Short answer

Design experiences that facilitate active participation and role-switching between educators and learners, rather than solely focusing on information dissemination.

Field
User-Centred Design
Source
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (2023)
Method
Ethnographic study
Evidence
Moderate effect

Educational consumer journeys are most effective when designed as a collaborative, iterative process where both staff and consumers actively participate and adapt their roles. This user-centred design research insight is drawn from a 2023 study published in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Using Ethnographic study, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Design experiences that facilitate active participation and role-switching between educators and learners, rather than solely focusing on information dissemination.

Study
User-Centred DesignRecentModerate effect

Co-created educational journeys enhance consumer engagement through dynamic role-playing.

Educational consumer journeys are most effective when designed as a collaborative, iterative process where both staff and consumers actively participate and adapt their roles.

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 2023

01

Key Findings

  • 01Staff and consumers co-create educational journeys through seven key practices: auditing, realignment, marrying competing logics, negotiating scripts, evangelizing, expanding collective knowledge, and impression management.
  • 02Three distinct educational roles (educator, student, peer) are enacted by both staff and consumers, which are essential for the co-creation and extension of these journeys.
  • 03Sensebreaking, sensegiving, and sensemaking processes among participants and the servicescape drive the iterative emergence of roles, practices, and journeys.
  • 04The cues and touchpoints required for meaning-making evolve as power dynamics between participants shift.
02

Application

Design takeaway

Design experiences that facilitate active participation and role-switching between educators and learners, rather than solely focusing on information dissemination.

How to apply

When designing customer onboarding, product tutorials, or any experience intended to educate users, map out potential interaction points where users and staff can actively teach and learn from each other, and design for flexibility in these roles.

Project actions

  • 01Consider how your design allows for two-way communication and learning, not just one-way instruction.
  • 02Think about how users and the system (or other users) can teach each other.
03

Method & Evidence

AimHow can educational consumer journeys be co-created through the interplay of staff and consumer roles and practices within a service environment?
MethodEthnographic study
ProcedureResearchers conducted an in-depth ethnographic study of a specialty coffee purveyor, observing and analyzing the interactions between staff and consumers to identify the practices and roles involved in co-creating educational consumer journeys.
ContextSpecialty coffee retail environment

Variables

IV["Practices employed in co-creating educational journeys (auditing, realignment, etc.)","Educational roles enacted (educator, student, peer)"]
DV["Educational consumer journeys","Consumer engagement","Meaning co-creation"]
CV["Service environment (e.g., specialty coffee shop)","Nature of the product/service being educated about"]
04

Strengths & Limitations

Strengths

  • +Provides a nuanced, practice-based understanding of customer education.
  • +Highlights the dynamic and iterative nature of learning experiences.

Limitations

The specific practices and roles identified might be highly dependent on the industry and the type of product or service being offered.

Reliability & validity

The ethnographic method provides rich qualitative data, enhancing ecological validity. However, generalizability may be limited, and the interpretation of 'sensemaking' can be subjective, potentially impacting reliability across different researchers.

Think critically

How might the 'servicescape' itself be designed to actively encourage and facilitate these co-creative educational practices and role shifts?

05

Design Principles

"Design for co-creation: Enable dynamic interaction and role flexibility between service providers and users to foster shared understanding and learning."

This research shifts the perspective on customer education from a one-way information dump to a dynamic, co-created experience. By understanding the practices and roles involved, designers can create more engaging and effective educational touchpoints that foster deeper consumer understanding and loyalty.

06

What This Means for Your Design

When you teach someone something, it's better if you both learn from each other and can switch roles, like sometimes you teach and sometimes you learn, to make the learning experience richer.

How to use in your project

  • 1.Use this to justify designing interactive learning elements in your product or service.
  • 2.Refer to this when analyzing how users interact with educational components of your design.
07

Add to My Project

08

Quick Cite

Paragraph starter

The research by Beverland et al. (2023) highlights that educational consumer journeys are most impactful when designed as a co-created process. This involves enabling dynamic role-playing between staff and consumers, where both can act as educators, students, or peers, fostering a more engaging and effective learning experience through iterative sensemaking.

09

Source

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

Co-creating educational consumer journeys: A sensemaking perspective

journal · 2023

View source

Questions About This Research

What does the research say about co-created educational journeys enhance consumer engagement through dynamic role-playing?
Design experiences that facilitate active participation and role-switching between educators and learners, rather than solely focusing on information dissemination. Evidence: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (2023).
Why does "Co-created educational journeys enhance consumer engagement through dynamic role-playing." matter for design?
This research shifts the perspective on customer education from a one-way information dump to a dynamic, co-created experience. By understanding the practices and roles involved, designers can create more engaging and effective educational touchpoints that foster deeper consumer understanding and loyalty.
How can designers apply this research?
Design experiences that facilitate active participation and role-switching between educators and learners, rather than solely focusing on information dissemination.
What were the main findings?
Staff and consumers co-create educational journeys through seven key practices: auditing, realignment, marrying competing logics, negotiating scripts, evangelizing, expanding collective knowledge, and impression management.. Three distinct educational roles (educator, student, peer) are enacted by both staff and consumers, which are essential for the co-creation and extension of these journeys.. Sensebreaking, sensegiving, and sensemaking processes among participants and the servicescape drive the iterative emergence of roles, practices, and journeys.. The cues and touchpoints required for meaning-making evolve as power dynamics between participants shift.
What research method was used?
Ethnographic study.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2023 journal from Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
What should I do differently in my next project?
When designing customer onboarding, product tutorials, or any experience intended to educate users, map out potential interaction points where users and staff can actively teach and learn from each other, and design for flexibility in these roles.
What are the limitations?
Findings are specific to the context of a specialty coffee purveyor and may not generalize to all service industries.