Responsibilities
- qualitative research
- service design
- workshop design and facilitation
- experience design
- concepting
- content design
Lululemon is known for its premium activewear and yoga-inspired clothing with fashion-forward designs. The brand encourages its community to embrace movement, set and achieve fitness goals, practice mindfulness, and take care of their overall health. Lululemon is a "company of curves,” referencing not only the human body, but also the company’s trajectory—always innovating, in new directions. Never boring. Always alive.
In 2016, Lululemon commissioned Second Story as a design partner to imagine retail concepts blending technology and UX strategy to innovate on how guests experienced their brick-and-mortar stores.
Impact
Our team delivered a data-backed, human-centered vision for in-store retail experiences led by stories told through innovative digital executions tested with proof of concept prototypes.
Overview
When the convenience and speed of online shopping propelled retailers in 2016 to imagine experiences that drove customers into their physical stores, lululemon set out to re-imagine guest-centric spaces that nurtured the brand’s human-centric values of relationships, progress and community in a way that benefitted their business.
I worked on this year-long project at Second Story, in partnership with lululemon's store design team. Our task was to research opportunities to innovate retail moments that amplified lululemon's strengths in the activewear space: by strengthening guests' connections to community and delivering relevant product knowledge in support of active lifestyles.
My role involved designing retail guest experiences to engage customers and elevate the role of store employees. I researched their business, compiled insights from store observations and interviews, and presented a future-state service blueprint highlighting opportunities to transform the retail space at key touchpoints through immersive experiences that blended story, technology and space.
Challenges
High price point
Lululemon makes a superior product, but until you and experience that amazing feeling, price is a major deterrent. Guests should feel empowered to take the leap from "just looking " to trying on lululemon’s technical craftsmanship in the fitting room.
Retail dollars per square foot
Luluemon stores stock more product on the floor than in back. This means individual guests' fit and styles are more accessible, but a high-density on the floor limits the footprint for immersive experiences that might take space away from product displays.
Agency of individual stores
Store managers exhibit an entrepreneurial spirit and offer services and product to their individual community preferences. One sized vision of a future wouldn’t fit all stores and their diversity of guests.
We wanted to map a vision for an in-store shopping experience built on lululemon's outstanding service and product.
How might we...
- highlight the craftsmanship and consideration that goes into every product detail
- inspire guests with fun possibilities that support healthy, active lifestyles
- reflect a diverse community and store managers' entrepreneurial spirit
- support human connection and relationships
Discovery
To craft a future vision, we began by understanding lululemon's strengths: technical innovation, store educators' knowledge, and total commitment to guests’ needs.
We followed multiple tracks of research including ethnography, interviews, and workshopping to approach to problem space with empathy for shoppers and store educators/
Brand immersion
With guidance from their brand team, we internalized lululemon's creative filters and applied these to our communications throughout the project, collaborating with the store design team in a unified voice.
Review of existing research
Given research about guests' shopping behaviors and store design strategies, we identified key touchpoints to deepen guest engagement through technology and noted valuable retail principles to uphold.
Observational studies and interviews
I observed shoppers and employees in lululemon’s Atlanta retail locations, and created worksheets for the team to capture observations on their own using the AEIOU technique. This allowed us to systematize and collate our qualitative research.
I also interviewed store educators about their role, capture ideas for improved guest experience and discover any challenges they faced.
Store design and aesthetics
To demonstrate intentional variation among stores, lululemon's store design team led us on tours of different store types in Vancouver, where building materials and overall aesthetics were selected to directly reflect the vibe of the surrounding community.
We took away the insight that a scalable service blueprint had to be a flexible framework that individual store managers would adapt to reflect the identity and preferences of their guests.
Cultural immersion
To cap discovery, the creative team spent a week at lululemon’s Vancouver headquarters alongside new hires attending training sessions on company values, history and personal development with yoga at its core.
We noted how sweaty activities, development and mindfulness permeated their culture through on-site yoga sessions, goal-setting activities, and allocated time before each meeting to "clear" the air of any mental distractions.
We gleaned that stores were not only transactional but transformational--launching points where guests and educators achieve goals, get support and gear up to realize their personal aspirations.
Summarizing discovery insights
To present a high level understand of the shopping experience at key zones in the store, we created a journey map with "what if" questions to workshop in the next phase.
Stakeholder workshop
We designed a participatory workshop, held at lululemon’s headquarters to brainstorm and validate conceptual directions with their leaders in marketing, branding, design, technical innovation, leadership, and store design. We led a structured agenda of facilitated hands-on activities planned specifically to generate creative possible solutions for digitally-enabled, guest-centric store experiences that drove business value.
- generate momentum in the design process
- rapidly understand the goals, audience and potential solutions for lululemon’s (re)imagine store initiative
- drive alignment on guiding principles for the project
Synthesis and refinement
Coming out of the workshop, we aligned on guiding principles for 6 functional elements of the store:
An ever changing storefront attracts attention and represents a brand that’s always in motion.
Emphasize connection over content when guests walk walk through the door.
Media engages guests in product-centric storytelling, inspiring and educating them by visually illustrating the quality, intention, design and innovation of each product.
Support an entrepreneurial spirit that keeps educators accountable for (and guests engaged in) new store experiences. Modular components empower store teams to express their creativity in multiple configurations and deliver dynamic experiences for guests.
Educate in the most powerful moment—while guests are in the clothing—to offer a multi sensory experience that imparts the product’s real value.
Intentfully creating the opportunity to be relevant and transparent with guests leads to meaningful relationships built on trust, authenticity and honesty.
Prototyping the store of tomorrow through fit, sensation and service.
Service blueprint
The final service blueprint presents a shopping experience for guests, broken down into modules representing phases of the in-store experience.
The vision is grounded in foundational research about the company’s operations, values, mission, brand and goals. It describes touchpoints in terms of competitive differentiators (exceptional product and people), and makes those accessible, engaging and emotional.
Who's involved
The store is focused on the guests’ needs. The service flow follows one guests’ journey through the shopping, fit and purchase process.
Knowledgable educators assist the guest however they need it.
What's involved
Educator support tools and digital media displays broaden the guests’ understanding of the product, how it performs and what’s available to purchase.
Behind the scenes, various teams within and outside the company interact to deliver services the guest receives in store.
Experience factors that contribute to the success of project goals are called out with this icon.
Service Blueprint Detail: Module No. 2 - Story Arcs
Service Blueprint Detail: Module No. 4 - Fitting Room
