North Side Food Pantry: Kudos First Impression (Service Prototypes & Experiment)

To experiment with our initial service and touchpoint ideas, we went back to the food pantry to get some feedback from our target audience. We were able to talk with four alternative caregivers who all have grandchildren or nieces/nephews with asthma.

Our main questions going into this service experiment were:

1. How do people react to the idea of a medical resident visiting the food pantry on a monthly or quarterly basis?
2. What do people think about the form of asthma and trigger-related questions? Is it easy to go through and touch on key information?
3. How do people react to our magazine prototype (“Kudos”)? Do they think it would appropriate for their grandchildren?
4. What would be the best communication channel to reach alternative caregivers in our target audience?

The first person we talked with was Darlene, who had a grandchild with asthma. Darlene liked the idea of a medical resident coming into the food pantry on a monthly or quarterly basis in order to provide information about asthma. We learned that Darlene would prefer to go through the form about basic asthma and trigger-related questions with the medical resident, and have the medical resident fill out the form themselves. Darlene also liked the idea of being able to take home a magazine to work on with her grandchild. She thought the exercises were appropriate and would be appealing to her grandchild. The best communication channel to reach her would be to call her.

The second person we talked to was Elloria. Elloria had nieces and nephews with asthma. Elloria liked the idea of having access to a medical resident through visits to the food pantry, but she mentioned that her children didn’t live nearby and wouldn’t be able to easily come into the food pantry themselves if they wanted information about their child’s asthma.

Elloria, like Darlene, also preferred to provide answers to the form questions and have the resident fill it out themselves. We also found that it would be useful to be able to have a notes section to put in additional information about other allergies not asked about on the form, for instance. We also realized that some of the questions were too specific to be useful, such as our question about exposure to chalk dust at home. Elloria liked the idea of the magazine and thought the exercises would be fun for her nieces and nephews. Like Darlene, Elloria preferred to be contacted via phone.

Our third interview was with Mary. Mary has a grandson with asthma, and asthma runs in the family. Overall, Mary liked the idea of having a medical resident visit the food pantry. Like Darlene and Elloria, Mary would prefer for the resident to fill out the form while asking the questions. Mary also liked the idea of being able to go through the magazine with her grandson. Mary generally knew her grandson’s asthma triggers, but liked the idea of being able to ask the medical resident questions and have some tools to help her grandson manage his asthma independently. Mary, like Darlene and Elloria, preferred to be contacted via phone.

Andrea is the fourth person we interviewed. Andrea liked the idea of a medical resident coming to the food pantry on a monthly or quarterly basis, but preferred to fill out the form herself. She mentioned she might prefer to fill out the form while waiting for her number to be called at the food pantry in order to save some time when talking with the resident. Andrea liked the magazine and thought it was something her grandchildren would like to go through. She thought the exercises were appropriate and appealing.

Conclusions and Next Steps

Overall, we learned that the idea of having a medical resident come to the food pantry was one that people reacted positively to. In terms of the form, we learned that we should include a notes section, provide an option to fill out the form while waiting, and delete or edit questions that are too specific to be widely applicable. We also learned that people reacted positively to the idea of being able to take home a magazine that their grandchildren could work through. Some people even wanted to take home our prototype. Everyone preferred to be contacted via phone.

Given these insights, our next steps are:

1. Develop the magazine in higher fidelity
2. Revise the form according to our findings
3. Finalize our service blueprint and scenarios to reflect lessons learnt