5: Case Story Cyprus - EcoForU (EN)In this section you can follow the Design Thinking process for a Sustainability Mamangement case for an Eco freindly store called EcoForU in Cypruss.
Here you can see what methods was chosen by the facilitators from our partner Synthesis to lead them through the Design thinking process and what problems they set out to find solutions for.
This Case study will focus on an online Eco-Friendly story called “EcoForU”. The online eco- friendly store is committed to promoting sustainable products and practices. It focuses in creating a positive social impact beyond just selling environmentally friendly products.
EcoForU sells a wide range of sustainable products, from biodegradable household items, skin care products, to organic clothing.
Cross-compensation is a concept where a portion of profits from specific products is used to support social or environmental causes. “EcoForU” wants to explore and redefine this concept in a way that connects with their customers on a human level, evoking inspiration
and emotion. They decided that the best way to do so is through the process of Design Thinking. An external D-Thinking facilitator has been invited to facilitate this process with the “EcoForU” team.
Attending the workshops will be the:
Sustainability Officer, marketing manager, partnerships and outreach coordinator, product development specialist, customer support representative, e-commerce manager, finance and accounting specialist and the data analyst.
The Challenge
The design thinking challenge that the team decided upon was:
Design a cross-compensation model that fosters positive social impact while promoting sustainability for ‘EcoForU’.
For the first phase the DT facilitator introduced the method of Sematic Analysis to the participants and encouraged them to collect different definitions and assumptions that they have with the aim of them opening up about the subject of the challenge. The facilitator
made sure to emphasise the importance of being impulsive about sharing anything that came to their minds and made sure to stress that there are no wrong or right answers. All input is valuable.
The challenge statement was written on a big board in the below structure:
DESIGN A
CROSS COMPENSATION MODEL
THAT
FOSTERS POSITIVE SOCIAL IMPACT
WHILE
PROMOTING SUSTAINABILITY
FOR EcoForU
Sticky notes of different colours were given to all participants and they were encouraged to clearly write down their thoughts in capital letters and stick them close to the relevant part of the sentence.
A lot of the information written down was in the following themes of different customer feedback, social media mentions, and industry trends. Specifically on customers appreciating the stores commitment, need/ want of consumers to feel more involved in contributing to
positive social impact initiatives, demand for transparency especially in supply chains and how does a purchase support local communities.
The understanding phase allowed the ‘EcoForU’ team to collect a lot of different information between its different members. For the observation phase the ‘EcoForU’ team conducted extensive customer interviews, online surveys, and observed user behaviour on the
‘EcoForU’ website. The team met up on a different day and together drafted the online survey questions as well as the appropriate guiding questions for the consumer interviews. Afterwards they planned six in-person interviews with their consumers and potential consumers.
For the consumer interviews the team used the interview guidelines and the checklist provided by the d-thinking training platform. They then divided tasks into different roles: interviewer and note-taker. With agreement of the interviewees, the interview sessions
were recorded as well so they could also make sure to listen back to them and not missed any valuable information.
The online survey the team created was also uploaded on their website so consumers and future consumers could answer it. Lastly the ‘EcoForU’ team conducted desk research with the aim of observing and finding out more about similar businesses that have implemented
cross-compensation successfully with the aim of identifying key factors contributing to their success.
For the next phase the ‘EcoForU’ team focused on sorting and clustering the information collected on the observation phase. As a team they went through the answers of the online survey and wrote down their observations on sticky notes which they then put on the wall.
Following, they listened to the recorded interviews and wrote down what they viewed as important on sticky notes. Once the recording was over they put their sticky notes on the wall. The ‘EcoForU’ team decided to have the note-taker of each interview read their notes out-loud to the team and if they found something that they had not noticed but was of importance they also wrote it on sticky notes and put it on the wall with the rest of the sticky notes.
Lastly, the ‘EcoForU’ team each presented their findings of their desk research on the topic of cross compensation. While a member of the team was presenting the rest would note down any important key words on sticky notes which would at the end of the presentation also be put on the wall.
Once all the information was on the wall the team began to cluster the information under different headings with the aim of finding needs, pain points, contradictions, values, and beliefs of their clients and potential clients. Based on the information they clustered; they created three different personas:
1. Emma is a 33-year-old financial manager, she lives by herself in an apartment outside the city centre. She tries to live with a green footprint as much as possible.
She aligns her purchasing decisions with her values and desires products that contribute to a positive impact beyond just being environmentally friendly. Emma is likely to engage with initiatives that transparently showcase the social benefits of her purchases. She values brands that empower her to make a difference and is willing to pay a premium for products that have a tangible social impact. Emma's tends to be more loyal to shops that provide her with clear information about the specific social causes her purchases are supporting.
2. Brian is a 19-year-old graphic designer college student; he lives in an all-boys dorm close to his college and choses to use his bicycle for his daily movement. He has recently started to show a genuine interest in sustainable products. However, his limited budget poses a significant challenge, making it difficult for him to consistently afford eco-friendly options. Brian has a desire to contribute to social causes but must prioritize affordability. For Brian, the cross-compensation model needs to strike a balance between offering products at accessible price points while also enabling him to participate in positive social impact initiatives. Brian is interested in shops where he can engage through small, manageable contributions or alternative forms of involvement.
