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I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

joshledgard.com

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Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#41

Post by dredmorbius »

kenbellows wrote: post #22
shardling wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're willing to be bold, walk right up to people and ask, you don't need to offer free coffee or gift cards. If many people did this, it would quickly become an incredible annoyance. Have some respect for the commons!

This. As much as it may work right now, because basically no one is doing it, as soon as it becomes a popular method, it seem to me it will stop working pretty quickly. Everyone doing it will become equivalent to a Jehova's Witness knocking on your door. That said, I imagine I'd be more okay with it if every time I said yes I got a free coffee. Aside: I wonder how different reactions would be in different countries/c…

The technique is somewhat self-limiting. Unlike, say, email spam or online annoyances, you've actually got to be there in person for it (though sufficiently large organizations could hire bodies for the purpose).

Still: the method has significant costs. That's a good think in the "preventing overuse" department.

Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#42

Post by Felix21 »

nostromo wrote: post #18

If possible, say that you're doing it as research for an agency. People are nice and don't want to hurt your feelings. ("Yeah, I'd totally buy that! Oh, I didn't bring my credit card, sorry...") Also, if you have competitors, try getting feedback on their apps as well. It can give you hints about what they are doing right and wrong, and how you can differentiate.

Woow Feedback on competitors apps. What a great idea!

Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#43

Post by Felix21 »

nostromo wrote: post #18

If possible, say that you're doing it as research for an agency. People are nice and don't want to hurt your feelings. ("Yeah, I'd totally buy that! Oh, I didn't bring my credit card, sorry...") Also, if you have competitors, try getting feedback on their apps as well. It can give you hints about what they are doing right and wrong, and how you can differentiate.

Woow Feedback on competitors apps. What a great idea!

Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#44

Post by adrianhoward »

This sort of approach is a classic way of doing cheap usability testing.

If you've not done this sort of work before I'd recommend getting hold of the (short and entertaining) "Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-it-yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems" by Steve Krug. It'll give you a bunch of useful tips on how to get the best out of our time.

Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#45

Post by mtrimpe »

theIV wrote: post #33
MCompeau wrote: post #11

We tried this just yesterday at a couple Starbucks locations in Toronto for our new lines of 3D printed jewelry ( http://www.hotpopfactory.com/ ). It was great, because we could hone in on specific demographics that interested us based on the location and time of day. For the most part we found people weren't actually interested in taking any money for coffee (we didn't go the gift card route, we just approached peop…

I'll sidetrack for a minute and say I think the jewelry looks awesome. Shooting-from-the-hip site feedback: it is a bit weird that some (maybe all?) of the product pages recommend–"you might also like"–the same product you are already looking at.

Love the product as well! My from-the-hip feedback:

* From the opening screen I couldn't figure out if you were Hot Pop factory or Platonix. After I got that you sell Platonix and Boreal I still don't know how you two are related.

* My #1 fear: How easily does this stuff break?

* Where's the story? You probably have a good one (3D-printing) but I don't see it here.

* Where's the gold? Annoying question I know, but people want metals so have you considered a printing moulds and smelting process?

Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#46

Post by csomar »

simonholroyd wrote: post #9

My team has done similar user testing in Starbucks quite a few times. Here's my $0.02: If you're willing to be bold, walk right up to people and ask, you don't need to offer free coffee or gift cards. We've found this is a better strategy for a few reasons: 1. It's cheaper. 2. It does not dramatically change the number of test users you can get in a given afternoon. And 3. You're more likely to get critical negative…

Starbucks is a business, and people go there to relax and have peace of mind. If you are just asking them, you are interrupting them.

Just put a note on your table, and if people come to you it's fine. If you are afraid of false positives, offer the coffee giftcard after the review.

Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#47

Post by keithpeter »

jacquesc wrote: post #31
teej wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is kind of silly. Doing street level market research is not a new idea and approaching people directly isn't some huge revelation. There aren't so many entrepreneurs in the world testing ideas that you would ever be affected by this more than once. Don't be afraid to approach people and ask for their help! Most people would love to know that someone cares about their opinion. There are huge online communities th…

This is fine on the street, but not inside a Starbucks. As soon as you start approaching customers inside a business, they have the right (and obligation) to ask you to leave.

The OP had a table set up with the gift cards, and was only (I think) engaging people who came up to the table. Presumably he had the permission of the shop management to set up on the table. I'm happy with that provided he wasn't hogging the big table at peak times. If you are not interested, just don't go to the table.

I'd hate people walking up to me at random inside the coffee bar (UK reserve perhaps).

PS: to US Starbucks' shops run a tab?

Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#48

Post by MCompeau »

mtrimpe wrote: post #45
theIV wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll sidetrack for a minute and say I think the jewelry looks awesome. Shooting-from-the-hip site feedback: it is a bit weird that some (maybe all?) of the product pages recommend–"you might also like"–the same product you are already looking at.

Love the product as well! My from-the-hip feedback: * From the opening screen I couldn't figure out if you were Hot Pop factory or Platonix. After I got that you sell Platonix and Boreal I still don't know how you two are related. * My #1 fear: How easily does this stuff break? * Where's the story? You probably have a good one (3D-printing) but I don't see it here. * Where's the gold? Annoying question I know, but pe…

Thanks very much for the feedback from both of you. Some of it mirrors what we heard during our experiment. We're gradually going back over the website to clarify the communication of some of these points more clearly and fix some usability niggles.

As for the "gold", its something we would love to do, and we plan on getting there eventually. For now one of the benefits of using 3D printing is that we can fulfill orders on demand and there is very little cost of carrying inventory, using metals ends up negating this advantage.

Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#49

Post by MCompeau »

mjolk wrote: post #39
MCompeau wrote: post #11

We tried this just yesterday at a couple Starbucks locations in Toronto for our new lines of 3D printed jewelry ( http://www.hotpopfactory.com/ ). It was great, because we could hone in on specific demographics that interested us based on the location and time of day. For the most part we found people weren't actually interested in taking any money for coffee (we didn't go the gift card route, we just approached peop…

> we just approached people in line directly And the Starbucks was fine with you soliciting people in line?

Didn't seem to be a problem, YMMV of course.

Re: I wish I’d thought of that. Operation Starbucks

#50

Post by khet »

randlet wrote: post #37
MCompeau wrote: post #11

We tried this just yesterday at a couple Starbucks locations in Toronto for our new lines of 3D printed jewelry ( http://www.hotpopfactory.com/ ). It was great, because we could hone in on specific demographics that interested us based on the location and time of day. For the most part we found people weren't actually interested in taking any money for coffee (we didn't go the gift card route, we just approached peop…

I can't say exactly why it is, but I bet no one would have felt off-put if you had offered gift cards instead of cash. People in general will be much more comfortable taking a gift card than cash.

The person probably thinks "I can afford a cup of coffee so I don't need your money". A gift on the other hand is meant to be given away so seems alright.
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