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Discovery Service Design
Discovery is solution that takes the form of a rental kit and physical space to allow children to discover, explore, and engage in a comfortable and effective way.
Client
N Stuff Music
Project Deliverable
Service Proposition Poster Design
3D Prototype
Demo Video
Timeline
Spring 2022 (7 weeks)
Tools Used
Figma, Cinema 4D, Adobe Premiere Pro
Overview
My Role
I was responsible for user research, prototyping, poster design, and video editing. I created a 3D rendering of a discovery space using Cinema 4D, used Figma for poster design, and Adobe Premiere for video editing. Everyone participated throughout the overall ideation, research, and user interview process.
Design Process
N stuff Music
N Stuff Music is a music store in Pittsburgh, PA. It has provided musicians, DJs, and producers with the musical instruments and musical equipment they need to write, record, and perform their music.
Research
Research
Industry Research Insights
Resources: D&B company
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Music Landscape
Pittsburgh is not a music-friendly environment. Small music vendors can help musicians to grow
Business Trend
Music lessons, repairs, and tuning service offerings can help smaller stores attract loyal customers and differentiate themselves from larger full-line stores.
Customer Analysis
Typical musical instrument customers are professional musicians or parents buying an instrument or accessories for a young child or teenager.
Industry Opportunities: New Audiences
Industry association programs are reaching out to new demographic audiences to break out of the "youth business."
Site Visit Insights
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A lot of the new spaces don’t seem easily discoverable to a casual or first-time shopper.
we were surprised multiple times to discover new sections. It detracts from discovery by such customers but adds to the cozy, quirky feel of the shopping environment
Kids spend so much time waiting
Kids are waiting in the car outside when their parents shop inside; waiting in the waiting room at Little Lesson House, while their parents decide what they need to learn.
N Stuff Music benefits from a network effect
having sustained and friendly relations with the customers gives N Stuff Music a vast pool of potential employees
Interview with N Stuff Music
Justin Sarra
Co-founder of N Stuff Music
Children found other activities more interesting than playing instruments.
Matt Piermani
Drum Department
Most parents don’t bring kids. Parents tend to decide an instrument and kids decide what color they want.
Jim Graff
Little Lesson House Administrator
95% of our students enroll in our program with an instrument already pre-selected. The only instance where I offer guidance is when I am speaking with a parent about what instrument to select for their child.
Consolidating Learnings
Affinity Diagram
Challenge
Pain Points
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The physical store space is not kid friendly. Difficult for kids to walk around the space
Currently, N Stuff Music doesn’t have a practice room for kid who take lessons. For them to practice, they need to purchase instruments and bring back home.
Kids might easily lose interest because they simply don't know which instrument they want to play
Problem
Problem Statement
Young children are interested in musical instruments,
but are not considered in decision making
Many children show an interest in learning music but don’t get the chance to choose which instrument they want to pursue. Prospective students need a space to explore, enjoy, and commit to an instrument of their choice. If students are given ownership over which instrument they pursue from the beginning of their experience, they are less likely to lose interest after they begin lessons.
How Might We Statement
How might we make kids to be more interested in learning music?
Autonomy in the music learning process and early exposure to musical instruments are key to ensuring sustained interest and engagement in children’s musical learning. Providing a kid-friendly space where children can explore, engage, and get inspired will help capture and retain their interest in music.
Assumptions
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Giving students the opportunity to have ownership over their learning, increases engagement
Motivation and enjoyment are two big factors that lead to lower attrition rates in music education
‘Little wins’ leads to a sense of accomplishment and motivation to move ahead
Playing familiar music provides enjoyment and leads to engagement
Service Ideation
‘Discovery’ rooms with starter kits
Create a "discovery room" where kids can experiment with different instruments and find resources they need to sign up. This would help kids learn about different instrument options, onboard them to rent instruments and start lessons for an instrument that interests them.
Ownership
Little Wins
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Familiarity
=
Higher sustained
engagement and enjoyment
Persona
"
Aspiration
I don’t know if I would enjoy playing instruments, but I want to have fun and explore with friends.
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Design Needs
kid friendly and safe environment
Place to naturally be exposed to music
Katy
9 years old
Visual learner
No prior music experience
Parents' Goals
Teach her an instrument
Help Katy be more social
Visual Prototype
Discovery Room Prototype
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Plentiful seating and soft flooring
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Self-trial using a tablet
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The band set up to explore with friends
Visual Prototype
User Testing
Insight 01
Adult customers who are parents don’t find it easy bringing kids to the store; this impacts their time spent in-store shopping.
Their shopping schedule is dependent on being able to leave the kids at home safely. They may choose to do more things online than coming to the store
Impact
So far, we’ve looked at the discovery room as a tool for kids to discover what they enjoy, and spend quality time playing instruments. There are specific components of the service (the tablets, the simplified guides) that are set up with this in mind. We’ll need to reimagine certain aspects of the service to appeal to parents, who would want their kids to be entertained in this space, and not necessarily use it to ‘choose’ an instrument.
Insight 02
Only 4-5% stick with a new instrument they purchased, because they lack information on what to do before purchase.
We learned from the client that having a discovery room can help people to try out various instruments before they find one instrument to move forward with.
Impact
The qualitative data reiterated the problem statement we presented. We have to present strong options (game, activities, group lessons) that will help kids to try instruments comfortably before choosing.
Insight 03
Space Constraints
Our solution requires a dedicated physical space. Justin mentioned that space is limited so one of the challenges will be to find the space to set up the ‘Discovery’ room.
Next Step
Because we learned that our client has limited resources and space can be a challenge, we will explore existing spaces instead of proposing building out a new room for our solution.
There are different aspects of the store, like the Cafe or even the Little Learning House that could be modified to accommodate children’s needs better. We will reconsider how the chosen space will impact our value proposition.
We will consider creating mobile/in home trial kits to address the space constraints that exist in the store.
Visual Prototype
Discovery Starter Kit
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Curated kits with an assortment of musical instruments that are kid-friendly in size, material, fragility, and complexity
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Colors and themes appropriate and appealing for kids
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Pictorial instruction sheets and video links to try out simple, popular music
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Available for rent for a limited duration
Conceptual Models
Value Exchange
Service Design
Value of the discovery room for N Stuff Music
Service Blueprint
Documentation
Demo Video
Reflection
Takeaways
Takeaways
01
Understanding limitation
It’s important to note limitations in resources. For us, we had to pivot around the discovery room idea and focus more on the mobility aspect of the starter kit because it was challenging to find a suitable location.
02
Managing multiple projects by setting priorities.
I set up priorities based on the project timeline, user priorities, and business needs. Setting up priorities and sharing them during meetings also helped me be more flexible.
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Share hip pocket ideas and design drafts
One of the good strategy we took was sharing low-priority ideas with high-priority ideas. It was great to lean why some of the ideas were not working. It was a way to look at the project from multiple perspectives.
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