Human-AI Co-Creation of Worked Examples for Programming Classes
Crash course on creativity [attention assignemt] ai diso
1. Crash Course on Creativity
Observation Lab
Report of Observation of Activities in Supermarket Store
by Auwalu Inuwa Diso disoweb@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Before you enter the store:
1. Does the store draw you in? If so, how?
This store has no outside attraction. No window displays, no special lighting and no flowers!
2. Is the door open or closed?
The door is wide open with two security people at each side of the interior.
3. How does this make you feel?
The open door shows that the store has confidence in the security measures it takes to keep the
belongings of the customers at the entrance and screen their purchases as they go out.
4. How big is the sign lettering and in what font?
The sign is simply on top of the building and above the entrance door. The letters are painted in
red and the font is an average size.
5. What does it tell you about the store?
The store capitalizes on its relative history so it doesn’t do so much on gaining image. It has been
around for about twenty years and it assumes it has become a kind of a household name so they
care less in asserting their brand image.
Environment:
6. What is the color scheme of the store? How does this affect you?
The store’s dominating color is white on the inside walls and roof and milk on the outside walls.
7. What type of floor does the store have? How does this affect the environment?
The floor of the store is made up with green tiles. It is a bit rough to prevent slipping and falling,
it is good as well.
8. How high is the ceiling? How does this feel?
The ceiling is not so high up because there is another floor on top of it. Though a little bit of
space but one feels as if he is in a small space.
2. 9. How brightly lit is the store? How does this affect you?
The store is brightly lighted but not as light as it should.
10. How loud is the environment?
The store environment is not so loud as there are no speakers either playing music or coming out.
All one hears is the raised voices of customers as they talk to each other or to the attendants and
cashiers.
11. What is causing the noise?
Most customer chat from time to time between themselves.
12. Is there music playing? If so, does it fit the environment?
The store does not provide music or any other entertainment to its customers or staff.
13. Is the store warm or cold?
The temperature is neither hot nor cold.
14. Is the store crowed with merchandise or is it sparse?
The store is very crowded with merhachandise.
15. Does the store have a distinctive smell?
There is no any fragrant smell at all, except for the change of air as a result of the people coming
and going out. But there is no attempt to liven up the smell of the place by the store management.
16. Where is the cash register located?
The cash register is located at the left hand side of the entrance.
17. How visible is the store security?
The security personnel are not in sight. However, when none turns to the exit door he be greeted
by the security. There is only one security camera monitor on display at the entrance, showing
everyone in the store.
18. How long do you want to stay in this store?
I will like to stay in this store very briefly because there is so much congestion and the
movement is uneasy. There is no corner where one comfortably stands for few minutes. Even
sampling products will not take one long.
19. Does the environment influence the perceived value of the merchandise?
I think it does.
3. Personnel:
20. How long does it take before a sales person initiates contact?
It takes forever, unless they see someone trying to do something bad, like stealing or damaging a
product. I wonder if there are salespeople at all. The people working in the store think they are
there to chat or watch over customers only and not to sell. They hardly encourage anyone or help
him to make a choice.
21. Does the salesperson have a script to follow with each customer?
As mentioned above, most of the people working there do not perform any activity that can be
termed as ‘selling’ at all.
22. Does the salesperson treat different customers differently?
Also, as mentioned above, those who easily get attention are those who want to mess up.
Similarly, women are given some consideration for certain reasons. But generally, the only one
who gets attention is the one who asks for it. And even when they do treat customers, it is so
passive as to answer a question or two but never do they ask customers about what they want.
23. What is the ratio of salespeople to customers?
May be 1:10 will be the usual ration of store’s staff to the customer who come in either to brows
or to make purchase.
24. What age and gender are the employees?
All the employees are adult males.
25. Are the salespeople using the store products?
One cannot say so because majority of the employees are low income earners. Unless they are
given some special discounts by the store, it is hard to assume they use products from the store.
26. Do the salespeople have a uniform?
At this branch of the store and this time, the salespeople have no uniform but I have been to
another branch of the same store and at different time of the day and I saw they do have
uniforms.
27. Do the salespeople match the stores image?
To some extent, there is a corresponding compromise of the image of the store equal to the
image of the staff. At this branch of the store, which situated in the ancient city, the employees
do not present any high end image neither do the store itself. Moreover, the customers do not
seem to care because they remain busy making purchases, without paying attention to image
issues.
4. Products:
28. What is the first product that you notice?
The first product I noticed in the store was the chocolates that are placed directly and narrowly in
front of the entrance door. As I moved into the narrow path by the right into the store, I notice
the new extension at the rear end of the store containing enamelware and toys.
29. Is there a central display table with featured products?
There is no any central display, not even a space for it. The store seems jam-packed with goods,
even though some counters are almost empty at the top!
30. Where are items that are “for sale” located in the store?
Nothing is designated for sale. The store seems to have no experience in that at all. Even though
some few products like greeting cards, seem very old stock, the store is not in the habit of
designating any product ‘for sale’ as such.
31. How are the products arranged? By function? By price? By color?
The products are generally arranged by function but that arrangement is more often distorted.
