Rethinking grocery shopping experience

Rethinking Grocery Shopping Experience Fall 2016 INT 621 Prof. John Takamura Rutuja Chittekar

Japan field research

Japan field research • Public spaces • Retail and shopping environments • City’s culture

Rethinking the Grocery Shopping Experience Conceptual Framework Features/ Benefits Anaylisis

Features

Functions

Benefits

Ultimate Benefits

Easy access to all items

Reduces physical efforts

Resting element

Provides relaxing Gives comfortability moment during the hassle

Texture and color

A mean of wayfinding

Smoothes mobility Enhances reliability

Form and space

Organisation of elements and wayfinding

Provides accessibility throughout

Provides flexibility, interactivity

Lighting

To create positive ambiance

Enhances experience

Maintains emotional wellbeing

Mobile app

A tool for additional Assuring through Creates a trust the digital feedback between customer assistance and the store

Ergonomic shelves

Seating Furniture

Creates a sense of security

Context Shopping is one of the intensive visual activity that requires all the sensory factors of the user where they prefer less dependency. Grocery shopping is a part of daily routine like cooking, bathing, cleaning etc. Even in this online era there are 80% of people who still prefer bricks and mortar shopping because people need to hand pick or physically touch the items that they are going to eat. Research says that although people go to the same grocery store every week yet struggle in finding certain items, moving through the store and long lines at the checkout. People are looking for meaningful experiences at these social and public spaces.

Challenge Taking a blind person’s perspective gives a critical approach to design. The most difficult challenge is the struggle to be able to do everything in a normal day on your own without any assistance from a sighted person. For visually challenged, difficulties in navigating through the store, finding the right item, looking at other options and purchasing products is a daunting and exhaustive experience. The three components that play an important role in designing of a store are way finding, furniture and materiality. (see diagram) Solution

To challenge the current grocery shopping experience, this project proposes a design that provides safety, accessibility and ease of mobility to reduce the physical effort to give a comfortable, reliable and stress-free ambiance within the store for all users.

Blindfold experiment at Trader Joe’s store

For the universal design project on redefining the grocery shopping experience, I began my research at Trader Joe’s in Tempe where my friend Shalki assisted me by shopping a list of daily items by being blindfolded.

I chose a person who is not a design student to get a accurate and true experience.

According to Shalki it was a humbling and overwhelming experience. Our list consisted of regular products like fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, can of soup, pasta, cheese, chips. It was Saturday morning when it was moderate traffic of families and working people.

It was Shalki’s first time to visit this store, so she was entirely new to the environment and being blindfolded she really struggled to finish her shopping list which gave me a true documenation of observations.

Blindfold experiment at Trader Joe’s store

Story Board - Problem

Story Board - Solution

Inspirations - conceptual

Form studies • Exploration of forms • Circulation patterns • Visibility

Activity Diagram

Markets around the world

Morocco

Thailand

Turkey

Netherlands

Branding conecpts

Avant-garde I Reliable Our mission is to bring traditional marketplace and technology to create a new identity to the grocery store for tomorrow.

Stroll to Shop

Break the old grid

C M Y K: 3 52 47 0

C M Y K: 45 33 100 9

C M Y K: 66 82 45 41

C M Y K: 6 15 100 0

C M Y K: 25 84 91 18

Store Design

Stroll to Shop

Layout

Stroll to Shop