Westfield Labs
Professional, Summer 2015
Note: Some images have been blurred to preserve confidentiality.
Introduction: The way we think about shopping is changing. As the physical and digital landscapes of retail converge, people are visiting the mall with evolved needs and different attitudes towards the mall experience. How can Westfield begin to the think of the mall as part of a larger ecosystem of leisure spaces that people choose to visit? How do shoppers’ new mental models relate to how and why they visit the mall, their needs during different types of trips, and how they stay engaged with the space of the mall?
Research Question: What is the new, omnichannel visitor/shopper journey? What are the different engagement touchpoints between different stages of this journey, and what new products can fill existing gaps in consumer needs?
The Role: I worked individually to design and execute this research project, advised by and sharing my work with designers, product managers, engineers, and the CEO of Westfield Labs.
Methods of Discovery: 4 site visits to Westfield properties (observations and intercepts), 16 in-depth interviews, card-sorting, sociogramming.
Impact: Generated a set of 15 shopping "modes" that capture the oscillating physical-digital consumer journey more holistically than "persona" archetypes. Identified mode-specific opportunities for product development that addressed/filled gaps in existing and future consumer needs, goals, and motivations. This framework is being used to inform multiple streams of product development.