I’m influencing the customer experience, and that’s the best feeling.
I’m Vicky Coughlan, Experience Design Researcher. While my job title hasn’t changed in over four years, the scope and scale of projects has really increased. There are so many things to think about, and trying to find the best experience for our customers within the constraints of a large organisation is a great feeling. I’m influencing things, which I love.
My day begins when my twin girls wake me! After I’ve done the school drop-off, I can ease into a day of working from home with a cup of tea in peace.
During the day I’m often in meetings with team members and other stakeholders, but there are meeting-free days too, which allows focus time. Apart from that, there’s no typical day because it depends what you’re working on at the time.
Research will come in waves. Some weeks I’ll be interviewing customers remotely, before analysing the data and making recommendations. I really enjoy it because it’s my chance to ‘geek out’ over customers and their shopping habits.
I also like going into stores to speak to our customers. Sometimes they even come up to us when we’re wearing our research t-shirts. Last year I was out in store asking people about how they use our checkouts. It’s so interesting to collect customer stories and make sure their voice is heard when we’re making changes to the experiences — some might be happy, some less so, but they’re all important.
I got the chance to be involved in the launch of the new Pick&Go store in Holborn, which uses cameras to detect what you pick up in store. I had to sign an NDA, and doing research under such strict constraints was a challenge. We ended up mocking up a fake store in the basement of our Holborn offices that allowed us to test the flow of the customer journey, including signage and mobile prototypes. It showed us what we needed to change before launch and what to flag as a risk to stakeholders. It was super exciting — stressful in a satisfying way!
One thing that has really helped my work life balance is not having to commute into London every day.
Sainsbury’s also really understand, and are are supportive of the fact that I have children. There’s a lot more flexibility involved in working from home.
This week I’ve been invited to an assembly at school at late notice. Luckily with our new ‘Smart Working’, I can manage my day to allow me to attend, whilst still getting work done. I also use this flexible working to get in visits to the gym during the day (when it’s not so busy!) and that’s been great for my physical and mental health!
