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INTRODUCTION and SELF-AWARENESS IN MY OBSERVINGVenture Lab : A Crash Course in Creativity:Lesson 2 Richard Baron: Individual SubmissionTEAM 14348

Task????1.Go to at least 6 different stores. They can be at the same shopping center or different locations. Spend at least 15 minutes in each store making OBSERVATIONS using the lab guide for reference. Take photos to capture your observations.

2. Create a presentation that captures your INSIGHTS and HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES. What types of things had you missed before? What were your biggest surprises? Are there opportunities hidden in plain sight?

Use your photos to highlight your insights.

Your presentation can be in the form of slides or a short video.

Add the link to your presentation so that everyone can see it.

When I first looked at the assignment for Lesson 2 I figured that the emphasis was on observation about details when I looked around at various stores. A research observational viewpoint.

BUTWhat I observed especially, and more importantly, was that I looked at the personal dynamics within in as I observed. I noticed personality traits and difficulties I had while doing the observing. Lost opportunities were not always because of lack of observation but rather that I avoided observing or had no structure for seizing opportunities or did nothing beyond the observation. Caveats: Taking pictures was initially a problem for me because I am shy and because I worried about objections. However, it turned out that some stores didn’t say anything or even notice, some stores a manager or salesperson asked what I was doing, but none objected AS LONG as individual customers or salespeople could not be recognized.

•All stores had a NAME attached to it on the OUTSIDE of the store.•RED was a common color because it stood out against rather bland outside walls. •Fonts tended to be CURSIVE in nature.•Many of the stores presented their names with BOLD, LARGE letters.•I think many of the stores might have had to conform to their environment or complex they were part of. So, some limitations.•Most stores had ONE large name BUT WINCO also used signs to say they were employee-owned and open 24 hours.•Stores with OUTSIDE entrances tended to have LARGER signs than those inside the mall.

THE STORE NAME

THE ENTRANCE

•I went to 3 stores that had an outside entrance , 2 stores inside the mall and 1 group of stores that had an outside and an inside entrance.•The outside entrances were closed but had large areas so you could see inside OR had displays to see what was inside the store.•The inside entranced stores had no doors, were open, and you could see everything immediately. These were inside the mall and you could see everything inside immediately from outside unless the store was too large.

ENVIRONMENT-general

I thought that each store I visited was arranged mostly importantly by the function it served the public. For example the FOOD BOX STORE was like a warehouse, packaging in boxes for quick replacement. The FOOD COURT was open yet attractively arranged with the stores on the walls, floors that could be kept clean, tables and chairs in colors that were bright and colorful. The BOOK STORE had good lighting, carpeted floors except in the café, but fairly wide aisles arranged both randomly and in columns. The BATH and FRAGRANT STORE was crowded but used color to show their products.

Again, I think stores were arranged for function and that often provided the environment. For example, some stores were very tall, maybe 40 feet high such as in the “warehouse-like” grocery store or the tall store , telecommunications outlet. Both these had linoleum or tile floors and overhead lighting. Stores such as the Book Store were multifunctional, areas to sell products and browse and a separate area to dine while browsing (carpeted).The mall small stores were carpeted and ceiling lower.Walls in all the stores were generally light colored (beige, white, etc). Lighting varied but in general was overhead and evenly placed. One store used lighting to emphasize their products.

ENVIRONMENT- floors, etc

Different stores show their products in different ways.Stores shelved their products either on stacked shelves, or on featured sections either on tables or shelves.Most stores had lighting from above but one store used backdrops and individual lighting to emphasize SALES or specific products. Most stores were actually rather densely stacked but a couple stores were sparsely arranged or arranged along the walls. Most of the stores I visited had products grouped by type of product, by function. One store was strongly oriented towards color based organization.

ENVIRONMENT- arrangements

ENVIRONMENT- navigation

I looked at navigation in terms of the stores. How people were ROUTED by the layout of the store. In some stores the long aisles forced a two directional pattern. In other stores the store was laid out with much of the space open or sparsely located displays so people could travel around the displays. In some stores it seemed people could go in any direction they wanted.

SALESAL

E

SALE

Individual Products

Individua

l Item

Tags

Prices were often shown by SALE prices, or SPECIAL OFFERS on tables. Other prices were seen on menus above the store (restaurants). In FOOD STORES item tags showed pricing. In some stores each individual product was individually priced.

ENVIRONMENT- pricing

( I avoided taking pictures of people because of confidentiality. However I did make observations.)

My observations on people were varied but it seemed that some patterns could be found.1. Most sales people did NOT approach me, but were very helpful when I needed help. A lot depended on

the store.2. It was interesting the different ways the store engaged you. For example, one store had a customer

greeter who assigned you a “place” in line. Others watched but didn’t approach unless you showed interest in a product. A couple stores really offered no help unless you asked for it.

3. There were NO formal uniforms that I could see, but a bunch of stores had their employees wear aprons with some sort of lettering.

4. Some stores such as tech oriented, or a gender- oriented store such as Bath and Beauty had employee or customer representatives that matched the store. For example young men generally for tech or young women for the Bath and Beauty stores. I noticed that the dress of the personnel rather matched the “atmosphere of the store.” For example, one store seemed rather sloppy and the employees dressed accordingly.

5. No employees followed a script.6. It was a slow time of the day when I visited the stores so there were not a lot of people, except at the

food store. People varied in terms of relationships and different stores seemed to attract different sorts of people and groups.

.

PEOPLE

How did I feel about different stores?It is difficult to make a general statement about all the stores I visited.I noted the functionality of each store. For example, in the box store that sold groceries I felt “ordinary”, felt that the entire purpose was to buy groceries and get out. In stores like the book store or the malls, I felt like I could BROWSE, take my time, EXPLORE. The tech store was exciting in terms of new gadgets but did I really need a new phone?. I liked stores that had a lot of light. I liked stores that I didn’t feel watched by sales people, but was happy when someone could help me when I needed to be helped. Only one store did I actually not want to go into because it seemed to small and “close” to me.

Miscellaneous Comments

This Exercise - Comments

There were aspects of myself I learned during this exercise.1)I am shy so I almost did not even do the exercise because it meant that I

would have to go out in public.2)Once I did it, it became easier to look and engage myself with the public.3)I found out that the more I saw, the more I thought, the more ideas came into

my head, the more energy I had.4)I realized that I have actually always seen opportunities when observing, BUT

the problem was nailing down one or two or more and further investigating and exploring.

5)My problem is not in observation but in focusing on the observation in some meaningful way. I think questions really help me when looking around myself. This seems very important.

6)The problem too is taking an opportunity or an idea to the next step. Making something out of it, developing something from all the rushing thoughts I get in such a situation.

7)There is not enough time to do a good job in doing this report, but I did the best I could.