunity areas for the client to foster customer retention,

loyalty and trust in dependable health care)

Design principles were derived from insights into the customer

experience and led to strategies, tactics and examples for how to

strengthen retention through multiple touch points with Seniors

in ways that demonstrate the insurer cares.

1

This solution revealed that for Seniors, the decision to renew membership was predicated on key touch points with the insurer during their care experience rather than the annual membership drive. It identified design principles for the desired experience to serve as a guide for client initiatives and for the development of a communications strategy

2 3

Senior’s HMO ecosystem of care Caring Connections scenario

Joanne Mendel 2010

Education service | Identifying opportunities for supporting students in educational decision making

Client objective: A U.S. educational corporation wanted to drive greater market share to its portfolio of “ground” & online colleges and trade schools. Doing this required a better understanding of potential students and their educational needs, how & when to reach them in their decision making process and the role education played in their lives.

Recommendations were made on who to target, at what points in

their life stage, how to effectively leverage key touch points for

communication and ways to support educational decision

making.

In this multiphase project, business consulting and quantitative

phases informed and were shaped by this qualitative phase of work.

An inquiry & analysis plan developed prior to field work anticipated

what information to gather and how to cut the data .

Design frameworks were created during field research to

map people’s life events to their education and work history.

This revealed patterns in the role of education in their lives, their

motivations & identified barriers to education across life stages.

1 2

School decision criteria, tradeoffs and touch points were

identified for each step of the enrollment decision process.

4

5

This solution here provided a deep and rich understanding of how educational aspirations are threaded throughout people’s life events and work histories. This was translated into strategic recommendations for targeted communications through multiple touch points and a support system for aiding people’s educational decision making process.

The analysis that followed identified: • 4 types of life paths with corresponding educational

mindsets• 9 common levers that needed to fall into place before people

could act on their educational aspirations• A model of the enrollment decision process.

3

Joanne Mendel 2010

Technology & software sector | Research synthesis + Digital product roadmap development

Client objective: An online auction house needed to bring together disparate behavioral & attitudinal data and web analytics to understand how their product was meeting customer needs. The resulting insights needed to drive strategies for improvement.

Ideation work sessions were held with product teams who used

the principles to generate concepts that would be further explored

in the product development process.

Key product issues emerged from a synthesis of series of

disparate client studies; qualitative & quantitative studies with site

behavior tracking results and an information architecture analysis

of site experience.

A holistic view of the issues was developed from the vantage

point of different customers participating in the auction

transaction. Implications for product strategy were teased out.

1 2

Five guiding principles for a desirable customer site experience

were presented to the executive committee for funding and

resource allocation of the initiatives.

4 5

This solution provided five strategic recommendations around key dimensions of the online auction experience to the executive team. Rolled out in product team workshops, they framed next generation product ideation that was strategically aligned with company goals.

In a series of joint client work sessions, implications &

recommendations were prioritized by mapping them to key

company performance metrics and strategic initiatives.

3

Joanne Mendel 2010

Consumer electronics sector | Product design language for mobile phones

Client objective: A global mobile technology company wanted to design next generation phones for its quantitatively derived U.S. segments. Their product design team needed rich insights into mindsets and lifestyles as well as direction and inspiration to fuel design.

Similarities and differences in aesthetics and functionality were

compared across the segments to frame a system of phones

could be designed to satisfy what most segments desire while

helping the business to achieve market reach.

To learn about how customer segments see themselves they

were asked to choose three words expressing defining

characteristics of who they are and send supporting lifestyle images.

During ethnographies respondents constructed an identity

matrix of themselves by selecting images across adjacent product

categories that expressed “who I am, aspire to be” & explaining why.

1 2

In analysis segment needs and desires were mapped to

corresponding colors, materials, forms and finishes. These were

elements of a product design language for mobile phones.

3

Design principles were derived from the most prominent needs that

characterized each segment. Examples images selected by consumers

provided the product design team with input about how they interpreted

desires like “classic & simple” through a visual vocabulary.

4 5

This solution provided three to four design principles for each segment based on understanding their needs and desires. Principles included colors, materials, forms and finishes that corresponded segment needs and product attributes. A system of phones was framed for achieving maximal market reach while satisfying segment needs & desires.

Roadmap for implementation

Joanne Mendel 2010

Consumer electronics sector | Design principles + Roadmap for next generation appliances

Client objective: A global consumer electronics firm needed to understand the underlying drivers and consumer needs for three household appliances; refrigerators, ranges, and washing machines in it’s North American market.

