Laura works as a Textile Designer for high end retailers. We have adapted her story to communicate the workshop experience.
I was interested in coming to the workshop to find out more about Meaningmakers' approach to design, and to see how this fits within my industry.
The workshop took place on Thursday 22nd February, from 2-6pm at the Innovation Centre, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design. On entering the space, we were greeted by one of the Meaningmakers team, and were given a notebook and a name badge. I opened the notebook and was touched to read "Laura, welcome to our workshop."
I grabbed a coffee and waited for the workshop to start.
Soon a crowd of about 20 people had gathered, people were setting up film cameras, and we were all asked to sit down infront of a projection screen.
Caf Fean and Paula Delgado opened the workshop, explaining a bit about themselves, the course, and what their expectations were for the day:
"We are developing a new design methodology that will borrow from performance, scenario building and Narrative Environments to develop new retail experiences. By focusing on character-driven design, behaviours and Drivers of Change (Arup, 2006) we believe we can understand better the consumer and then develop captivating experiences in retail environments."
The three outcomes of this workshop for Meaningmakers are:
1- Develop interesting retail solutions
2- Gather feedback
3- FUN!!!
We were then asked what our expectations were. I said I was interested in seeing how their methodology could inform retail design.
They then introduced Ruth Briones, who ran us through the programme of the day.
We each had a copy of this in our notebooks.
Act I (1hour)GET TO KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER
We will split into four groups and get to know the customer.
Objective: get to know your customer and the world s/he are living in. So you can afterwards design a retail experience for him/her.
After this exercise your new friend will go off stage.
First Interval (15 minutes)
Act II (1 hour)
DESIGN A NEW RETAIL EXPERIENCE
Based upon the customer profile developed in the last act, design a new retail experience for them.
Second Interval (15 minutes)
Act III (40 minutes)
SHOP:PLAY
We will watch the customers reacting to the retail experiences designed. Comment and even improve them ‘on the spot’.
– The End -
EPILOGUE
Feedback moment: your thoughts, what met or exceeded your expectations.
They then spoke about the time we were to think about when framing our design: the year 2027. As designers we're always thinking about designing for the future, but I could understand why they included this aspect, to open people's minds. Not everyone there was a desginer, I noticed, from a quick glance around the room.
So, 2027, and an "Imagined Harvey Nichols" we were to think of the Brand Narrative.
We were also to consider scenario building as a design methodology: they introduced ARUP's Drivers of Change cards, which look at key trends which will affect the way we live in the years to come: possible realities.
Then we were introduced to the customers: I hadn't noticed before, but our 'customers' were sat with us in the audience. They stood up one after the other and introduced themselves. From my notes:
Ada- Ambassador's wife, Malta
Sandra - Works in city, high pressured job, a bit surly
Andi - City boy
Jim - Stable boy, Wimbledon Village
Then we were introduced to our facilitators for the day: one by one the groups split to join their facilitators. I was in the yellow team with Susanne (facilitator), and Ada.
Act I
GET TO KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER
We introduced ourselves: my group had a mix of professional designers and non-professionals. Everyone had some interest in the retail or performance aspect of the exercise, or both.
We then received a letter from Meaningmakers:
First letter from Meaningmakers
(containing Drivers of Change and Briefing)
Thursday, 22nd February, 2007
Your mission:
Get to know Ada and build the world she is living in. In this game you, collectively, are The Matrix and Ada is Neo. By the end you will know Ada’s needs, desires and frustrations. This knowledge will take you to the next stage, where you will design a retail experience for her.
To help you understand this world you shall consider these key factors, which influence her world (Drivers of Change). These will act as catalysts to guide you through the game play.
RULES OF THE GAME
You can ask Ada different questions, about needs, desires, frustrations:
e.g. Do you like ice cream?
What’s your favourite season of the year?
Do you have a close relationship with your mother and father?
You can also provide her with a situation/ scenario:
e.g. Let’s consider that London is flooded because of Global Warming: What do you feel about that?
The questions should explore Ada's feelings: you are the scenario builder – not Ada.
Keep the narrative thread: if your team has found that Ada has a boyfriend, you cannot undo that part of Ada's life.
You have one hour to complete this task.
Trust your team and push your ideas.
Good luck.
Susanne then invited Ada to join the group.
We interviewed her, asking all sorts of questions. She remained in character throughout. I could hear laughter from another team, interviewing Andi. After an hour or so, she went away and we moved on to discussing what her needs and desires were.
Act II
DESIGN A NEW RETAIL EXPERIENCE
After a break we reconvened, and received another letter:
Second Letter from Meaningmakers
Welcome back team Yellow.
Congratulations on your good work in the first session. We have been watching your progress and are excited about this next stage.
Your second task: to design a new retail experience for Ada that will then be shown to everyone in the third act. Bear in mind that this takes place in his world. The experience is provided by Harvey Nichols.
You have one hour to complete this task.
Best of luck.
Meaningmakers
We discussed what
Act III
SHOP:PLAY
The Actor will react to the experience that the group designed.
5 minutes - play
Everyone watches the customers reacting to your designed retail experiences.
Facilitator: You can narrate the experience to the actor or you (and your group) can act the experience with the actor (improvisation).
5 minutes – feedback from audience
-END-
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
EPILOGUE
(Speakers: Caf and Paula)
Meaningmakers refer back to the flipchart of expectations
Feedback moment: your thoughts, what met or exceeded your expectations.
THANK YOU!!!!
----------------THE END----------------------------------
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