Making the C-Store more convenient
Applying the techniques of service design to offer Sheetz an innovative VUI solution to provide faster service
Project Lead
Yu Zhao
Akash Jatangi
Jared Trinkler
Fast service is one of the top drivers for people to visit a convenience store (C-store). Our client, Sheetz, is one of the forward-thinking C-store leaders. Sheetz customers expect a quick in and out experience but, in reality, they end up waiting for more than 15 minutes in the store. Online comments indicated a loss of customers due to the long wait.
Our goal is to leverage current technology to reduce wait time for a Sheetz customer to receive a more satisfying and timely service.
Time- we were expected to be flexible and perform well thought-out plans to collect convincing evidence and demonstrate the business value of our innovation to the client.
Budget- the benefits the solution should outweigh the costs and the risks.
Location - the remote location of the stores makes the field study harder to be accessed
Brand Book - every redesign of the screens should conform with client's established style guide
Sheetz customers typically:
1. Place repetitive orders -> redesigned GUI to leverage this behavior to support the service of VUI
2. Drive to the store alone -> proposed to VUI for hands-free ordering experience
By substituting the time of waiting in store to driving to store, customers can easily pick-up their orders when they arrive. Thus, minimize the waiting anxiety.
Redesigning graphical user interface (GUI) to support integration of VUI:
GUI helps with both onboarding, integration and activation of VUI. VUI can also be activated by mobile digital assistant such as Siri, Google, Cortana and etc.
Driving while ordering on the road:
Online comment analysis indicated long wait time in store led to low service satisfaction
To first understand Sheetz customer's experience, we collected reviews across three platforms: Google Map, Yelp and Tripadviser. We found the vicious cycle between work efficiency of the store employee and the wait time. The lack of efficiency results in more messed up orders, leading to negative comments about the service.
Understanding the concept of perceived wait time helped guide the solution ideation
Psychology of Waiting:
We studied and identified six potential directions to help reduce the perceived wait time.
Long Waiting Time Affects Business:
Faster speed may develop more loyal customers ->
Customers expected to have a quick in and out service, which is typically under 15 minutes.
Two opportunity areas has been identified:
(1) Wait time for payment
(2) Wait time for preparing the food
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Research Insights
1. Getting people started on their order ahead of time reduces customer anxiety and shortens the perceived wait time.
2. Customers need transparency in the progress of their order through time estimates.
3. Lack of area for waiting customers induced anxiety for the entering customers who tried to order, but did not know where to start.
Wizard of Oz Prototyping
We conducted two rounds of wizard of oz at different stages of the design phase.
Evaluating the Acceptability and User Flow (round 1):
The goal for this round was to understand the flow of the interaction, and to gather conversational data for interaction scripts. We used wizard of oz to execute the role of voice assistant. We asked participants to play a driving game on the laptop while interacting with our voice assistant.
As a result:
1. Users' acceptance of using VUI was very high
2. Adoption of the use of VUI is very fast.
Two types of user flows has been categorized:
1. Conventional users were either unsure or had doubts about VUI's ability of understanding, so they tended to follow step by step instructions.
2. Expert users had more confidence that they felt comfortable to use longer sentences to accomplish multiple tasks.
Validating Level of Distraction (round 2):
At this time, the research goals were to understand how distractive VUI was, and to assess the difficulty of the interaction between the user and the voice assistant while driving. We prototyped VUI in Voiceflow and asked users to drive a real car in a parking lot.
Insights:
- The experience of ordering with VUI was rated positive and useful due to the intuitiveness of the interaction.
- Users valued a sense of certainty and control, so they preferred to have choices rather than free form answer and the ability to correct their mistakes.
- Short conversation was preferred because it relieved the stress and distraction of ordering while driving.
- Trust of VUI could be built among users by completing simple and small tasks at first.
Evidence:
- "I don't think interact with a voice assistant is distracting, since I always talk to my friends while driving."
- "I prefer to keep the conversation short... like 5 minutes."
- "I don't think Alexa can understand anything I said, so I would prefer the voice assistant offers me some choices, so I know for sure it will understand me."
We explored the problem space by conducting competitive analysis, case studies and storyboarding. Based on gathered findings, the three area worth focusing on were:
1. Reducing wait time for ordering and paying
2. Keeping people occupied while waiting
3. Reducing pick-up time
VUI was validated through speed dating. It satisfied both the need for reducing wait time at the user end and the low cost compared to other solutions at the client side. Our solution is composed of two parts: Voice User Interface (VUI) & Graphical User Interface (GUI).
Redesigning GUI to simplify the ordering process when rolling out Minimal Viable Product (MVP)
Users are allowed to create a list of their "Favorites" on GUI, and they are given options to order their "Favorites" or "Daily Special" from VUI.
Constraining the number of VUI screen interactions to minimize the risk of screen distraction
Co-Creation Value
- Analyzing repeat orders from users over a period of time can help Sheetz provide personalized recommendations.
- By collecting digital order data and organizing all the queues in one place, the stores can predict and calculate how long it takes them to complete an order to help increase internal efficiency, which in turn providing faster service to the customer.
- These in combined increase user satisfaction and encourages more users to order regularly which in turn increase the loyalty of the customers. Thus regain the lost of customer due to the wait time, and increase revenue.
Product Roadmap
Our proposal is highly aligned with our clients’ service development goal of providing hands-free ordering experiences. By leveraging the rise of VUI to combat with wait time, SHEETZ can potentially mimic the success of Starbucks among its competitors and stay ahead of the curve. We presented our concept to the clients, professors, and peers and received unanimously positive feedback.
For future iterative processes, we would like to dive deeper into the area of distraction. For example, understanding the optimal length of the interaction between the voice assistant and the user that both accomplish the user's goal yet to be the least distractive.
