Apple stores are almost always busy, often late into the evening. ( The 5th Avenue store is open 24x7.) Many of those visitors are repeat customers.

connect & attract

advocate

orient

Genius bar + classes
The genius bar offers
on-site service; walk-in or
reserve a time online.
The theater offers a range
of classes, events, and
free workshops. $99 a year
gets you all the classes you want,
even one-on-one training;
one-on-one shopping
appointments are available, too.

extend & retain

interact

Busy locations

Apple locates flag-ship stores in high-traffic areas like Market Street in SF, Michigan Avenue in Chicago, and 5th Avenue in N Y. It also locates mini stores (as narrow as 15 feet) in malls. Both strategies expose Apple products directly to people who wouldn't otherwise see them.

Simple layout

The stores display relatively few products in an open even sparse layout, so that visitors can easily find what they're looking for. A greeter stands at the door, and plenty of trained staff are available throughout the store to answer questions.

Test drive

Visitors can test most of Apple's products in the stores. There's even a special area for kids and internet access. Recently, Apple has begun to replace cash registers with mobile check-out devices, an effort to eliminate check-out lines.

In the middle— multiple touch points in the store experience

Connect by mail
Staff offers opportunity to receive
the receipt by e-mail—
so there is another chance
for Apple to touch you
via a different channel.

connect & attract

Museum-style staging
Because of the sparse layout, it is
easy for people to find the product
category that they are looking
for—differentiation between
products is clear—
iPods vs. laptops vs. desktops.

advocate

orient

Informative signs
Once at a station the information
about the product is displayed on
small cards, so you know
what you’re looking at.

Choose accessories
The staff member gathers
the item from stock (located
near the rear of the store)—
and directs you to accessories,
cables, cases, etc., and checks you out
right there with a hand-held device.

extend & retain

interact

Listen to music People can try on the products by playing with them (headsets supplied.) In the ipod section all the colors are displayed— so you can even try them on with your outfit. A staff member sees you playing, asks if you’d like one.

In the small— multiple touch points within the in-store purchase process

of design as conversation.

Bitner [ 4] articulates a six-step, self-service technology adoption process:

1. Awareness 4. Trial

2. Investigation 5. Repeated use

3. Evaluation 6. Commitment

Bitner suggests “trial” is the most important stage because it is influenced by customer readiness or the expectations that they bring to the interaction: Can they do “it” (ability), do they know what to do (clarity), and do they see benefit in doing it (motivation). These ideas are consistent with the concept of transparency in interaction design.

Of course, producers (and designers) have goals

for their customers’ experience. But all they can do is provide artifacts and services that create opportunities for experience. We should be cautious about proposing to “design experience.” Ultimately, construction of experience remains with the customer. You own your experience; no one else can construct it for you. In John Dewey’s words, “a beholder must create his own experience [ 5].”

So what is the customers’ view of their experience?

Customers interact with producers through “touch points,” clusters of elements combined into artifacts that foster product or service experiences. These touch-point experiences form a

[ 4] Bitner, M., S. Brown, and M. Meuter. “Technology Infusion in Service Encounters.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 28, no. 1 (2000).

May + June 2008

[ 5] Dewey, J. Art as Experience. New York: Perigee Books, 1980.