Dick's VIP Party Service
A VIP party service design for Dick's Sporting Good
MOBILE UX • SERVICE DESIGN
Project Overview
This fall, I had the opportunity to research, design, and pitch a service innovation for Dick's Sporting Goods, America's largest sporting goods retailer. After research and iteration, my team pitched the DSG VIP Party - an offline party service based on the DSG reward system and DSG Roblox game.
Client
Dick's Sporting Goods
Timeline
Fall 2022
(7 weeks)
Domain
Service Design
Skills
Guerrilla Research
Conceptual Mapping
Visual Thinking
Prototyping
SERVICE PROPOSITION
Junior athletes can create a network effect and influence more junior athletes with the Dick's Sporting Goods reward system, to engage with DSG, online and offline
INTRO
My contribution
I was a member of a student team consisting of four product managers and two UX designers tasked with designing and pitching an innovative service for Dick’s Sporting Goods. In this role, I was responsible for user research, prototyping, poster design, and service scape design. Each team member participated in the ideation, research, and user interview process.
About the client
Dick's Sporting Goods(DSG) is a leading American sporting goods retailer, headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. With over 800 stores across the United States, the company offers a wide variety of products, including athletic apparel, footwear, outdoor gear, and fitness equipment.
Athlete: DSG's customer
Teammates: DSG's employee
Coach: DSG's manager
What is School of sports?
School of Sport(SOS) is a Roblox event sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods. SOS creates a space to share sport and style while also connecting with younger athletes.
RESEARCH
Secondary research & interviews
We utilized three types of research methods: experiential, informational, and guerilla. Through these methods, we were able to augment our insights from the perspective of the athlete, teammate, and coach. Our sources varied from third-party websites, hands-on engagement with DSG’s digital interfaces, and visiting and interviewing athletes in the store.
Research findings
Key Insights
01
02
03
A huge part of DSG’s business model includes the service it provides to athletes apart from selling physical sporting goods.
There are fewer communication scenarios between friends and family numbers.
Current DSG services target more adult athletes, and junior athletes find it hard to engage in any of them.
Persona
IDEATION
Service Opportunity Mapping
Currently, most of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ service targets parents online and offline. School of sports is a new service base on the metaverse where Junior athletes can play games and connect. The map shows a huge gap in the current service to bring junior athletes to engage in DSG offline.
DSG’s current services matrix
Initial hypotheses
PROTOTYPING
Initial solution
SOS digital platform
Redeem in SOS
Party In-store
ITERATIONS
User tests
We conducted 11 test sessions over the phone and Zoom, involving both young athletes and their parents, to gauge their interest and excitement levels regarding our proposed new service offering to DSG. Our goal was to validate our hypothesis and ensure that our new service would be well-received by our target audience.
Positive feedback:
1. Parents were pleased with the potential social benefits for their children
2. The discount option would incentivize both parents and children to use the service and promoting gameplay
Negative feedback:
1. Parents are concerned about managing their children's computer game playtime
2. The discount system generated frustration for most of the parents
User focused iteration
Business focused iteration
Iteration One: In-store to Pop-up store
Our client expressed concern about the loud noise in the current Dick's store, as well as the wasted space when there is no VIP party. As a result, we decided to move the service to a pop-up store.
Iteration Two: StylePoints to ScorePoints
During our user research, we found that many parents expressed frustration with the discount systems. Additionally, some young athletes shared concerns that their parents may not have enough time to attend the VIP party after redeeming the tickets. In response, we decided to switch from using StylePoints to redeem to using ScoreCard, Dick's Sporting Goods' existing reward system.
Iteration Three: Bring parents to co-create more values
We recognized that the current VIP Party service operates in isolation from the rest of the DSG service. Since values are co-created by customers and employees, we explored ways to involve more parents in the service. We proposed two solutions: first, having parents manage the redemption process after their children transfer StylePoints to ScorePoints; and second, including a shopping area in the pop-up store where parents can browse and purchase Dick’s sporting goods.
SERVICE PITCH
Final solution
User Journey
1. Jr. Athletes earn StylePoints in School of Sports
Junior athletes play sports games, meet with friends, and earn StylePoints on Roblox platform: School of Sports
2. Parents transfer StylePoints to ScorePoints
Parents receive an email from SOS when their child earns enough points to transfer to ScoreCard. Click “Go to transfer”, and the system automatically opens Dick’s app and a pop-up window shows detail information about the transfer.
3. Parents redeem VIP party tickets
Once parents have more than 800 points, the VIP party service will be unlocked. Click on “Redeem VIP Ticket” to choose the location and schedule time.
4. Show the ticket at the entrance and enjoy!
The ticket info is restored in Dick’s app. Show the QR code to DSG teammates at the entrance of the VIP Party to attend.
Service System Design
Service blueprint
VIP Party Service Blueprint
Value exchange
VIP Party Value Exchange
ServiceScapes design
