Working with a local Tarot reading studio to help them identify various opportunities within their customer experience, finding ways to improve upon them.

Context

This project was for a senior level User Experience Research and Design course. Our team chose to work with The Good Spirit, a metaphysical boutique and tarot reading studio located in the heart of Vancouver, BC, Canada. We chose this company due to their balance of being not only a retailer, but also a service provider, in a relatively novel industry.

Research

As initially we weren’t sure where our design focus should be, we started off by broadly understanding the business and its customer experience as a whole.

Observational Analysis

Our team went into the tarot studio to conduct various types of ethnographic research. We observed customer interactions such as having a reading, or buying merchandise, understanding the general customer experience, and if any frictions occurred. 
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Additionally, we took note of what music was playing, where important elements were placed, the layout and style of the store, and even the scent of the store. Inadvertently, this helped guide any design considerations from a branding point of view in the road ahead. 

Netnographic Research

As we were unable to interact with customers we decided to collect any and all the reviews we could find, primarily through Google and Yelp. Using these, we could find the first hand pain points customers may have gone through. Once these were collected, we conducted an affinity mapping exercise to sort out and group the various complaints into a more tangible and organized assets to probe at during our informal interviews with the employees.

Informal Interviews

To gain insight on our findings, we used our research as jumping off points in our interviews with the employees. Through this, we received a deeper understanding on the initial frictions found, as well as other concerns the employees had while working there. 

Insights

We plotted our findings on an affinity diagram to sort these issues into themes, the most glaring of which are as follows.

Limited booking options online

The store had many options for tarot readings, from more traditional visits in store, to having FaceTime readings for those not comfortable to have one in store, or are not in the area. However, not all of these options were conveyed online, in which about 47% of appointments are made.

Difficulty managing client expectations

As the customer base for tarot readings are primarily newcomers to tarot, many are unaware of what to expect from their reading. Additionally, there was no description explaining Tarot on their site. This unfortunately lead to unmet customer expectations, leading to various unsatisfied customer reviews online.

Lack of client privacy

The Good Spirit has intentionally chosen to place their tarot reading table next to the street facing window of the shop with the hope of decreasing the stigma around tarot. There is a common trope about metaphysical services being held in dimly lit backrooms, something the owner is combatting with a calming, cheerful, and minimalist interior design.

Inability to book a preferred reader

As the readers have different specialties and personalities, and customers are careful with who they reveal sensitive and intimate information with, many prefer to book with a specific reader. However, this option is not prevalent on the website, or any other touchpoint. 

As issues 1, 2, and 4 were situated in the realm of client onboarding, we chose to delve into all three as part of the greater whole within the booking process.

Personas

Store Owner

To empathize with the actual owner, and understand various aspects from her point of view, her struggles within the business, and her own values around her business, we created a persona surrounding her.

New Client

The new client was the primary persona we were looking to design for, as they are the clients the issues identified earlier strongly pertain to.

Existing Client

Even though we were primarily designing for onboarding new clientele, we wanted to ensure that down the line our design proposal would not hinder the existing clientele in any way.

Journey Mapping

Analyzing the experience

These personas helped in analyzing the current booking scenarios, in this case booking a FaceTime reading. This pinpointed any frictions and opportunity within process. 

Ideation

Before delving into fixing the opportunities identified in the online booking process, we believe it would be helpful to explore supplementary solutions that may also help alleviate these issues.

In store print solution

Due to the lack of physical information on appointment options in store, a series of physical touchpoints would entice customers to book a card reading, informing them to the full extent of the services in the studio. 

Voice user interface (VUI)

This option essentially includes all options available in the phones automated booking service, a common ways that The Good Spirit’s clientele make appointments.

Due to our scope, we chose the print solution because of its viability within our teams skills, and helps transition the client to the online booking experience.

Stakeholder Input

As we are not experts on reading Tarot cards, our team then needed to determine what this appropriate information should be, through an interactive workshop. We used the three methods below.

Identity Collage

This option acted as an icebreaker exercise to help warm the readers into the workshop. The readers chose from a collection of words and images, creating a collage that best describes themselves, explaining their reasoning. 

Ranking System

To help establish what readers should expect from a reading, we created a ranking system with various prompts that the readers could order themselves from most important to least important. Sticky notes were provided for anything we missed. 

Online Profile

To make short reader profiles, allowing clientele to choose a reader better suited to their needs, we needed to understand would be relevant to know when choosing a reader. For this we created a profile template, allowing them to add or remove any information deemed important or unimportant.

H-Form

For this exercise, we had placed various questions of interest via sticky notes, allowing them to write their positive and negative thoughts on either side, with the idea space allowing them to express any preliminary ideas.

When synthesizing the workshop results, we found common patterns and themes through affinity mapping. This helped us create a loose mock up for what information should be in various sections of the experience.

Visualization through storyboarding

To create a loose visualization to The Good Spirit of how our design might be interacted with, we storyboarded how the design would integrate into customers journey. 

Outcome

Homepage

To help establish what Tarot reading is to the new client, we provided a quick blurb explain so. Below, we took the top three aspects of what the readers wished clients knew before coming in (based off the workshop), using those as our talking points.

Services Page

We used this page as an opportunity to provide, at a glance, The Good Spirit's progressive approach to their practice, mentioning both their in real life and Facetime options for readings.

As well, we added the rest of the important aspects the readers wished the clients would know before the reading, framed as a way to prepare the client to get the most of their reading.

Reader Page

Using the participatory workshop as a guide, we took the profile information the readers deemed most relevant to the reading, to determine what categories of information to place on the reader profiles. This allowed the clients to choose a reader they feel would best suite them and their needs.

Booking process

Lastly, we made some improvement to the booking process, reflecting our insights and planning for the previous pages. These aspects include reiterating the reader options, providing the ability to choose the reader, Tarot delivery method (Facetime vs. in store), reader availability dates, along with a CTA link at the confirmation section to learn more about Tarot before the clients reading.

Card Redesign

To accompany the revised content strategy for the site, we had as well modified the content on the existing business card through adding the booking options, which include the Facetime readings, and the ability to choose a specific reader. These aspects were aimed at the new client as a new client typically is the one who will pick up the business cards.

To re-enforce the aspects of having the ability to choose a reader, and whether the reading is in person or through facetime, we have created appointment cards to allow one who is booking in the store to be prompted to choose a reader location option (Facetime or in store).