Creating a digital service experience — a UX case study
Case Study for a Sustainable Outdoors Brand from Germany.
Hello dear visitor,
you’ve heard about that outdoors brand, focusing entirely on sustainable culture, haven’t you? That’s a company called Vaude. And yes, they are thinking very holistically about the entire production cycle, fair working conditions and corporate responsibility. That philosophy helped Vaude to create a very unique positioning in the outdoors market.
Ok, you think thats really cool and you’re eager to visit their website and find more about their products.
Thats why we’re here: Together we want to explore a new digital concept. Building that concept in just 5 days, we’re only scratching the tip of the iceberg, without going too much into details. Rather we can walk through some new ideas and see how you like them. Sounds good? Let’s do this.
A little note before we get started: Everything written here is based on our own views. We’re not involved with Vaude and our views might not represent theirs. The copyright for all imagery belongs to Vaude.
01: Setting a new course:
During that design sprint we focused on 4 specific topics, which we believe to provide competitive advantage for Vaude:
- How might we personalise the Brand Experience?
- How might we create a Service Experience?
- How might we highlight the Sustainability Focus?
- How might we apply thee principles across the entire Customer Journey?
We want apply personalisation holistically throughout the entire customer journey. In a super competitive market, that holistic strategy has the potential to set Vaude apart from other players. An omni-channel strategy is already applied by many companies, but “only a minority are approaching it from the ground up technologically, and even fewer demonstrate a holistic, experience-first mindset.” (The Future of Ecommerce study by Shopify).
“Competitive advantage will not be in the bits and pieces, but in delivering experiences of value across the customer journey.”
- PHIL GRANOF, THE FUTURE OF ECOMMERCE
Nike has been investing in the digital journey for years now: “We see great potential ahead to link future products with services and experiences in seamless ways.” Adidas believes in personalisation to boost digital sales up to $4 Billion by 2020, acquiring Runtastic as part of their Service Experience strategy.
Adidas believes to serve customers better by providing personalised content, such as tips, ideas and personal product recommendations. How might that service experience look and feel like, created exclusively for the outdoors market?
02: Let’s start: What are you looking for?
You open the new homepage which doesn’t show you any products. Instead, we want to know “What are you interested in?”. We want to understand what you need before recommending any products. And if you have a specific need, you can chat instantly with one of our experts — who might be powered by super-smart AI (you’ll not even notice chatting to a robot).
03: Create your own Product Experience
Ok, let’s find out what exactly are you looking for. How long do you plan to go hiking? Do you need just shoes or the entire equipment? If you’re not sure, let us show you what we have to offer.
You’ve heard that Vaude already has a very cool online experience, where you can imagine yourself wearing a product during your next adventure. What if we expand that concept even broader?
You found something you like? Great, let’s touch and turn it 360 to see it from all angles. Who said that products need to be faceless? Instead you see real people wearing those products, so you can image how it looks on you.
Did you know that each product has been crafted with details for months to create the best materials? Yes, the designers behind that product were inspired by natural materials and each product has its own story.
And would you like to know what that product is made of? We can show the details for each product we make. Why? Because we take pride for our craft and our love for details. This is what makes Vaude different from other brands.
04: What are my products made of?
Ok, so you like the product but you want to know how it was produced? You want to learn more about the sustainability aspects and see if thats aligned with your values.
Fair enough, we’re completely transparent about our supply chain and we want you to explore that. Let’s have a look where your product starts its journey and how it is shaped along the way:
06: Connecting the offline + online experience:
Your hiking shoes just arrived! And we have a little surprise for you: A personal invitation to join the next hiking adventure in your area, organised by our community. Just scan the QR code and find out more.
We know that you like hiking, so we have built our app to provide you with hiking tips and tricks. Explore new hikes and other trips, organised by our community. As a community member, you can join those trips for free or with a personal discount, which also applies to selected new products.
Where shall we go for our next adventure?
07: Showtime — User Testing.
Now you’ve seen what we’re talking about, let’s ask more people about their opinion. Can they relate to the things we’ve mentioned here? Does the new concept serve them better? We’ve asked 6 potential customers to provide us some feedback, by looking on the new concept:
“Sorting through many products is usually very tiring. This feels a lot more personal, like my personal assistant. I like that!” - Michael, 26
“The visual shopping experience is really cool. The adventure photos provide a lot more emotion and excitement to products. It’s quite different, compared to typical online shops.” - Anja, 37
“The product page feels a bit long for my taste, but I’d really like to know more about the materials behind my products. I do pay more and more attention to sustainable practices and it’s great to see such brands pushing forward.”
- Alexander, 41
“I really like the idea behind the app: Meeting new people and go on adventure together. I can also imagine hosting some trips and cash on rewards.” - Philipp, 31
“It would be interesting to see more product pages for backpacks and tents, since those are more complex. Here the virtual assistant can be very helpful.”
- Anja, 37“I love the Sustainability section, seeing how products are beeing made and what materials are used.” — Chris, 26
Now, what do you think? Let us know in the comments :)
This Case Study was created with my partner-in-crime and my wife Olga Reimgen and originally appeared on my website. You’re welcome to check it out there as well.
