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Retail Space and Behavior
One environment which especially utilizes large amounts of influence on perception in an attempt to shape behavior is that of retail spaces. In order to part people from their money, retail spaces use all the tricks in the books and create some themselves. The students visited some industry representative retail space and attempted to identify design elements which utilize sensory and perception manipulation for specific purposes. Later, the students used some of these principles to design their own imaginary retail space.
Observations at QuanLian
Our friendly neighborhood (this is not a paid advertisement) supermarket QuanLian supermarket was the first retail space we visited. Here, the students looked at how the retailer used different designs and techniques in attempting to shape feelings of need, perception, and finally behavior.
Spatial Design at Costco
We visited Costco, famous for competitive prices and a seeming lack of design to their store layout. Here, the students attempted to identify effective strategies dealing mainly with how the retailer gives effective and attention grabbing sensory input to visitors.
Spatial Design at Ikea
Ikea, a master of spatial layout design was another location the students researched. Here, we tried to understand how this retailer controls an endless number of small details to shape and control attention, emotion, desires, and of course consumer behavior. Additionally, we observed how Ikea cleverly manipulates spacing, placement, and freedom of movement to encourage visitors to think and do certain things at certain times.
Spatial Design at Donki
The final space we studied was an antithesis to many trains of modern retail space design. The popular budget friendly everything store and popular tourist attraction Don Quijote (also known as Don Don Donki) seemingly breaks every rule in the design book, but at the same time is obviously very successful as a retailer. The students considered how controlling sensory input and unusual design can be a retail strategy as well.