Observation exercise

Location

Starbucks

Part A:

Observations

• Many people sitting around, studying
• Preparing of drinks seems efficient. Everything the employees need is right in front of them
• Currently there could be one more employee, since one of the employees is constantly switching between preparing drinks and taking orders, which results in a longer waiting time for customers
• There are six people standing in front of the counter waiting for their drinks to be prepared, and they are blocking the entrance by standing there
• I just ordered a freshly brewed coffee, and the employee didn’t ask my name, so I had to go to the counter every few minutes to check if my drink is already prepared
• Although I understand the reason Starbucks asks for your name (to make your experience more personal), I think it would be more efficient to use numbers like most fast-food restaurants
• I don’t have anything against the idea with using names, but the system has flaws as the cashier sometimes forgets to ask your name, the employees just place your drink on the counter without calling your name, or they pronounce it wrong, which gives people a sense of not feeling important
• Paying process is very convenient and simple, not like with many other restaurants/bars
• Tables are kind of dirty, since no one really cleans them
• You usually don’t get a receipt (unless you ask for it), which is good for the environment (since thermal paper can’t be recycled)
• Although they have three different trash cans to throw away the trash (landfill, compost, recycle), the symbols of the things that should be thrown in each trash can are so small and colorless that most people just throw their stuff randomly in any of the trash cans
• Also, if you don’t want to drink your drink anymore, you can’t throw it away because there is no place to pour it away. You have to take it and pour it away somewhere else. For example, I never finish the whole cup of coffee (because I never drink that much black coffee), so I have to pour it away somewhere else, because if I just throw it away, the whole trash can is full of coffee
• Since many people are studying here and therefore using their laptops, it would be good to have plugs underneath or next to every table. This would attract even more customers
• Since I like to eat and drink healthy, I don’t like to drink most of the products of Starbucks since they contain a lot of sugar and have many calories. Since many people are studying here, and therefore needing energy, it would be better to include more healthy products into their menu
• I think it is a great idea to write the calories of each product on their menu, but it would in my opinion be good to also include the amount of sugar that is in each drink
• For an even better customer experience, employees could wear the same shirt color. Right now, they are wearing the green Starbucks aprons and have all different outfits underneath
• Right now, a guy just came in wearing a backpack, and when he took his backpack off, you could see that he was sweating a lot on his back due to the heat and due to the backpack. Maybe you could somehow solve that problem with the backpack

Potential problems to solve

• Systems with names is not as efficient as it could be
• You can’t pour your drink away if you don’t want it anymore
• Backpack resulting in sweat on back could be improved

Potential solutions

• Your name could be on a monitor on top of the wall that shows your name when your drink is ready. There could be another monitor that shows all the names of the people of which the drink is ready to get picked up, so you don’t have to look at every drink and can sit down while you wait. Also, this eliminates the problem of employees not calling your name when your drink is ready
• There should be something next to the trash cans where you can pour your drink away before throwing the cup into the trash can
• The backpack could be improved by having the backpack cool your back down. There could be solar panels on top of the backpack which would power the cooling device. It would not cool down the whole backpack, but just the part that touches your back

Sketch of the scene

Part B:

Preliminary Problem Statement

Backpacks often cause sweat stains when it is hot. This is because a backpack accumulates additional heat by preventing your natural body heat from escaping. Since it is very uncomfortable to have a wet back everywhere you go with a backpack, there has to be a solution for this problem. Another problem that can be solved here is that people’s devices often run out of battery while they are not at home.