For each experience platform, a roadmap for implementation was

developed that mapped platforms to needs, principles and solutions.

Solution implications were generated for messaging, positioning,

merchandising and POS.

A trends hierarchy resulted from a review of prior client

secondary and trend research and expert interviews. This

provided insights and a context for observing customer needs.

Through ethnographies and online community facilitation,

consumer lifestyle needs & attitudes came to light that were

based on the contextual usage of appliances in their homes.

1 2

A behavior/needs matrix aligned consumer pain points with

categories of needs (lifestyle, meal planning, cooking, food storage &

clothing care) to reveal 3 experiential platforms for differentiating

the client.

3

Design principles emerged from mapping consumer appliance

needs to trend insights. The principles were used to generate

solutions and guide the client’s global product design team.

4 5

This solution provided cultural insights and design principles to guide the global product design team and a roadmap to guide the formulation of company strategies for product development, branding, and communications in the US market..

Roadmap for implementation

Experienceplatform

Behavior / needs evaluation matrix

Joanne Mendel 2010

Consumer electronics sector | Translating regional needs & cultural aesthetics into product design languages

Client objective: A global technology company wanted to leverage the fast growing demand for desktop PCs in emerging markets, but lacked the cultural perspective and direction that would differentiate their product design in China, Japan and India.

A roadmap of design principles for expressing product

attributes within and across regions identifies regional design

principles for near, mid and long term implementation.

Cultural trends & business forces affecting design were revealed

through expert interviews and indicated how the business

opportunity landscape is changing for India, China and Japan.

Global digital ethnos revealed that regional consumer archetypes

had aspirations ranging from inner to outer directed that

impacted their choice of workstation…

1 2

Consumers associate technology characteristics they need &

desire with the way they are expressed in various form factors of a

workstation, resulting in regional design languages.

3

A visual language audit of architecture & consumer electronics

further defined similarities and differences in regional design

languages. By associating the visual languages with consumer

needs identified, design principles for a product design language

emerged.

4 5

I WORK SMARTER I AM SUCCESSFUL

INNER DIRECTED OUTER DIRECTED

I AM CAPABLE

This solution provided a high level perspective on global/cultural trends, insight into how small & medium business owners make choices and the needs that drive what they look for in a PC design. Visual cultural languages were mapped to the needs identified, resulting in design principles for a product design language in each region.

Roadmap for implementation

Joanne Mendel 2010

Consumer goods: Products | A semiotic analysis for driving product concepts, packaging & positioning

Client objective: A national beverage brand wanted to stretch the appeal of its flavored milk products from ages 3-5 to target the next age bracket upwards. Semiotics and qualitative research were combined to understand the meanings associated with cultural indicators of flavored milk habits and rituals in the general U.S. market.

New product concepts were generated by juxtaposing product

characteristics with their cultural associations. This enabled the client

to design product variations that with direct appeal for their target

audience. Positioning and messaging followed.

A semiotic assessment of the flavored milk category was conducted

in parallel with expert interviews in the category. This resulted in

hypothesis that were explored & validated in qualitative research.

A collection of media available in the public domain (ads, popular

culture, retail environments and material artifacts) were assembled

and coded into a visual database for semiotic analysis.

1 2

Cultural perceptions of flavored milk emerged to dimentionalize

the category; how product characteristics are perceived, how this

varies with age & gender, appropriate occasions and dining rituals.

3

Seeing how drink consumption behaviors have been changing

over time led to projections of emergent trends in the culture.

4 5

This solution revealed and validated cultural perceptions about the category that were previously unknown to the client. This gave the client new ways to think about target customers and their preferences. This drove brand packaging, positioning & new product concept ideation.

Coded media database

Product concept framework

Joanne Mendel 2010

Consumer goods product experience | Identifying opportunities for a new retail store experience

Client objective: A historic retail brand wanted wanted to target a new, forward thinking customer segment. They needed to inform the design of a system of 40 pilot stores to be rolled out across the US. and compare their shopping experience with that of competitors.

In-store ethnos gathered insights into dimensions of the desired

shopping experience; Overall store impressions, Navigation of

merchandise, Communication of product selection, Merchandising

and displays and Customer service.

1 2

Mapping customer’s mindset to the shopping purchase path

revealed what considerations were most important in triggering them

to shop, in the store experience and in wearing the product.

3

Opportunities for improvement were pin pointed to the store’s

floor plan. A competitive store analysis revealed how others solved

for similar problems. Concrete recommendations resulted for what

to continue, stop and start doing.

