Enhancing the Retail Environment with Digital Media

When Ryerson University announced plans to convert Maple Leaf Gardens into a sports and recreation facility, Delvinia helped the institution identify opportunities to incorporate digital media into the physical space.

We also collaborated with Loblaws, a partner in the redevelopment, to suggest a range of ways for the retailer to enhance the customer experience at its new Carlton and Church location, which opened today.

Using our AskingCanadians™ online panel, we examined the shopping behaviours of consumers who will frequent Loblaws at Maple Leaf Gardens. We asked questions like, who is responsible for shopping? How often do you shop? And, do you use mobile apps to facilitate your grocery shopping?

We discovered that 15 per cent of Canadians already use apps to help them with their shopping and the remaining market is primed to adopt a well-designed mobile app.

In terms of preferences, we found that close to 70 per cent use apps to access coupons, followed by scanning barcodes and sorting the shopping list by aisle.

Given the survey results and our analysis of the types of experiences customers are looking for when shopping, we recommended a number of mobile-friendly apps, including the development of a mobile-friendly site/app with a range of features like a store locator, meal planning ideas/recipes, in-home meal replacement specials, shopping lists with the route mapped out, an aisle locator, digital flyers and coupons, the ability to check parking space availability and a quick link to call a cab.

We also recommended the creation a ‘Going to Loblaws’ app that would enable users to sign-up and invite friends. When the user decided to make a trip to Loblaws, they could send an alert to ‘friends’ within their app network to take orders. Friends could then choose items from the menu, making it more convenient for the runner to pick up groceries.

For the Joe Fresh store, we recommended the installation of a virtual mirror—a touch-screen application with the latest Joe Fresh collection available. The app would enable users to ‘try on’ outfits and send instant pictures to their friends. The application could also increase awareness of the collection and add a fresh and viral element to the retail experience.

Overall, the consultation process achieved the objective of identifying multiple means to enhance the customer experience through the use of digital media.

Our New Stevie Awards

We’re showing off our new hardware!

Delvinia’s International Stevie Awards arrived at our King Street offices today.

Earlier this year, the International Business Awards announced that two of our projects, one with the Canadian Opera Company and the other with Manulife Financial, had been selected as winners in the 2011 competition.

The creative refresh of the Canadian Opera Company’s website, www.coc.ca, won in the not-for-profit category and the redesign of Manulife Financial’s www.coverme.com won in the insurance category.

In both cases, Delvinia took a collaborative, customer-centric approach towards the projects, using its proprietary data and researching methods to understand its client’s customer behaviours and then developing new websites with a focus on richer visuals, interactivity and content.

For more information, please see our Canadian Opera Company and Manulife Financial case studies.

User Experience: Just Because it’s Pretty Doesn’t Mean it Works

We talk a lot about creating digital customer experiences here at Delvinia. It’s what we do. Understanding the customer is the first step in any project. And, once we’ve collected those insights, we have to apply that knowledge through the design process.

That’s Andrea Reck’s job. She’s our Senior User Experience Lead. I recently sat down with her to chat about what that means and what she views as essential elements in user experience design. Here’s what she had to say.

“It’s like a puzzle,”  Andrea says. “I take all of the pieces and organize them on the page where it makes sense. I always try to take a step back as if I was going to the site for the first time. I ask myself; why am I here, what do I want to do and how do I want to get there?”

Is your website working for you?

Although Andrea says there is no cookie cutter approach to user experience design, she follows certain principles in her work. Here are a few:

The process needs to be intuitive. You have to design a site so it takes the thinking out of it and empowers the user to let them know they’re on the right path.

When it comes to the home page, I’m a minimalist. Don’t put everything and the kitchen sink on there. The home page is a gateway that should lead users to relevant areas of the site.

The site navigation is very important. Depending how deep the site is, I look for breadcrumbs; it’s just one more way to make the user’s life easier. You don’t want a user to rely on the back button. If that’s the only way for a user to recover, that’s wrong. Give them multiple options. Know where you are, where you came from and how to get back there.

Don’t put your user in a dead end. Always give them a place to go. If they scroll down, give them a way to get back to the top of the page. Give them a call to action. Keep them moving.

Keep it simple

Don’t overwhelm your users. Too much animation and interaction can be overwhelming.

Make sure each page has its purpose and its place.

Users scan. They don’t read. Avoid large blocks of text. Use bullet points. Make the information easy to digest.

Anything important shouldn’t be more than a few clicks away. For example, a user shouldn’t have to go five pages deep to make a transaction. If it’s important, either keep it global (on every page) or have a minimum amount of clicks.

As much as each page is its own beast, consistency matters. Within a few clicks users should get a sense and feel of how the site works.

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