A Design Thinking approach to re-engineering the Christmas Experience (CX). Charged with driving North Pole Venture's innovation agenda by Santa, the elves adopted a Design Thinking Approach to define options for Xmas 2.0.

1. Applying Design Thinking to the Christmas Experience (CX).
Why there’s no “L” in Innovation
Client: North Pole Ventures Project: CX innovation
Date: Dec 2013
Auth: J Marley

2. ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
This report provides the management summary of
work undertaken by I&IF for North Pole Ventures.
Facing increasing competition from other festivals
and increasing logistic and channel complexity North
Pole Ventures used Design Thinking to explore
options for.....
Innovating the Christmas Experience.

3. BACKGROUND:
INNOVATING THE CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE:
.
1) There are too many kids in the world:
With any successful business (especially one
that offers a FoC service), uncontrolled
growth is inevitable.
The impact of this growth is:
*Financial (stretching limited resources)
(Forecast based on data from 2013 UN Figures)
*Logistical (distributing more and more gifts
within a limited timeframe).

4. BACKGROUND:
INNOVATING THE CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE:
2) Digital=unmanageable complexity
The proliferation of digital devices has three
impacts:
*Need for complex omni channel content
management, handling white mail + mobile
+ e-channels + emerging channels + social.
*Reducing technology cycles means
requests for “latest iPhone” can’t be fulfilled
until the last moment.
*Social Media increases awareness of
emergent toys accelerates global trends in
toy demand, decreasing lead time for
production.

5. The Design Thinking Approach
Stimulating new ideas for the CX
Client: North Pole Ventures Project: CX innovation
Date: Dec 2013
Auth: J Marley

6. IDEATION:
A WORKSHOP (BUT NOT AS THEY KNOW IT)
.
1) Creating a different environment
to promote creative thinking:
EXPECTATIONS/NORM
ACTUAL WORKSHOP SPACE
Knowing that settings that differ from the
usual office environment gets people
thinking differently we crafted a
challenging setting for the North Pole
Ventures team.

7. IDEATION:
BRAIN-STORMING & FOCUSING ON STAKEHOLDERS
COLLECTING & COLLATING IDEAS
.
2) Understanding user’s motivation
helped clarify options:
Naughty List Child
Sweary
Vile
Insomniac
Capturing the drivers of stakeholders in
the CX process surfaced some hostility
towards so called “Naughty List” children.

8. IDEATION:
EVEN
CRISP
DEEP
MAPPING THE TARGET CX JOURNEY
.
3) Translating new ideas into a new CX process:
Capturing how ideas and stakeholders combined in a
Yuletide flow helped the team refine their concepts....

9. The New CX
Key Ideas for the Big Man from the little folk.
Client: North Pole Ventures Project: CX innovation
Date: Dec 2013
Auth: J Marley

10. OPTIONS:
1:CHANGE THE SOURCING MODEL & LOGISTICS
1) Outsource production and distribution
Employ a lower cost/higher capacity workforce.
BAH HUMBUG
*Christmas
(may clash with “spirit of Christmas”)
*Use parents as a “community resource”/unpaid labour.
They don’t have enough to do at this time of year.
Concept has been used by the Taxi industry successfully for
years to avoid the low tipping under 8’s.

11. OPTIONS:
2:MIGRATE CHRISTMAS INTO THE CLOUD
2) SaaS (Santa as a Service)
Maximise Santa’s utility by providing him as a service to
support other festivals.
*Maximises addressable market
*Reflects North Pole Ventures’ diversity policy.
*Enables a lower TCO (Total Christmas Overhead)
*Provides a location independent service, removing
questions about how Santa visits everyone in one
night.....

12. OPTIONS:
4: LAUNCH AVATATHER CHRISTMAS’
2) Create a new Digital-centric Christmas
Re-engineer Christmas around digital channels.
*Enable a credit-based gifting tradition where on-line
vouchers are accumulated and net vouchers must be
spent before Boxing Day sales.
*Never have to hunt for receipts in the trash again!
*Helps kids focus on communicating with “friends”, rather
than speaking to family who they only see once a year
anyway.
*Generates ad revenue for Santa
*Avoids premium production and delivery costs during
the Christmas period
* Comes with “the rustle of wrapping paper” link to
Soundcloud file.
*Freemium model offers potential to upgrade to a
Christmas dinner without a row about sprouts.

13. (C) MARK BARNES ILLUSTRATION & DESIGN 2013
And finally...
Client: North Pole Ventures Project: CX innovation
Date: Dec 2013
Auth: J Marley

14. HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM I&IF:
(BUT NOEL RESPONSIBLY)
.
*Christmas is a time for us all to take a break from
focusing on designing for users & finding the desirable,
feasible and viable.....(as important as it is).
Now we’re focusing on friends and family, decking the halls,
roasting chestnuts and hanging stockings.
And we’re also remembering those making other people’s
Christmases merry and bright.....especially the people at Crisis
HTTP://COMMUNITY.CRISIS.ORG.UK/RESERVE

15. I&IF
stephen.wood@iandif.com
www.iandif.com
Client: North Pole Ventures Project: CX innovation
Date: Dec 2013
Auth: J Marley