4 5

This solution revealed meaningful shopping motivations and expectations for the targeted segment. Key components of unique and compelling store shopping experiences were identified. The client’s store experience was evaluated against competitors to inform store design, merchandising and in-store marketing for new stores.

Modeling the customer mindset revealed a constant dialogue

between how they see themselves in relation to the world of fashion

around them; resulting in a cycle of discovery and self expression.

A store evaluation matrix provided a framework for systematically

evaluating the store experience against customer needs and

desires. It revealed areas the client was doing well and where

there was opportunity for improvement.

Joanne Mendel 2010

Consumer goods: Product | Opportunity identification: Identifying customer value across touch points of the fast food experience

Client objective: The market for fast food is extremely competitive which has resulted in highly refined, predictable customer experiences. An international fast food franchise sought to understand what things they could do to demonstrate the value customers were seeking at each touch point of their fast food experience in order to differentiate their offering.

A value framework identifies the things customers value about their fast food experience.

Because customers value different things at each touch point of an experience their values depend on whether they’re choosing what to eat, purchasing it or consuming it.

The customer values were translated through signifiers. Signifiers communicate and reinforce the things customers are seeking in their fast food experience. These can be demonstrated in tangible ways in the experience design.

For example: What connotes fast food ambiance for customers is signified through a décor that reflects a modern designer kitchen with homey plants, and the inviting atmosphere of a café.

Customer values also tapped into higher level benefits that have the potential to create a more meaningful customer experience and therefore, a longer lasting customer relationship with the brand.

Value formulas were established for each customer touch point to enable the client to focus resources and budget for the best customer satisfaction and ROI.

1 2 3

This solution resulted in a value formula for each customer touch point of their experience. It identified tangible means of fulfilling customer values in ways that signified to them that they were getting the things they sought throughout the experience.

Joanne Mendel 2010

Consumer goods: Brand | Tapping into Hispanic values to develop brand positioning & messaging for cars

Client objective: Hispanics have distinct cultural values in relation to cars; those values can intersect with the attributes of a car to fulfill their needs. The client sought ways of making the connection in the minds of Hispanics between their values and the car features that signify them. This would guide development of their brand messaging & positioning.

Hispanic cultural values were identified in order to explore how they might possibly correspond with attributes Hispanics look for in their cars.

Example:

• Smart/Adaptable: Adapting to change is a constant that needs to be embraced to stay smart if they are to “make it”.

Identifying car features that signify what Hispanic’s value in a car, helps ensure a car will meet their needs.

Example:

• Today’s Hispanics associate being smart and adaptable with a modern look in a car in ways that depart from the standard vocabulary of economy cars.

• Practicality, also an expression of being smart and adaptable, is expressed through compact size and being economical to run.

The client’s car brand positioning and messaging strategy were realigned to coincide with Hispanic values and to communicate car features that embodied those values.

1

This solution identifies what Hispanic values are most resonant and links them to car features Hispanics consumers associate with them. A strategy was developed for repositioning the brand to more effectively reach the Hispanic audience. A messaging and positioning architecture resulted to guide development of the brand expressions.

2 3

Joanne Mendel 2010

Consumer goods: Packaging | A semiotic analysis of packaging for chocolate

A color evaluation framework was derived from each of the color

dimensions explored during analysis. It was used to evaluate the

client’s packaging and adjust color cues to address the targeted

market.

Secondary research into the color yellow revealed conflicting

cultural meanings & associations as well as its physiological

effects.

Three color dimensions impacting people’s perceptions and

interpretations of color were explored in a study of yellow in relation

to chocolate; color vocabulary, color intensity and color footprint.

1 2

An analysis of color in chocolate packaging compared mainstream

against specialty brands. It revealed stark differences in the

dimensions of the color vocabularies and cultural interpretations.

3

Color footprint is the amount of package real estate that a color

occupies. The more it occupies, the more pronounced it appears.

These examples show a range of color footprints in chocolate

packaging.

4 5

Client objective: A semiotic analysis of the color yellow in packaging chocolate helped an national brand to stretch the appeal of its flavored milk products from ages 3-5 to target the next age bracket upwards.

This solution provided an evaluation of the client’s packaging and established the rationale for making adjustments that would communicate more clearly to the target market.

Joanne Mendel 2010

Financial services | Opportunity shaping + Concept development for online financial planning tools

Client objective: A financial services client wanted to build an online suite of tools to support investors in managing & investing their money and doing financial planning. This necessitated seeing how current client offerings fit into the constellation of tools that customers were already using and identifying unmet needs and pain points.

