Team Project, My Roles:
• Interview Script
• Conducted Interviews
• Survey Creation (First & Second)
• Quantitative Data Analysis
• User Personas
• User Empathy Maps
• User Journey Maps
• Future opportunities analysis
Sparefoot is a storage unit aggregator looking to update their user personas. Self storage is a $38 billion per year industry & the landscape of the self-storage market has changed since Sparefoot created these personas in 2017.
The data behind the previous personas is outdated and Sparefoot is looking to explore new markets.
Originally Sparefoot limited their personas to what they termed as users experiencing one of the "Five D's": divorce, death, departure, de-cluttering, downsizing.
This limitation immediately raised accuracy questions based off our own personal experience as users of self-storage. We knew there was potential to find more variety.
To begin research we asked stakeholders for more information. This was an effort to understand the key interactions Sparefoot was hoping to improve with the new personas.
We learned that Sparefoot sought to improve their site conversion rates. Sparefoot assumed that user acquisition would be though an online search for near by storage facilities. Users then engage by navigating through their website. Conversion occurs when a storage unit is reserved and purchased online.
User retention was not given much focus or value with the previous business model or old personas in use.
We believe there will be niche user personas, possibly small business owners, in untapped markets for Sparefoot to potentially monetize.
As a team my partner and I conducted 5 user interviews. Our subjects were users who had previously used or ever considered using self-storage. As with all research portions of a project, it was important that our interview plan included key takeaways:
When did the user decide that self-storage was an option?
What are general feelings about self-storage?
What would encourage a user to pick one facility over another?
Are there any unknown pain points with self-storage?
To gain a clearer picture of what Sparefoot's users looked like currently, we asked more specific questions:
We asked our participants to tell us:
• details about themselves and their everyday lifestyle
• their relationship with their belongings
• their previous experience with storage
• how they search for storage facilities
• if a user had ever returned to a storage facility
User One
“It's supposed to be there to make your life easier. If you don't even really notice anything about it, then you're probably doing great.”
User Two
“I looked for climate controlled and proximity to my home.”
User Three
"My company gave me choices with storage companies. They could bill directly.”
To gather accurate information, we set out to find both qualitative and quantitative data sets.
After interviews we conducted an anonymous survey with 35 responses.
The information gathered was both numerical and open ended, both were very insightful. We found data that would eventually become a direct support to two new user personas.
Upon compiling all of the interview transcripts and the open ended survey responses, several insights stood out.
Right away we could see a few different persona patterns.
Due to the quick turn around on this project, we arrived at a group decision after discussing our mutual observations.
Clearly there was enough data to support the following:
• Small business persona who separates business inventory from personal space at home.
• Young world traveler persona who leaves their belongings to seek adventure abroad.
• Family with a college student that needs to store dorm decor and items during the summer.
This persona encompasses the mother of a college student. She has recently collected all of the items needed to make her child comfortable while away at college. These items took a long time to cultivate at were a measured expense for her family.
Placing these items in storage for the summer is a relief and practical decision for the family. This also gives her child the opportunity to come back home for the summer since her items are safely stored away and no rent is due on continued housing.
Sales reps and other small business entrepreneurs often need places to store inventory, samples or marketing materials.
There are many items that are necessary to run a business without having a brick and mortar base. Yet, these individuals are able to have just as successful an experience by keeping such items close by for use as needed.
For those that often work alone, it is helpful to reach out to their community for help. The onsite storage facility manager provides a perfect opportunity to offer services such as package acceptance.
The third persona that arose from our research was also from patterns rooted in multiple sources.
Young twenty-somethings recently finished with college were not interested in settling down. Looking for adventure, this persona wants to back pack through a foreign country or work abroad for an extended period of time.
Without financial means to maintain two residences, this persona is looking for a secure space to store their belongings until they return.
Through our research Sparefoot was presented several new opportunities to monetize as well as capitalize on customer retention in the future.
Stakeholders previously had not considered customer retention as an opportunity. The previous idea used by the company was that storage was mostly used once in a lifetime as the result of a big life event.
The qualitative and quantitative data we collected allowed for the consideration of repeat customer business in two different new personas.
• Small business
• College students
Our data also gave way to new opportunities with users who are looking to seek adventure through extended travel.
More information on this UX design sprint is available upon request in presentation form.
