The Student Store Challenge
The student store needs to decide what it should sell next. Stocking a product because it sounds interesting is a guess, and a guess can leave the store with something families do not need.
Design thinking gives the store a better way to decide: learn from the people who might buy before choosing what to stock.
Do not begin with: What should the store sell?
Begin with: What keeps causing trouble, and for whom? People first. Problem second. Product last.
Check the Store Idea Through 3 Lenses
Before the store buys inventory, use these lenses to decide what the team needs to learn.
| Lens |
Question |
Your notes |
| Desire |
What do the store's customers want or struggle with? |
|
| Technical |
Can students source and deliver a useful solution? |
|
| Business |
Could the store earn enough to keep offering it? |
|
Know What Evidence to Listen For
The store may have an idea, but an idea is not yet a customer problem. The parent survey must reveal what families already struggle with.
Listen for friction clues instead of trying to persuade the parent that the idea is good.
From Store Idea to Family Survey
One possible opportunity for the student store is household essentials. Families repeatedly buy garbage bags, paper towels, soap, detergent, cleaning supplies, and pet-waste bags from big box stores.
These products are not exciting, but they are essential, reachable for students, and purchased again and again. That makes them a store idea worth investigating, not an answer the team should assume is right.
The store's hypothesis is that a trusted student-run service could make restocking easier for busy families. Now use the parent survey to test that hypothesis with quick, honest answers. Estimates are fine.
| Evidence |
Design thinking insight |
Survey question |
| Families already spend money on repeatedly purchased household basics. |
The store should look for a repeated, reachable need before stocking a product. |
Would families buy these basics from a trusted student-run store or service? |
What Do Families Keep Buying?
Begin the parent survey. Ask the parent or household buyer what products the family buys again and again.
Where Does the Money Go Now?
Find where families already spend their money before the store tries to offer a better option.
What Makes Restocking Annoying?
Complaints are evidence. They show the store where the current restocking system may not be working well enough.
Would Local Trust Help?
Find out whether trust in local students changes the parent's willingness to buy from the store.
What Would You Actually Try?
Find the smallest useful offer the student store could test before buying a large amount of inventory.
How Would You Buy?
The store needs to learn how families would prefer to buy, not only what they might buy.
Back to the Store: Make a Recommendation
Turn the parent answers into an evidence-based recommendation for the student store. The survey may support the idea, change it, or show that the store should not pursue it.
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