Lesson 2, Richard Baron individual presentation, Power Point Presentation, Are you Paying Attention, Venture Lab

1. ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?
INTRODUCTION and SELF-AWARENESS IN MY OBSERVING
Venture Lab : A Crash Course in
Creativity:
Lesson 2
Richard Baron: Individual
Submission
TEAM 14348
Task????
1.Go to at least 6 different stores. They
When I first looked at the assignment for Lesson 2 I figured that the emphasis was can be at the same shopping center or
on observation about details when I looked around at various stores. A research different locations. Spend at least 15
observational viewpoint. minutes in each store making
OBSERVATIONS using the lab guide for
BUT reference. Take photos to capture your
observations.
What I observed especially, and more importantly, was that I looked at the
personal dynamics within in as I observed. I noticed personality traits and 2. Create a presentation that captures
difficulties I had while doing the observing. Lost opportunities were not always your INSIGHTS and HIDDEN
because of lack of observation but rather that I avoided observing or had no OPPORTUNITIES. What types of things
structure for seizing opportunities or did nothing beyond the observation. had you missed before? What were your
biggest surprises? Are there opportunities
Caveats: Taking pictures was initially a problem for me because I am shy and hidden in plain sight?
because I worried about objections. However, it turned out that some stores didn’t
say anything or even notice, some stores a manager or salesperson asked what Use your photos to highlight your insights.
I was doing, but none objected AS LONG as individual customers or salespeople
could not be recognized. Your presentation can be in the form of
slides or a short video.

2. •All stores had a NAME attached to it on the OUTSIDE of the
store.
•RED was a common color because it stood out against rather
bland outside walls.
•Fonts tended to be CURSIVE in nature.
•Many of the stores presented their names with BOLD, LARGE
letters.
•I think many of the stores might have had to conform to their
environment or complex they were part of. So, some
limitations.
•Most stores had ONE large name BUT WINCO also used
signs to say they were employee-owned and open 24 hours.
•Stores with OUTSIDE entrances tended to have LARGER
signs than those inside the mall.

3. •I went to 3 stores that had an outside entrance , 2 stores inside the mall and 1 group of stores that had an outside and an
inside entrance.
•The outside entrances were closed but had large areas so you could see inside OR had displays to see what was inside the
store.
•The inside entranced stores had no doors, were open, and you could see everything immediately. These were inside the mall
and you could see everything inside immediately from outside unless the store was too large.

4. I thought that each store I visited was arranged mostly importantly by
the function it served the public. For example the FOOD BOX STORE
was like a warehouse, packaging in boxes for quick replacement. The
FOOD COURT was open yet attractively arranged with the stores on
the walls, floors that could be kept clean, tables and chairs in colors that
were bright and colorful. The BOOK STORE had good lighting,
carpeted floors except in the café, but fairly wide aisles arranged both
randomly and in columns. The BATH and FRAGRANT STORE was
crowded but used color to show their products.

5. Again, I think stores were arranged for function and that often provided the
environment. For example, some stores were very tall, maybe 40 feet high such
as in the “warehouse-like” grocery store or the tall store , telecommunications
outlet. Both these had linoleum or tile floors and overhead lighting. Stores such
as the Book Store were multifunctional, areas to sell products and browse and a
separate area to dine while browsing (carpeted).
The mall small stores were carpeted and ceiling lower.
Walls in all the stores were generally light colored (beige, white, etc). Lighting
varied but in general was overhead and evenly placed. One store used lighting to
emphasize their products.

6. Different stores show their products
in different ways.
Stores shelved their products either
on stacked shelves, or on featured
sections either on tables or shelves.
Most stores had lighting from above
but one store used backdrops and
individual lighting to emphasize
SALES or specific products. Most
stores were actually rather densely
stacked but a couple stores were
sparsely arranged or arranged along
the walls. Most of the stores I visited
had products grouped by type of
product, by function. One store was
strongly oriented towards color
based organization.

7. I looked at navigation in terms of the stores. How people were ROUTED by the layout of the store. In some stores the long
aisles forced a two directional pattern. In other stores the store was laid out with much of the space open or sparsely located
displays so people could travel around the displays. In some stores it seemed people could go in any direction they wanted.

8. Prices were often shown by SALE prices, or SPECIAL OFFERS on tables. Other prices were seen on menus above
the store (restaurants). In FOOD STORES item tags showed pricing. In some stores each individual product was
individually priced.

9. ( I avoided taking pictures of people because of confidentiality. However I did make observations.)
My observations on people were varied but it seemed that some patterns could be found.
1. Most sales people did NOT approach me, but were very helpful when I needed help. A lot depended on the store.
2. It was interesting the different ways the store engaged you. For example, one store had a customer greeter who
assigned you a “place” in line. Others watched but didn’t approach unless you showed interest in a product. A couple
stores really offered no help unless you asked for it.
3. There were NO formal uniforms that I could see, but a bunch of stores had their employees wear aprons with some
sort of lettering.
4. Some stores such as tech oriented, or a gender- oriented store such as Bath and Beauty had employee or customer
representatives that matched the store. For example young men generally for tech or young women for the Bath and
Beauty stores. I noticed that the dress of the personnel rather matched the “atmosphere of the store.” For example,
one store seemed rather sloppy and the employees dressed accordingly.
5. No employees followed a script.
6. It was a slow time of the day when I visited the stores so there were not a lot of people, except at the food store.
People varied in terms of relationships and different stores seemed to attract different sorts of people and groups.
.

10. How did I feel about different stores?
It is difficult to make a general statement about all the stores I visited.
I noted the functionality of each store. For example, in the box store that sold groceries I felt “ordinary”, felt
that the entire purpose was to buy groceries and get out. In stores like the book store or the malls, I felt like
I could BROWSE, take my time, EXPLORE. The tech store was exciting in terms of new gadgets but did I
really need a new phone?. I liked stores that had a lot of light. I liked stores that I didn’t feel watched by
sales people, but was happy when someone could help me when I needed to be helped. Only one store did I
actually not want to go into because it seemed to small and “close” to me.

11. There were aspects of myself I learned during this exercise.
1) I am shy so I almost did not even do the exercise because it meant that I would have to
go out in public.
2) Once I did it, it became easier to look and engage myself with the public.
3) I found out that the more I saw, the more I thought, the more ideas came into my head,
the more energy I had.
4) I realized that I have actually always seen opportunities when observing, BUT the
problem was nailing down one or two or more and further investigating and exploring.
5) My problem is not in observation but in focusing on the observation in some meaningful
way. I think questions really help me when looking around myself. This seems very
important.
6) The problem too is taking an opportunity or an idea to the next step. Making something
out of it, developing something from all the rushing thoughts I get in such a situation.
7) There is not enough time to do a good job in doing this report, but I did the best I could.