Such if you are looking for something, you have to ask an attendant and sometimes, the
attendants themselves fumble through before they ‘discover’ what you want.
32. Are there free samples or demonstrations?
The store does not offer free samples at all.
33. What products are at eye level?
Products at eye level are mostly chocolates, cosmetics, confectionaries, perfumes, toiletries,
clothing and shoes.
34. What items in the store are in the least accessible locations?
Most of the following products are not easily accessible to customers: books, perfumes, yoghourt
drinks (one of the attendants is sitting on the refrigerator)!
35. Where are the most and least expensive products located?
The most expensive products in the store are electronics, household products such as dinner sets,
glassware and cutlery, followed by perfumes, food products and clothing. The least items are
some grades of toiletries, confectioneries and personal usage products such as combs, batteries
etc.
36. Are the prices of the products easy to find?
Most of the products’ prices are shown on the items on small sticker tags. However, the gum
used for sticking is generally loose. That is why some products are without prices. I picked up a
5. tooth whitener and the price tag fell down because the gum has dried. For many products, the
customer has to ask the attendants or the cashiers, and since there is no bar code machines to
scan and reveal the prices, sometimes they have to find out from another staff of the store.
37. Are there impulse items near the cash register?
The only impulse product placed at the cashier are some boos that show and old, very dusty
packaging, which shows that they have been touched for a long time. Apart from that, no other
products are placed beside the cash registers.
Customers:
38. Are most customers alone or with someone else? What is the relationship?
All the customers are alone, except for the ones who insist on getting help with their selection or
sampling of products.
39. What is the average age and gender of the customers?
Most of the customers are young adults from twenty to forty. Hardly could one spot older people
in the shop. The young ones usually accompany their parents or sisters to the store.
40. When a customer enters the store, do they tend to walk in the same path or direction?
Most of the people who come into the store go to the right hand side because that where the road
leads, the left hand is mainly filled with people coming from the counter after making their
payments.
41. How long do customers stay in the store, on average?
Most male customers stay for ten to fifteen minutes at most. Some time is usually spent at the
payment counter as many people will queue up trying to make payments.
42. Do customers touch the products? Is this encouraged?
Customers touch ‘some’ products but not all. Perfumes are particularly protected from direct
access by the customers. If you want to buy perfume, you have to ask the attendant to pick it up
for you and then you can take it to the counter for payment if you want to buy.
43. Do most customers appear to be on a mission or are they browsing?
About half of the customers come with specific missions of what they want to buy. The other
half averagely, go from one counter to another, looking, asking and admiring products. Some do
not buy anything at all.
44. What percent of customers purchase products in the store?
About one third of the customers who come into the store end up buying something.
6. Other Observations:
The books’ counter is COMPLETELY deserted. You can hardly see anyone looking at
the books or having interest in sampling, let alone buying them. The location of the book
counters helps with the obscurity. It is placed just beside to walls of a narrow path. Most
of the customers passing by may not even notice the existence of the small unattractive
counter containing books. The books are mainly cookbooks, religious and fiction.
As with nearly all the stores I know of in this city, no one attempts to capture customers’
contact information with the intention of contacting them later on for whatever reason,
marketing and otherwise. I think this is serious gap in successful marketing process.
There bulk sms services around and almost every customer nowadays has a mobile phone
with sms facility and some with even email but no one is taking advantage of this.
Store attendants in this part of the world do smile to customers. I can remember a
quotation that says, ‘he who does not smile should not open a shop.’ Of course one
should not keep on smiling like a new psychiatric patient, especially to women because
that will lead to a serious offense culturally and religiously too if they are married. But
simple compliment to show caring to a customer is not so common around.
This store has serious space constraints. First, it is very close to the main road. On it’s
both sides and behind it are homes or stores own by other people who will not sell to
allow the store to expand. The only available space is the one story on top of the store,
which is used as a warehouse. This store could have used the space upstairs for additional
display of products and the basement for storage purposes. Unfortunately, I have never
heard of a basement in a commercial building in this city. May be because it is because of
availability of space or other reasons but generally, we don’t provide for basement in our
building here.
The shelves of this store are not labeled. If you want to know the products displayed on
each counter, you have to go to the counter and check up. This may be a big timewaster
for those who are new to the store and who want to pick up something and go quickly.
The electricity meter was exposed with several pieces of jammed wires protruding
outside. It makes the whole place ugly and poses a potential danger of sparks and fire
outbreak.
The products replenishment on shelves is not very organized. Some shelves are empty,
especially the top ones and there is access for customers to get there to take something
they wants, if there is any.
7. There is so much dirt and dust on the floors. Pieces of paper, receipts, packaging and
other materials all litter the floor. The customers are not visibly complaining but they will
surely be happy to have all that taken care of.
Based on the above observations, I have identified fifteen areas that could provide opportunities
for the store to generate more business.
1. Basement
2. Cleaners
3. Contact info
4. Demonstrations
5. Dustbin
6. Feed back
7. Fliers
8. Fragrance
9. Impulse products
10. Music
11. Price tags
12. Products for older men
13. Samples
14. Smiles
15. Uniforms