About Mantel - The Context

Mantel Superstores are filled with bikes, clothing and parts as far as the eye can see. There is something for every cyclist, whether you are on a racing bike, mountain bike, city bike or e-bike. You can touch everything and you can immediately test ride your bike indoors! Once you have found your new bike, you can take it home the same day. In addition, you can go to the Superstores and the Service Points for, among other things, the collection of online orders, maintenance & repair, an exchange service or even a motivating winter check.
Together with the physical touchpoints, the webshop mantel.com and more than 550 motivated employees (of which 250 in the stores) form a service ecosystem that is active in 15 countries. It makes Mantel the best and most popular bicycle shop in the Netherlands. They strongly believe in the combination of an online and offline customer experience in which the stores and webshop reinforce each other. In support of this, initiatives have been launched to provide better technical support for warehouse employees, for example, and there are plans for the roll-out of digital price tags.
At the moment, the website has an even larger/complete range and more product information than in the physical stores. But the most important asset in offline services are the (service) employees in the stores. Most of these specialists also ride their bicycles in their spare time and are therefore extra driven to think along with customers! What if we combine these two even better?

The Brief

How can we enrich our services on location if we bring the Superstore and the webshop closer together? And how can we provide even better support to our (service) employees through the smart use of mobile devices?

The Proces

Design problems are problems with no predetermined solution. They are questions with no right answer. They require to make decisions about an uncertain future.

What do you do when you don’t know what where you're headed

By using a double diamond method I break down the process in logical steps providing structure and focus throughout the entire innovation cycle.

I had two teams working on this exploration in order to find a broad range of ideas.

Gaining insights

The Service Blueprint relates the actions of the user (from the journey) to the actions from the organization. It not only provides insight into the touchpoints, but also into what is needed to actually deliver the service. Think, for example, of organizational and logistical actions and supporting processes. We refer to this as a "Frontstage" and a "Backstage".

The Experience Map maps out the complex interactions of the user with the service and substantiates what they do, think and feel. It not only provides insight into how touchpoints are experienced, but also how this experience influences the overall experience of the product, service or ecosystem.
Design probes
Much of the knowledge of your target group is unconscious and/or latent – We use probes to place the participant as closely as possible in the context of use to inspire and remind them of that latent knowledge, wishes and needs.
Afinity mapping
Affinity diagrams are used to to cluster information and to make sense of a large volume of mixed information and data—facts, ethnographic research, ideas from brainstorms, user opinions, user needs, insights and design issues, just to name a few!
Co-creation
We use co-creation sessions to involve our users and help them participate and specify the designproces and solutions.

Design mentorship ~ Synthesis

For starting designers this phase of research and all the insights that come with it can be overwhelming. Especially when you have no idea where the design is heading or have not yet experienced the next phases of the diamond. Besides it's hard to distinguish main issues from side issues.
In my role as Team Lead I coach the teams throughout the process and reassure them that the path they are on will lead to greater clarity. But to find the way, one has to be willing to get lost first. When the research is done we take a moment to step back and objectify the insights.
In the end we look at all collected data points from the research from a holistic point of view. The synthesis of the data points leads to the identification and naming of the opportunities that exist.

Concepting

Both teams came up with 3 prototypes. In order to get a clear viw of the current and future scenarios of this design process, I used the Hasso Plattner prototyping cardset. This cardset allows for different prototypes focussing on explain as is and explain to be scenarios.

The concepts wer presented to the Mantel board in order to start a dialogue on the final design directions of the teams...

This resulted in the following two concepts.

Mantel Cares

For the cycling fanatic, the Mantel Cares app is the app to always get service when it is needed. Cycling enthusiasts like to keep their bikes in good condition. They no longer have to control this themselves. Through a link with Strava and Health, Mantel Cares keeps track of your kilometers and, based on that, knows how the components of your bicycle are performing. Cycling enthusiasts can view this and make an appointment based on it.

Mantel Match

Mantel Match links the customer to the employee who can best help him/her. Because the customer creates a profile and indicates the reason for the visit, the system matches the customer with the appropriate expert. The employee thus gains insight into the customer and the needs. The customer gains confidence that the right employee is helping him/her. A date and time is planned and the employee can prepare for the visit. This way the employee can offer the best help to the customer.

Design

Final Concept Mantel
Sketsches Mantel
Sketches Mantel
Sketches Mantel
Wireframes Mantel

Final Prototypes