uxmelina

As an Engineering student, I wouldn’t consider myself a “typical” female. But never the less, I still wear impractical heels, spend longer then I should to get ready, and own way too many things that are pink.

Today, I pulled up to the Jiffy Lube to get the oil changed in my Civic. I have done this numerous times, and each time I think to myself. Gah…what will they try to sell me? how will I know if I actually need it? hopefully nothing is wrong with my car. I always ask lots of questions, but always leave not really knowing the answers, and feeling slightly dumb (something I know, in my heart, I am not). Overall, it’s not a very pleasant experience. Today was Jiffy Lube, but I’ve had the same experience with lots to shops.

This made me think that if a respected chain like Jiffy Lube, invested in a “women-friendly” design for their shops it could pay off since nothing else exists. I can hear the men already “I’m not getting my oil changed in a shop painted pink”…that wouldn’t by my recommended design

The following things would be important to the image.

1. Customer Service

Old: Train employees to up sell customers. “I’m going to replace the gasket again, it’s only 99 cents, ok?”

New: Train employees to explain, in clear terms what they are doing and if it’s really necessary. “Your car maker recommends you replace the gasket with every oil change, the gasket does ______, it’s 99 cents extra because some customers don’t want to have it replaced because _____, what would you like to do?”

2. Environment

Old: Smells funny, looks dirty, dark colours are unwelcoming, instills a sense of confusion. What is really going on under the car? Are the people down there? What’s with all the random boxes/tools on the walls and springing from the ceiling? I always wait in my car, since I think it’s cleaner then the waiting areas.

New: It’s a shop, it’s going to seem dirty, but the waiting room doesn’t have to be. The shop itself could seem a lot less confusing and intimidating with signs and labels explaining things, or mirrors to show you things that are going on, outside of your direct view. As for a colour scheme, well lite, warm tones like navy blue, olive green, burgundy, could act to add a welcoming feel, and help hid the grease and dirt.

3. Branding

Here I’m referring to logo/slogan/marking . In the past Lowe’s appeals to women shoppers more so then home depot. Both stores are working to appeal to this once-forgotten demographic. Although they both sell the same stuff, you can see some differences in their stores with respect to service and environment. Lets compare their logos.

The shape of a house in Lowe’s logo, use of warm colours, the term “Together” in the slogan, all create a welcoming, open, community feel to the company, something that would appeal to women when they are starting a home construction project. Contrast with Home Depot where their font is rugged and basic, something that will appeal to men shoppers. Home Depot’s slogan is “you can do it, we can help”, although this slogan implies helpfulness and openness, the Lowe’s slogan is clearly better.

Overall, the service, enviroment, logo/slogan all adds together to create an image. If a quick service auto-shop could design a store to appeal to both genders they would have a compentative edge in the market.