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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

#61

Post by learc83 »

DanBC wrote: post #59
learc83 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "What if it's poisoned?" You won't take sealed candy from people on the street because it might be poisoned? If the candy is sealed they could have just as easily snuck it onto a store shelf.

'disgust' is interesting and not necessarily rational. Give most people a glass of water and ask them to spit in it, and then ask them to drink it. Most people don't drink it. It's their spit, it's only just come out of their mouth, so why don't they drink the water?

I can understand an irrational feeling of disgust, but the OP specifically said

>"I don't trust it. "What if it's poisoned?"

Implying that there is a rational thought process behind his actions that is based on flawed data.

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

#62

Post by thenomad »

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…

Since you're getting a lot of hating here, I'll just say:

1) If someone does this in my favourite coffee shop, they're polite, and they take my first "no" for an answer, I'm completely OK with this.

2) Having done similar things in the past, it's my experience that - with the caveats above - most people are OK with this.

Obviously, some level of social skill, ability to tell if your presence will be seriously unwelcome, and general politeness and diffidence is rather necessary. Don't send the guy who never washes and keeps getting complaints from women at parties. But if you pass that hurdle, you'll be fine - and as someone said below, it's not like there are enough startups out there that this is ever going to become a major problem.

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

#63

Post by thenomad »

maw wrote: post #32
kenbellows wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

In Mexico people try to trick you by asking something for something innocuous, like the time, and then ask you for money. Also a supposedly common scam is to get personal info such as names and phone numbers in surveys and, later, to use this information to make fake kidnapping calls sound more plausible. The upshot is that you learn to ignore people who try to get your attention. I don't think it would work too well…

On that note, I'd imagine that "don't ask for ANY personal information except an email address, right at the end" is a pretty good rule for this sort of testing anywhere in the world. Good point!

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

#64

Post by thenomad »

laurentoget wrote: post #58

I wonder how the manager of that starbucks feels about that. On one hand you are buying some coffee. On the other hand you are probably driving away the customers who can afford to pay for their own coffee and do not feel like being your guinea pig.

On the other, other hand, you're giving some of his/her customers an interesting, novel experience where they get to feel that their opinion is valuable. Oh, and ensuring that they'll remember that Starbucks far more than most others.

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

#65

Post by micheljansen »

Felix21 wrote: post #42
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!

I've done this a few times. It's also a good idea to hide which product is yours, so you get less biased feedback.

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

#66

Post by kenbellows »

JoshLedgard wrote: post #53
kenbellows wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

To me, what made what he was doing appealing was that he wasn't directly soliciting people. He made the arrow and the sign. He wasn't harassing anyone in line. I think that makes all the difference.

Absolutely. The pure non-aggression of his method was brilliant.
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