An ideation work session with the client resulted in concepts for

online tools that could differentiate the client’s offering. A best

practices audit informed high level concept sketches.

Segment profiles and attitudinal continuums were developed

as a result of 1:1 interviews. These provided insights to segment

attitudes and practices around their financial goals & planning.

Relational models identified what competitive resources were

being used for different tasks and revealed patterns of how tools

changed over life stages to remain in-step with changing goals.

1 2

Key themes resulted from pain points and delights people

associated with the tools they were currently using to manage, plan

and invest.

3

Design principles for the desired customer experience emerged

from triangulating segment attitudes with current needs, pain points

and their idealized tools. Principles were used in concept generation.

4 5

This solution built a solid rationale for a set of online financial management tools as a result of having deeply explored consumer attitudes and behaviors towards financial planning. The solution leveraged best practices in the competitive space to create new tools that would differentiate the client from the pack.

Ideation + concept sketches

Joanne Mendel 2010

Financial planning product | User testing a digital stock research & investing application

Client objective: A financial services client developed a premium online application for stock research to be launched under a new brand. To build equity among a broad target audience, brand positioning and messaging development needed to be informed by customer’s perceived “fit” between the product and their current investing routines.

Word clouds were developed from aggregating investor responses

to the applications top attributes, how they would characterize its

tools, UI and data quality to inform development of brand and

positioning for launch.

Consensus on project objectives for marketing, product

interface, community and training & support resulted from an

initial client work session. These informed the project approach.

10 individual interviews were conducted with stock investors to

understand their investing routines, resources & decision making,

to expose them to the application and to explore how it fit their

needs.

1 2

Investor profiles revealed themes across investor’s attitudes and

behaviors and summarized their investing strategies, resources

and information used for decision making.

3

A gap analysis between the application’s capabilities and

customer’s stock research needs resulted in identifying the

applications strengths and weaknesses in usefulness & UI.

4 5

This solution explored investor routines and decision making to help develop message points that would resonate at launch. Gaps between the product and customer needs were identified for their relevance of its overall capabilities and UI intuitiveness. A plan was outlined for training and support during the trial period and beyond.

Joanne Mendel 2010

Technology & software product | Online collaboration space for managing environmental clean up projects

Client objective: An oil & gas company wanted to increase the efficiency of project managers who coordinated with subcontractors to clean up environmental spills. Different technology systems, processes & documents were used by all of the parties involved.

User paths through the scenario prototypes in field informed the site’s

information architecture and detailed task flows that followed.

Work sessions with project managers were used to model the

end to end environmental clean up process, coordination points with

subcontractors and identified key documents they exchanged.

.

Profiles resulted from in-depth individual interviews with project

managers. These provided a job snapshot and identified the

scheduling applications & tools currently used. Activity models

described the main cycles occurring within their work process.

1 2

Field insights were analyzed in generative needs mapping; by

mapping examples of user feedback in field to corresponding needs,

feature ideas were then generated to address each need.

5 6

This solution identified an opportunity for a stand-alone collaborative workspace that would be accessible to all collaborators on a project. Understanding the cleanup process, information flows and collaboration touch points resulted in a high level site design.

A high level site conceptual model for managing contacts,

activities & documents was derived from needs identified in project

manager profiles and work processes.

3

Project manager Arizona

Scenarios were developed into concept prototypes that were field

tested with users. The design was iterated based on more in-depth

understanding of their actual practices & workarounds on the job.

4

Example > Needs > Features

Joanne Mendel 2010

Technology & software: Service | Multichannel service concept evaluation + Implementation roadmap

Client objective: A national card and gift company wanted to explore 3 concepts for evolving online strategy without cannibalizing its bricks and mortar locations. Pros and cons of each concept were evaluated and the strongest concept emerged.

User scenarios illustrated the tools, information and customer

experience at the page level of the product.

The strongest concept was identified; creating an online

environment that helps customers strengthen their relationships by

providing them with unique gift solutions comprised of products,

services and ideas.

1 2

A gap analysis between the envisioned concept and existing site resulted in a 22 month, 3 phase product roadmap. This detailed the path forward for planning, creating, and implementing migration to the future site.

54

This solution concluded in a gap analysis between their current digital product offering and the recommended concept. This resulted in a detailed, 3 phase product roadmap for achieving the desired future state.

Implications for building out the supporting information & system

architecture were explored through high level information

architecture development .

