PENN MAC Service Innovation
In 1902, the Sunseri Brothers formed the pasta manufactory now known as the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (Penn Mac).
In the late 1940's, the family business pivoted to a retail business and soon became the country's premier Italian specialty food operation.
In fall 2021, Penn Mac started collaborating with Carnegie Mellon. I was part of the project to innovate a new service for the grocery store in the Strip District of Pittsburgh.
The OVERVIEW
Problem
I worked on a 4-week service innovation challenge with our client Penn Mac, an Italian specialty food operation, in October 2021.
Process
I practiced surveying, contextual inquiry, and guerilla user research to target customers’ needs and clients’ interests.
Role
I was the lead researcher and service designer of a four-student team. I portrayed personas, prototyped ideas, and produced a concept video.
Impact
We brought together a desirable and ready-to-implement solution that our client felt confident to execute.
our Project Timeline
The challenge
Service Innovation at A Hundred-Year-Old Store
In our first contact, the client made their two objectives for the new service clear:
The service should help strengthen long-term relationships with existing customers.
The service could attract new customer segments without affecting existing customers' experience.
Throughout the design process, we dealt with two main challenges:
Co-design with clients new to design
Our clients are undoubtedly experts in cheese selection and retail management. However, they were new to design practices. I worked as the bridge person and translated service design concepts into client-friendly language.
Limited time, budget & contact
Before delivering a desirable, viable, and feasible idea, we had zero budget and two chances of direct conversation with our clients. We managed to get the direction right early and make incremental changes to perfect the proposed solution.
the underlying challenge
How might we collaboratively innovate new services with a hundred-year-old Italian specialty grocery store?
The innovation
Introducing
DIY Giftbox Service
We came up with the DIY Giftbox Service, which will make customers feel more engaged while shopping at Penn Mac. I made the concept video below to demonstrate how it works.
our design process in a nutshell
Sketch credit to Demetri Martin
THE situation
Innovative but old-fashioned client
Our clients run a historic brick-and-mortar store that provides unique grocery shopping experiences with minimum modern elements. In addition, Penn Mac employees also feel more comfortable working with pen and paper even though the company can afford new technologies.
Employees feel more comfortable working with pen & paper even though the company can afford new technologies.
Exploit over explore
Our clients prefer to exploit things they are already good at. Hence, the service we introduce should align with our client's excellence.
Penn Mac’s excellence: build trust and personal connections with customers in the physical shop.
Penn Mac's excellence compared to its competitors'
THE APPROACH
Explore, Generate, Evaluate
We adopted the integrated service design framework proposed by Hugh Dubberly and Shelley Evenson.
Integrated Service Design Process by Hugh Dubberly and Shelley Evenson
We explored, generated, and evaluated diverse ideas during the fluid and iterative design process.
my design strategy
Seek the low hanging fruits
I pursued the opportunities to design desirable yet easy-to-implement new services by leveraging and repurposing existing resources.
Make abstract value concrete
I introduced short actings to pitches that helped clients empathize with their customers and recognize the value proposition behind our ideas.
Explain concepts with models
Instead of telling clients what to do all the time, I created easy-to-interpret visual models to convey our ideas and elicit clients' feedbacks.
The Explore
Surface opportunity through research
I led the field study on our clients and their customers to understand the context and discover specific, actionable insights grounded in research discovery.
Our client runs a profitable business despite being old-schooled and relying on pen and paper.
To our surprise, the customer's mental model about Penn Mac suggests it is a place of attraction rather than a typical grocery shop.
Customers purchase specialty goods for friends and families as if the goods are souvenirs.
how i explored the current state
Becoming an insider
I conducted contextual inquiries and on-site directed storytelling with Penn Mac employees. As I visited every corner of the store, including its storage and parking lots, I unveiled backstage activities.
Storage at Penn Mac
No Budget, No Problem
I held inviting signage around the shop to recruit passengers and collect high-level insights. I offered tiny favors such as taking pictures in front of Penn Mac's iconic red door to earn opportunities for a quick chat with the passengers.
