Case and problem:
FrontSale.One is a start-up trying to disrupt outlets by creating a digital outlet. In order to have proof of concept, the company decided to only be active on Instagram in the beginning. FrontSale.One is the middle-man between small and medium size clothing stores and buyers, trying to sell discounted clothes that haven’t been sold during the season. As of right now, the concept is that companies send FrontSale.one photos of the clothes, size, price and whether they can be returned. FrontSale then publishes the photos with all information on the Instagram page and visitors of the page who wish to purchase the clothes have to write “JA TAK” (Yes, thank you) under the image of the clothes they are interested in. Then they receive a personal message from FrontSale.one with details.
The problem is that, as FrontSale is growing, Instagram is not a scalable way of sustaining the business. Therefore, we will work on creating a concept that would allow FrontSale.one to grow without being constrained by Instagram’s rules and limitations, now that it served its purpose as proof of concept.
Members of the team:
- Virginie Daisy Stockel (Experience Design)
- Peter Njenga Githii (Entrepreneurial Engineering)
- Pietro Soli (Entrepreneurial Engineering)
- Line Froulund (Interactive Digital Media)
- Andreea-Bianca Buza (Interactive Digital Media)
Concept video
The concept video shows our work during the 2 weeks workshop. It presents the early stages of concept development, when we were brainstorming research methods and eventually, interview questions. The next phase presented in the video is the sand-box method, which we used to generate ideas for the concept. Lastly, the video presents our negotiations with the case-partner and our final concept, consisting of 3 different parts.
The Design Process
Week 1
The first week started with an introduction to the 2-weeks workshop and meeting the team that we were to work with during the project.
A first meeting with our case partner, FrontSale.one, has started our work processes. During the meeting we received valuable insights into the thinking behind the company’s concept and needs. As the target group information we received was not very specific, we decided to research the company’s instagram insights, in order to get accurate demographic information about the customers and potential customers. We then interviewed store owners and potential customers in order to understand why there is a need for this company from the store owners’ perspective and what are the customers’ needs and buying habits/ behavior. After analyzing the data from our interviews and desktop research, we brainstormed and came up with 5 innovation tracks.
Week 2
The 2nd week started with a meeting with our case-partner, Sofie, where we presented the 5 innovation tracks and negotiated which ones to move forward with and which ones should be left behind.
- 1st innovation track: providing photography services to the shop owners – as we found during the interviews that this would be a valuable feature
- 2nd innovation track: providing delivery services on behalf of shop owners
- 3rd innovation track: pre-selecting stores based on brand value
- 4th innovation track: improve the Instagram page to increase engagement
- 5th innovation track: convert Instagram to information hub for new product offer
After the negotiation session we have decided to move forward with 2 innovation tracks, which will later define our concept: improving Instagram to increase engagement and providing photography services to the shop owners.
Sketches of the concept
The first video shows our work process. We have started by brainstorming research methods and later, interview questions. After having completed the research, we used the sandbox method in order to generate ideas for our future concept. .
The second video describes the 1st innovation track, showing Sofie (owner of FrontSale.one) taking photos herself at the stores, instead of having store owners sending her photos.
The third video describes the 4th innovation track, showing an increase of engagement through improvement of content on Instagram. We have decided to add story-telling methods to the content, so that users would be engaged into learning more about the brands FrontSale collaborates with, and the products FrontSale offers.
The last video builds up on the 4th innovation track, this time with the idea of creating an event in one of FrontSale’s partner stores, in order to raise awareness about FrontSale.One, therefore potentially gain new followers and customers. Wine and cake will be served and discounts will be available in order to attract people to the event. In order to gain some earned media, there will be an Instagram cardboard, where guests will be able to take “fun” pictures and post them on their social media pages and tag FrontSale.one.