Company: Goose Cube Project
Goose Cube Project (defunct) was an experiential art and design agency, aimed at bringing mobile art installations to the public. By working with various artists to create these immersive experiences, Goose Cube Project aimed at creating a distributed museum.
Project Duration: 8 weeks
Team: Steven Ochs (CEO)
A bold refresh, from branding to product experience, driven by market and user research.
Project Summary
Goose Cube Project was in its infancy, just having launched its second prototype. For two months, the CEO, Steven Ochs, and I refined the company's branding, product, and business strategy in order to prepare for pre-seed funding rounds.
Skills
Branding, User Research, Market Research, Strategy
Branding
To balance the sophistication of a museum with the quirkiness of a decentralized art collective, I played with bold color and geometry inspired by Bauhaus. Our color story and typefaces were modern and bold, yet readable at all sizes. The uniform weights and geometric shapes of our chosen typefaces were in visual harmony with the logo.
Prototype Testing + User Research
In my research efforts, I needed to better understand various stakeholders in the Goose Cube system. To do so, we tested two prototypes. The first prototype was hosted at Rex Hill Winery in Newell, OR. The second prototype was tested at the Clackamas Town Center in Portland, OR.
I conducted research using three types of research methodologies:
i) Participant Observation: I watching as people navigated around and through the Goose Cubes. I was curious about the types of people who became interested by the cubes and whether we could transform curiosity into sales. Further, I wanted to know how people would react in the cubes.
ii) Surveys: I conducted exit surveys to get quantitative data to learn more about our audience members. Survey questions asked about demographic data, ticket pricing, customer satisfaction, etc.
iii) Interviews: I interviewed both people who went into the Goose Cube as well as those who walked past/chose not to. My interviews asked about both user and host attitudes, motivations and pain points.
Key Findings
About the Audience:
- 100% of customers were satisfied with the quality of the immersive experience for the price ($6.50 at the time of the survey). Most customers were willing to pay between $5-10 for the 2 minute experience.
- Of 50 people surveyed at the Clackamas Town Center, 100% had not been to a museum in the past 4 years. Nearly 50% of those respondents were BIPOC. The most common reasons cited for not going to museums included high admissions costs or the time commitment—this particularly affected dual-income families. The parents felt positively about being able to spontaneously provide their children an exciting experience.
- Participants found the experience memorable and sharable. While inside the Cube, visitors video called friends and family, shared posts on social media, and personally brought people back.
About the Hosts:
- Those hosting the Goose Cubes were excited at the opportunity to provide new and exciting experiences to guests. They hoped that the Cubes would increase traffic to their establishment.
- Hosts felt positively that investing in the Cube directly supported local artists.
Design Considerations:
- Due to Goose Cube having a complete artwork on the outside, many consumers did not understand that there was additional artwork on the inside. At Rex Hill Winery, the Cube was in contained space—it was the endpoint of a walkway. Therefore, people tended to stop, gather, and read the signage. It existed in a space with a higher lead-to-customer ratio. However, in the Clackamas Town Center, the flow of traffic was bidirectional, with the audience moving to a destination. Because customers moved quickly, only offering glances at the Cube and ignoring the signage, we had a lower lead-to-customer ratio. I suggested streamlined wayfinding so that information about the Goose Cube could be digested quickly and read at a distance. These findings and subsequent design improvements translated to a 20% increase in weekly ticket sales in this location.
Understanding the Data
The other data was used for business strategy. Using the primary and secondary research about the Immersive Entertainment Industry, I made a systems map that allowed us to clearly outline a niche in the market that Goose Cube Project's unique market value, outlined below:
Goose Cube is revolutionizing the Immersive Entertainment Industry by creating a distributed museum of immersive, room-sized art cubes (Goose Cubes) which can be placed in high footfall locations. Our mission is to make breathtaking experiences that are accessible, affordable, and engaging for diverse audiences. Our unique strategy combines experiential storytelling, a platform to support local and emerging artists, as well as a cost-effective approach to immersive entertainment.
Pitch Deck
After conducting further market research, analyzing competitors and industry trends, we created a pitch deck that clearly outlined Goose Cube Project's values, mission, market opportunities, and plans for growth. This pitch deck allowed Steven to gain initial interest and funding from angel investors. Please contact me through my submission form on the "About" page for further details about the business documents.