FLourish
This is a case study about a design challenge to re-imagine the “florist experience” within the context of exploring the future of retail.
Case Study Context
Physical environments enable unique types of experiences, and informs existing ones with new possibilities of space, light, sensation and proximity. Experiences in retail must be meticulously designed for scale, repeatability and adaptability. Those designs often fail on first contact with a customer or when delivered by a trainee on Saturday morning. Success not only translates into revenue and profit—it becomes emblematic of a company and its ethos.
Process highlights
Design Research, Digital Prototyping, Brand Identity, Retail Pop-up Pilot
Keep scrolling to see how our process came together!
Creating a Brand Experience for the Future of Retail
Challenge
“How can I create a floral arrangement that is unique and represents ‘me’?”
It is challenging for customers to make bouquets themselves, so they rely on a florist’s expertise. Most often these bouquets are gifts, and customers want to express themselves in process of creating the gift. How might we create a story around a floral arrangement for the gift-giver to share?
Solution
Serving customers who want to purchase a unique floral arrangement, we created a twist to the way they engage with their florist. We brought together physical and digital elements to craft a sensory-based experience. We tested our concept through live prototypes and piloted a pop-up retail experience.
Flourish: a pop-up
Customers sample a series of floral teas and are matched with a bouquet based on the tea they select. The digital display reveals the bouquet that matches their selection. The florist makes the arrangement and completes the package with a customized card, which shares the story of the unique purchase.
Design research elements
We conducted contextual observations, shop-alongs, in-depth interviews, and created storyboards and wireframes to communicate ideas. We observed the habits, frustrations, and hacks that florist customers exhibited.
User research
We wanted to understand how much agency different customer segments needed in the experience of buying a floral arrangement. Storyboard examples were used in a series of in-depth interviews to help us find the sweet spot.
Live prototyping
We conducted a series of live prototypes to test our assumptions. We observed how often participants would smell the dried flower tea samples, which lead to a prototype around tasting flowers. But first we had to try out tea tasting experiences for ourselves.
digital prototyping
Our goal was to make the transition between digital and physical feel natural. We iterated a series of digital prototypes to test what customers would find delightful and scrapped anything that felt excessive. Customers loved the tasting notes we described for each tea, so we pulled that into the digital experience.
Customer Journey Map Illustration: Taylor Kikuchi
Storyboard Illustration: Taylor Kikuchi
spatial prototyping
Determining the flow of customers through the retail space was important to the process. Minimizing the feeling of ‘waiting’ and optimizing time for the experience resulted in a series of spatial prototypes and micro pilots.
Spatial Mapping Prototypes: Ira Opal
Spatial Mapping Prototypes: Ira Opal
Retail Pop up
Interviews revealed that customers wanted more than a floral arrangement - they wanted an Instagram-worthy experience. We created a flower chandelier as a backdrop for selfies as a part of our retail pop-up experience.
Brand identity
We developed a brand narrative, brand assets, and scripts to communicate our brand identity at every customer touchpoint.
the team behind flourish
We collaborated throughout the design process, leading phases that aligned with our strengths. I led the user research phase and oversaw design operations.