2. Starbucks does not currently have a strong
solution to retrieve user feedback post-launch
• It is difficult to find a technology that can
service our 33,000+ locations
• Existing surveying resources (e.g. Tryer
Center, customer interviews, and online
questionnaires) are limited in scale.
• Post-launch, a product’s performance
with our customers becomes opaque
2
3. Goal: Find a user-centric solution that collects
feedback from users during public beta tests
Our surveying
product impacts a
broad range of
users, so we must
keep in mind the
potential impact
our solution has on
all our stakeholders Operators
Our Customers
Barista Partners
Support Center Teams
3
4. Our Customers Barista Partners Operators Support Center
Low effort: It should not
be a taxing endeavor to
give Starbucks feedback
Mindful: Our baristas
work hard on behalf of
customers. Asking
customers for feedback
should not cause our
partners to feel more
stressed
Aligned: Findings should
be actionable while not
penalizing operators if
we find a performance
issue
Reliable: We will be
making choices using the
data we uncover, So, we
must be certain our data
is reliable
Non-Invasive: Our
customers must still
enjoy “That first sip
feeling”
Versatile: Our solution
must accommodate
every type of Starbucks
location.
Cost effective: We must
find a low-cost strategy
to gather these
additional insights
Safety: Our solution must keep in mind the health and safety of all those involved in the project.
Each stakeholder has a unique set of concerns
that our product must address
4
6. Starbucks can leverage existing capabilities
and assets as avenues for potential solutions
In-Store Touch Screen Enhanced Labels In-App Questionnaire
A kiosk that asks
customers for feedback.
It would sit on the drink
pick-up area of every
store or be a standalone
feature located at the
entrance of every
Starbucks.
Included with every
sticker label printed on a
Starbucks order, would
be a QR code that
customers can scan with
their smartphones. The
QR code would direct
them to a short survey.
Build into the Starbucks
App a survey feature
that asks customers to
provide feedback on
their most recent trip.
6
7. The In-App questionnaire product is the best
option along the range of criteria considered*
Criteria Touch Screen Enhanced Labels In-App Survey
Low effort
Non-Invasive
Mindful
Aligned
Versatile
Reliable
Cost effective
Safety
Strong
Good
Moderate
Poor
7
* Analysis provided in appendix
Preferred Choice
8. Moving forward with the In-App Surveys,
what trade-offs must we keep in mind?
• Surveys may increase app
engagement and result in an
increase in purchases or in-app
funds
• Surveys can be used as a marketing
tool to enhance the experience
customers have with our products
• Introducing new ways to gather
data from users using the app can
unlock the next chapter in digital
innovation for customers
• Introducing a new use case into the
app may conflict with the Starbucks
App’s current strategy
• Limiting surveys to app users may
introduce bias into our data
because respondents may not give
honest feedback
• We will not receive feedback from
people who do not use the app,
who represent a large portion of
Starbucks’ customer base
8
Potential Benefits Drawbacks to Consider
9. Before going to market we must validate data
reliability and muster an excited user base
9
Go To
Market
Preparation
Post-
Launch
Initiatives
• Validate feasibility of customer survey product through
key experiments*
• Develop in-app geographic targeting capabilities and
additional features to properly survey our customers
• Market the option for users to opt into our surveys
*Examples of experiments included in appendix
• Use fun surveys as marketing tool that empowers
customers to feel like a stakeholder in our success
• Increase data collection by incentivizing users to opt
into surveys by offering Bonus Stars
• Use collected data to build customer personas to aid
team in targeting the best survey takers
10. Key features can be prioritized by how well
they will improve the reliability of our data
10
Feature Description
Priority
High Medium Low
Customer-specific
survey questions
Customer orders must tie directly to their Starbucks app accounts, so that we
can properly time and target survey responders
Star Rating System A front-end survey response system that collects and stores response data
Geographic Targeting This critical feature is necessary to target the markets in which beta tests are
occurring and align to the Core Beverages go to market strategy
Partner Notification
System
Starbucks must be transparent with its partners about the questions included
in its surveys. See appendix for details
Bonus Star Reward
System
Designing an incentive system that does not cannibalize revenue while
simultaneously increasing customer purchases and survey engagement
Brand-Centric
Questions
Fun questions that encourage Starbucks users to revisit the app frequently
(e.g. What should our holiday cup design be this year?)
Text-based feedback A front-end survey response system that collects and stores response text
data while analyzing response sentiment using NLP technology.
11. To realize this project, Core Beverages will need to
partner cross-functionally with multiple teams
Analytics & Insights
Our A&I team will be
critical in helping us
design experiments
and interpret survey
data.
Digital Product
Management
We must work with
fellow PM’s to
integrate into their
product roadmap.
Marketing &
Promotions
Our Marketing team
can help us use this
product to excite
consumers and make
them feel closer to
the Starbucks brand.
Mobile Application
Engineering
We must partner
with our engineering
teams to define
product and build
out specs.
11
13. We can leverage the app’s home page and offers
page to market our new feature to customers
We can increase
customer sign-ups by
advertising our beta on
the both app’s home
page and offers page
offering.
We can further
incentivize users by
offering Bonus Stars.