3

An Attribute Assessment Matrix provided an evaluation of the

three concepts against 12 business metrics revealing the

benefits and risks of each concept. Criteria for success were

identified.

Joanne Mendel 2010

Technology & software: Service | Digital product extension: Across customer touch points of the apt. finding & moving experience

Client objective: A bay area online apartment finding service wanted to explore and evaluate new features to evolve their offering to the next level. This needed to meet consumer needs as well as to provide additional revenue sources & potential partnerships.

Conceptual prototypes were built for testing with consumers prior to

launch of the site. The site garnered a bronze metal at the Webby

awards.

Potential features were scored in an evaluation matrix against

criteria ranging from customer needs to business drivers, how well it

incorporates site content, its ability to drive transactions and which

consumer profiles would be likely to use it.

Key features were modeled into a holistic overview of the

customer experience from apartment finding to moving in.

Contextually relevant tools provided customer support in the form

of information & service concepts. Identified new revenue streams.

1 2

Feature solutions included partnerships with moving companies to provide special deals, legal tool kits, changing over utilities & address, word of mouth about neighborhoods and near by groceries, schools and hospitals, etc.

4 5

This solution provided an extension to the existing product of finding an apartment to also include the moving in phase. It provided revenue generating service and product concepts that were grounded in identified customer needs.

Scenarios were developed to further explore and develop the page

level experience, informing the design of customer pathways

through the service.

3

Joanne Mendel 2010

1

Customer journey model: maps customer mindsets and key activities

of their experience with a product, service or environment to reveal

what things are working and opportunities for improvement.

3

Market ecosystem model: Overview of digital content creation

through customer delivery. Shows market players, their

interdependencies, competition, information & dollar flows.

2

Quantitative ecosystem model: Explains Consumer PC usage over

time in terms of revenues generated for services, hardware and mobile.

5

Habits and practices model: Maps customer motivations and

action triggers to a constellation of interrelated behaviors that impact

outcomes (benefits, aspirations or meanings achieved)

.

4

Visual modeling taxonomy | Models facilitate insight generation during analysis & synthesis + accelerate opportunity framing

Modeling overview: A taxonomy of visual models emerged from solving complex problems at the intersection of business and consumers over several years of client work. Their value went beyond a functional level of simply representing information. These models operated as a powerful tool for insight generation during analysis, synthesis.

They enabled project teams and clients to understand the problem space in non-obvious ways by synthesizing disparate sets of data to reveal hidden patterns. Models help accelerate opportunity framing, inform decision making and create consensus among multiple constituents. Below are some excerpts from the model taxonomy.

Joanne Mendel 2010

UX deliverables for digital product & service design | Information architecture example deliverables

Prototypes. Used for concept testing, UI testing. Wireframes

are also used in testing early iterations of functionality.

Feature prioritization lists. Used by UX teams and engineers to

prioritize features for the build cycle. Prioritizes features based on

user needs, business requirements and technical effort to build.

Site maps. A blueprint for a site that specifies site sections,

pages, linkages between pages, template types and the main

navigational pathways.

1 2 3

Scenarios. A high level outline of the user’s experience

through information on a site or digital device that takes place

in a context of use.

5 6

Task flows. Detail level flow diagrams of the user path through

information. These may include system responses, identify data

called and multiple navigational options at each step of the way.

4

Wireframes. Page level specifications depicting navigational

hierarchy, content, linkages. Wireframes also identify what

types of data are called from within the system. They

describe content in drop down & other menus.

Joanne Mendel 2010

User research | Example documents for conducting, analyzing and reporting research

Reporting insights. Research reports aggregate insights about

the customer experience, attitudes and behaviors to identify what

worked well and identify areas for improvement. This forms the

basis for recommendations to designers, marketing, clients, etc.

Screener. Recruiting questions are developed for evaluating

potential participants for the research as a way of ensuring

that a representative set of the target audience is included.

Discussion guide. Includes questions and activities for

conducting the research that are tied to the research objectives.

Includes how information is to captured for analysis, time frames

for each section and notes to moderators.

1 2 3

Wireframes. Provide page level specifications depicting

navigational hierarchy, content, linkages. They also

identify what types of data are called from within

the system. They describe content in drop down & other

menus.

5 6

Customer profiles. Profiles describe individual users or types

of users according to key dimensions that are relevant to the

research at hand. They are instrumental in analysis for cutting

data to compare and contrast results by segment or audience.

4

Analysis framework. Organizes user feedback

according to respondents and the topics covered in the

interview for analysis and insight generation.