RESEARCH BRIEF

Today independent businesses struggle to survive as they face competition from large chain stores, internet merchants and franchises that enjoy the major economies of scale. The same is the case in Savannah, GA, where large retail stores start to dominate the local market and brick-and-mortar stores are challenged to stay relevant. The aim of this project was to conduct a thorough research to understand the culture of local independent retail stores in a part of the historic district of Savannah and identify the core problems and opportunities to help independent businesses thrive with the current market trends.

OUTCOME

By using contextual research methods, we were able to identify the key insights and create a design framework which could be further utilized for concept development and strategy creation.

MY ROLE

As a part of a diverse team who worked very closely on this project my contributions included recruiting participants for ethnographic research, conducting interviews and observations, analyzing the data, creating various maps for synthesizing the collected data and actively presenting the findings to a larger audience. I took over the content writing for our process book and as a team member always provided my team with constant support and motivation.

The following page highlights a few sections of the project. To view the detailed process, please scroll to the bottom of the page.

RESEARCH

The research was conducted while using the immersive methods of Design Ethnography. Design Ethnography is a form of ethnographic research that allows designers to study the people in their natural settings encompassing several qualitative methods. It focuses on a comprehensive and empathic understanding of the users, their social life and the context of their artifacts and behaviors. 

As design ethnographers, we used a set of research methods, data-collection methods and analysis methods to identify the problems, patterns, and themes of the design territory under investigation.

STAKEHOLDER MAP

Stakeholder maps allow a researcher to identify the key players who have a vested interest in the subject of study. This includes people or organizations that will directly benefit from the project and others who might act as the influencers and drivers to the primary stakeholders. This helped us set a stage for our user-centered research and recognize our key participants.

INTERVIEWS

Interviewing is a fundamental research method that allows a researcher to gather first-hand information from the stakeholders. It helps analyze not only the experiences, and attitudes of the participants but also helps one recognize the nuances of personal expression and body language.

In-person interviews were our preferred method for interviewing owners of businesses, managers, store employees, and customers. We created a set of research questions for each of the stakeholders in a semi-structured format which allowed us to be flexible with the flow of the interview.

SURVEY

Surveys are another method of primary research which allows a researcher to collect first-hand information from the participants in a short time frame. However, it might not be an accurate reflection of thoughts and behaviors of a person and needs to be complemented with other research methods. Our survey was designed to help us gather information quickly about customer needs and expectations. 

OBSERVATIon

Observation allows researchers to gather information without direct interference with the people being observed. As our focus of the study was local independent stores, it was sometimes a challenge to conduct observation discretely as the store space was very small and intimate. To overcome that, we conducted observation using two methods: one was to visit a store as a customer, and not as a researcher and the other was to conduct observation along with the in-person interviews.

ANALYSIS & SYNTHESIS

AFFINITY DIAGRAMMING

Affinity Diagramming is a process that helps capture research-based insights and observations and cluster them into meaningful themes. It is an inductive exercise in which the work is done bottom up, by first clustering the small details to then forming general and overarching themes. We used the process to understand and interpret the data we collected through our secondary and primary research.

PERSONAS

Personas help consolidate common behavior patterns into meaningful representative profiles which facilitates easy empathy and communication while creating a useful target for responsible design. We created a set of three personas for the local store owners and three for the customers.