13
14. By designing a simple user journey, we can
acquire profound data from customers
Ask for user rating
User selects
relevant criteria
Ask user to clarify
ratings across criteria
App asks user unique
question based on
selections
Reward user or
Thank them for
helping us improve
14
15. Within 12 months, our team could explore
features for new use cases like the below options:
Adapting the survey function to collect
early feedback on our most nascent
concepts on a wider scale
Using feedback to compare beverage
consistency across multiple locations by
developing KPI’s to measure performance
Developing metrics to measure customer
and monetary impact of poor feedback and
use that data to prioritize future work
15
17. A note concerning this product’s impact on
our operator and barista partners
The intended purpose of this product is to receive feedback on Starbucks’s
products and systems, not the quality of service provided by our partners.
Before launching a beta test of this product, it will be critical for the Support
Center to stress that the surveys will not be used to assess individual, team,
or store performance. I would also encourage our team to be transparent
and share our survey questions with our partners before loading them onto
the app.
The primary function of this plan is to mitigate any negative impact to our
partners’ morale and satisfaction while at work.
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18. Solution analysis: Touch Screens
Criteria Touch Screens Analysis
Low effort
Users can quickly offer feedback at the click of a touch screen
button. Strong user-centric design can simplify this experience too.
Non-Invasive
Depending on the size, design, and placement of this feature, it can
be designed to blend into the Starbucks store aesthetic.
Mindful
In-person feedback collection will add additional strain to our
partners’ day-to-day work.
Aligned Location of the touch screens may bias customer feedback.
Versatile
Starbucks locations that are in stores have limited floor and
counter space and may not be able to accommodate this hardware.
Reliable
Touch screens could gather lots of data throughout the day,
increasing the volume of our data set to draw insights from. But
bias remains difficult to mitigate
Cost effective
Designing and installing these devices would be highly labor
intensive and lengthen our time to launch.
Safety
A touch screen used by numerous customers throughout the day
may pose a risk to the health and safety to customers.
Strong
Good
Moderate
Poor
18
19. Solution analysis: Enhanced Labels
Criteria Touch Screen Analysis
Low effort
This solution requires a customer to open their camera app, scan
the code, and open a browser. All before getting to the survey.
Non-Invasive
The basic customer experience would not be significantly altered by
a QR code on their label
Mindful
Sticker labels are most often used at drive through locations, so
partners will likely not be present for feedback. We must,
nonetheless, ensure our partners that they are not being assessed
Aligned
Data may be reliable although, the customer will only have access to
the QR code as long as they have not disposed of their cup.
Versatile
Sticker labels are largely only used at drive through locations, thus
limiting the number of stores we could partner with
Reliable
We can survey a broader range of Starbucks customers including
those who do and do not frequently engage with our products.
Cost effective
Since much of the hardware infrastructure is already in place. But if
scaled nationwide, the solution hardware could be costly.
Safety
This solution does not impact the post-pandemic precautions taken
by Starbucks. We must, however, encourage customers to not scan
their QR code while driving
Strong
Good
Moderate
Poor
19
20. Solution Analysis: In-app Survey
Criteria Questionnaire Analysis
Low effort
The questionnaire can be simplified to 1-2 question surveys to
decrease customer effort.
Non-Invasive
Working with the UX/UI team, this feature can be integrated into
the app in a way that minimizes invasiveness of the surveys.
Mindful
Customers will be prompted with surveys after they’ve left a
Starbucks location, reducing stress for partners. We must,
nonetheless, ensure our partners that they are not being assessed.
Aligned
Data gathered from surveys can be optimized to improve the
reliability of customer feedback.
Versatile
An app-based solution accommodates all types of Starbucks
locations.
Reliable
Like QR codes, customers will answer surveys well after visiting our
stores, decreasing customer bias.
Cost effective
This solution does not require any hardware development, so this
may likely be the least expensive solution.
Safety
This solution does not impact the post-pandemic precautions
taken by Starbucks.
Strong
Good
Moderate
Poor
20
21. A/B tests question key hypotheses our team must
validate. Experiments listed in order of priority
Purpose Hypothesis Control group Test Group Key Metrics
Determine viability
of in-app surveys.
Users will respond to survey
questions posed in the
Starbucks App if included on the
home page.
Users will be posed questions related
to Starbucks Company trivia or
questions crafted by our Marketing
team.
Users will be posed trivia and survey
questions with 2 possible responses
(e.g. ‘good’ and ‘bad’) regarding their
recent visits to Starbucks
• User response rates
• User engagement
between question
types
Find strategy to
maximize user
response rates
Users will re-enter the Starbucks
app throughout the day if
encouraged by a notification or
promotion
Users will not receive notifications to
complete a survey hours after having
visited a Starbucks.
Users will be prompted to reopen the
app and complete a short survey
through a notification hours after
visiting our stores
• Rates of user
engagement between
control and test groups
Test the
authenticity and
reliability of user
feedback
Users will offer better feedback
at different hours of the day
We will ask questions whose answers
include a range of possibilities (e.g.
rate from 1—0) to users immediately
after visiting our stores.
We will ask the same questions to
users hours after their visit to our
stores.
• Sample variance
between our test
groups may indicate
increased reliability
Determine if in-app
surveys can provide
user sentiment
insights
Users will be more likely to
provide written feedback if
prompted to share their
thoughts on a specific part of
their Starbucks experience
Pose open-ended questions to users
and provide them a text field for
them to fill out.
Pose questions related to a specific
part of users Starbucks experiences
(e.g. aroma/taste, service) and ask
for feedback through a text field.
• User engagement rates
• Disparities in character
length of responses
• Sentiment analysis
leveraging NLP
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