UX Research Lafarge-Holcim – Disensa Brasil
Helping a cement giant pave a new future in retail
RESEARCH METHODS AND NUMBERS
40+ CUSTOMER INTERVIEW – ON-SITE AND PHONE CALLS
FIELD RESEARCH
MARKET RESEARCH ANALYSIS
8 PERSONAS
4 CUSTOMER JOURNEYS
One of the strategies for bringing Disensa to Brazil was to partner with the vast and lose network of local hardware stores. The proposition would include a new retail package with a complete visual overhaul of their stores, expert support, and logistical as well as cosmetic benefits.
What to offer existing hardware stores was a challenge. The different realities surrounding the hardware stores were Brazil’s idiosyncrasies made…concrete. We followed Lafarge-Holcim salesmen in their daily routine visiting their clients throughout Rio de Janeiro.
ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
Each client category demanded their own journeys and after painstakingly analyzing our research results we were able to find where these journeys meet and where they diverge.
SOME INSIGHTS
Homeowners wanted to have a pleasant retail experience and technical support.
Decorators and architects wanted to have access to a wide range of products.
Contractors wanted to have easy access to stores and be able to bill their clients.
All of them would often point at one another as their main pain point during construction – more so than any retail experience. We had to work on this!
Mapping the user journey
After the immersion phase, we were able to map the consumers and the optician’s journey. Hundreds of post-its were translated into easy to read data visualization. These pointed toward the exact pain points we detected.
Through this analysis that we reached the conclusion that data management was at the heart of most problems. Some stakeholders, for example, were averse to technology, while others were unwilling to share their own systems or didn’t have the tools to do it. The customizable nature of the prescription glasses business is based on customs data from each user and a lot of trust.
IDEATION WORKSHOPS
Workshops together with a team from Lafarge/Holcim were used to consolidate the data gathered and align them with their current strategies. These workshops were more than presentations, requiring active participation and ideation exercises.
The main take was that construction is as much as connecting people just providing tools and appliances.
One of the solutions proposed was to focus on Disensa not only as a physical retail space but also as a service that connects homeowners with professionals and professionals with the tools and clients they seek.
PROTOTYPING FOR RETAIL
I worked on the prototype for a Disensa Kiosk, to be located in malls and popular retail areas, where homeowners could use visualization tools and even Virtual Reality to see their home ideas come to life.
The kiosks would be part of a larger Disensa network of existing hardware stores and professionals that would offer a one-stop solution for home building needs.
STORE OWNERS, DESIRED TO HAVE ACCESS TO A ROBUST BILLING AND ORDERING SYSTEM AND THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A POOL OF LOGISTICAL SOLUTIONS.
CONCLUSION
One year later Disensa successfully landed in Brazil and two years later it opened 110 stores and plans to invest further U$8million dollars in new franchises and services.
The implementation followed our consulting guidelines for becoming much more than a warehouse. The group is investing in new retail models, Augmented Reality and even the use of youtube influencers and original online shows such as the “Disensa Squad”. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2aYHRCXB_z60f8zvymq7tw