Me with inviting signage at Penn Mac
Research at home
My Research never stopped. I conducted desktop research and collected 163 survey responses. I made phone calls to staff members at all nearby residences to build the persona representing the population living within 1 mile away from Penn Mac.
My desktop research on residence near Penn Mac
"When I go to Penn Mac, it is for the experience & selection. I like the strip & Penn Mac variety, but it isn't an everyday trip."
A quote from one of the survey responses
THE GENERATE
Visualize findings with a service blueprint
To capture understandings about the business's current state and detect potentials for a preferred one, I led the development of a service blueprint informed by research findings.
Our Service Blueprint
The service blueprint let me effectively communicate and collaboratively design with teammates, advisors, and clients.
how we generated new ideas
Zooming In
We rapidly ideated ideas by focusing on individual stages across the service blueprint.
The entrance
One of the early-stage ideas we generated is placing items on sale at the entrance. We discarded this idea as it failed to strengthen Penn Mac's excellence in building long-term relationships with customers.
The exit
Another early-stage idea is about using the parking lot for grocery pick-up. We abandoned it as it creates too much burden to the employees who are already multi-tasking in the store.
Zooming Out
After agreeing on the DIY Giftbox service, we zoomed out to a holistic view and reduced friction points throughout the customer's journey.
The exit
For example, we added the poster hanging on Penn Mac's iconic glass wall as an additional touchpoint to signal and educate customers about the service.
THE EVALUATe
Discovery about today's business
We detected that the following three existing resources are the backbone of Penn Mac's business today:
The variety and authenticity of products.
The approachable employees.
The loyal customers.
Model of the current state
In the brick-and-mortar store, these three resources determine how much value is co-created for Penn Mac.
Vision for tomorrow's business
Services are co-produced by people. We believe introducing the DIY Giftbox service would facilitate value co-creation by bringing all resources together with activity.
Model of the preferred state
Co-create value inside and outside the store
The gift preparation theme incentives customers to spend more and pick personalized items inside the store. Outside the store, gift boxes get passed from customers to recipients and help introduce the store to a broader population.
Repurpose existing resource
The service comes with minimum cost as all resources are already there at the store. Besides, since customers will drive the DIY process, no additional labor from the employee is needed to provide this service.
Make care towards customers transparent
The service introduces tangible and visible peripheral evidence (e.g., flyers and giftbox) that the customers can possess. These artifacts make Penn Mac's effort in creating customer-centered service more transparent.
A carrier of goods and cares
In the end, the gift box will function as more than a container of groceries. It will also be a carrier of love, care, and message that the box giver sends out to the recipient.
The DIY Giftbox service would lead to the most significant return at minimum investment.
future Impact of the DIY Giftbox service
On the one hand, the DIY giftbox service will motivate nearby customers with easy access to visit and shop at Penn Mac.
On the other hand, the DIY giftbox service will make Penn Mac’s service more accessible to customers further away.
The Reflection
Don't bury the Lede
Getting a lot of training on design and research, I value details and appreciate insights. However, my clients might be interested in something totally different, such as funding mechanisms and ROI. Through co-designing with Penn Mac, I learned to empathize with my audience and pick up the most critical messages from their perspective during conversations. One trick I practiced frequently was to imagine what my audience would tell back to their audience after chatting with me.
Play music with audience
Pitching is like playing music in a band formed by designers and clients. As a designer, I am responsible for playing my part well by making my idea understandable. But, to my surprise, it is equally important to signal my partners when it's their time to shine. I achieve the latter by asking why. This simple magic word keeps the conversation going and surfaces clients' underlying needs.
Look for the trim tab
Design teams can't always afford pivots. I ran into this challenge after investing considerable effort in an idea while running short on time. So instead of looking for dramatic pivots, I learned to look for the "trim tab" — minor incremental adjustments that could lead to significant impacts.
Design teams can't always afford pivots. I learned to look for minor incremental adjustments that could lead to significant impacts.