3. Isabella, a civil engineer is a 40-year-old working mother of two. Isabella places a premium on eco-friendly products. She is willing to pay extra for products that align with her values, particularly if she can trace the positive impact of her purchases back to local communities and social causes. Isabella seeks a sense of connection between her consumption and meaningful change. She looks for shops which provide detailed, easily accessible information about the specific communities and causes being supported. Isabelle resonates with shops where she feels that she is building an emotional connection through highlighting the stories of individuals benefiting from the cross-compensation initiatives. Following the creation of the personas, the ‘EcoForU’ team formulated problem statements as point of views (POV) of the above personas:
1. We met Emma, a dedicated young professional with a strong sustainability ethos. We were amazed to realize that beyond seeking eco-friendly products, Emma yearns for her purchases to create a tangible, positive social impact. It would be game changing to design a cross-compensation model that not only aligns with Emma's values but also empowers her to make a noticeable difference in social causes, forging a stronger connection between her choices and real-world impact.
2. We met Brian, an enthusiastic college student excited about sustainable products. We were surprised to realize that despite his keen interest, Brian struggles with affordability, hindering his ability to consistently choose eco-friendly options. It would be game changing to create a cross-compensation model that bridges the gap between Brian's budget limitations and his aspiration to support social and environmental causes.
3. We met Isabella, a conscientious working mother who values eco-friendly products and is willing to invest more for a positive impact. We were astonished to realize that Isabella seeks a personal connection between her purchases, the local communities, and social causes they affect. It would be game changing to develop a cross-compensation model that not only offers premium eco-friendly products but also provides Isabella with transparent, traceable insights into the concrete social benefits she contributes to with her purchases.
With the final step of creating the POV problem statements of the personas which represent their clients and potential future clients, the 'EcoForU' team felt that they were now ready to exit the problem space and enter the solution space of the Design Thinking process.
The 'EcoForU' team dedicated an entire working day for the ideating phase, starting from the morning as the facilitator explained the importance of feeling rested, playful and that the team at this phase should prioritise quantity as they would filter through the ideas at a later stage. The facilitator further explained that in ideation the aim is to open up our thinking again. It is about turning the problem statement into design opportunities and generating many ideas without constraints in a structured way.
The team began by reshaping the POV problem statements into ‘How might we’ questions.
This step is done in order to re-wire the team into thinking and focusing on designing solutions instead of exploring problems:
The 'EcoForU' team then focused on generating different ideas through multiple brainstorming techniques -which can be found in the d-thinking training platform. The 'EcoForU' team started their brainstorming session with the idea train which is a good technique to encourage movement and get ideas flowing. Following the 'EcoForU' team split into teams of threes and explored the negative brainstorming technique and the idea shopping technique.
After these brainstorming techniques it was time for the 'EcoForU' team to come together and evaluate and filter through all the ideas they generated. An idea funnel was drawn on the wall for each of the three ‘How might we’ questions as seen below (more details on the idea funnel can be found on the d-thinking training platform).
After filtering their ideas through the idea funnel, they went back into the three teams and each team decided on a single idea to be prototyped. This does not mean that all other ideas are cancelled out, as they can be deemed useful at a later stage.
When the 'EcoForU' team formulated the above prototype ideas they were prepared for the next phase of the Design Thinking process.
As all three ideas are connected to the ‘EcoForU’ website the three teams all decided to use the Paper Wireframe technique to showcase their prototype. These paper wireframes provide a simple visual representation of how each prototype solution could be integrated into the ‘EcoForU’ website. The wireframes highlighted the key features and actions that users like the personas of Emma, Brian, and Isabella could take to engage with the cross-compensation model and foster positive social impact while promoting sustainability.
The three groups presented their prototypes to the whole team and following each presentation a discussion and feedback were provided.
The 'EcoForU' team decided to create a voting system on their website showcasing the first two ideas. They decided to not test the third idea immediately as it required a new product line which would take a lot longer to create.
To try to engage as many customers and future customers as possible the ‘EcoForU’ shop created a social media campaign to encourage everyone to vote on which idea they preferred and resonated with them. In order to entice them to visit the website and vote on their favourite idea the ‘EcoForU’ promoted that each user that votes would then get a special promo code for free samples of some of the products available on the online shop. After the voting it was clear that the second idea, the referral program was the one that the
majority of consumers preferred. The online shop ‘EcoForU’ decided to start the process of implementing this idea immediately.
The ‘EcoForU’ team were all really satisfied with the Design Thinking process and could agree that through the process they could successfully design an innovative cross-
compensation model that fosters positive social impact while promoting sustainability for ‘EcoForU’. The team is really enthusiastic because they believe that this model does not only enhance ‘EcoForU’'s reputation as an eco-friendly store but also strengthens its positive impact on society and the planet.
This was the first of two case stories in the category "Social Entrepreneurship".
You can continue to the second case story about Anna's Team from Austria by going to the next section.
You can also go back and review case stories in the categories:
Or you can study some the the methods mentioned in this case in the Course Brainstorms and Energizers.
Have fun.
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