August 20, 2019

StreetSide Developments’ Designing with the Customer in Mind Part 2: Bring Your Data to Life

Edmonton, AB – StreetSide Developments has taken the old adage of ‘putting the customer first’ to heart, creating a truly customer-centric approach to design. The team at StreetSide Developments Edmonton conducted a deeper analysis of their statistics and data in order to better connect with their customer base. The marketing team then took this information and created personas based upon target audiences. Once the personas were created, StreetSide Developments engaged DesignQ to create custom pallets and presented these to consumer focus groups to get further insight into purchasing motives, desires, intents and even the spending intentions for those desires.

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Customers shared
valuable insights which could be directly applied to the “look and feel” of
StreetSide Developments’ interior design, based on an elevated understanding of
customer needs and wants.

Each customer profile
is unique, including First-Time Fallyn, Move-Up Maggie, and Downsizing Deb. A
distinct persona was created for each type of buyer, and in-depth thought was
given to the specific motivations, challenges,
triggers and goals that each may face when looking to buy a home.

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First-Time Fallyn,
for instance, is a single millennial professional. She seeks freedom,
independence, and wants to move into a new home as soon as possible. A down
payment may be a challenge, but renting or living with her parents is hurting
her ego. Her ultimate goal is to experience the right of passage into adulthood
by owning property, and she is eager to share pictures of her success on social
media.

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In designing a home
for someone like First-Time Fallyn, treatments, trends and “wow factor” are key
elements. StreetSide Developments reached out for some help in executing on the
data they had collected.

“When
all the research was completed, we presented our vision to the DesignQ show
home team. They went to work, built around our requests, and presented back
their vision. We shared our insights and data and had to work closely as a team
in order to hit the mark.” said Dave Armstrong, Director of Sales and
Marketing, StreetSide Developments Edmonton.

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“We designed around
what the customers were asking for, and then engaged DesignQ in order to help
execute that vision. It was a lot of fun designing around the personas,” said Vanessa Freeman, Marketing Manager,
StreetSide Developments Edmonton.

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“First-Time Fallyn is someone who wants to
invite all of her friends over. And not only that, she wants an
Instagram-moment on every floor,” said Dave. “Including elements like a small
wet bar off the kitchen, and a gorgeous feature wall in the bedroom are
important for this home buyer.”

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Move-Up Maggie, on
the other hand is a well-established professional who is looking for more
space, a better location, and external affirmation of her own success.
Downsizing-Deb is retired, and leads a lock-and-leave lifestyle, primarily
looking for a maintenance-free property.

“Each type of
customer has their own mindset and perspective, and as a homebuilder, it is our
job to tap into that mindset in order to meet them where they’re at,” said
Dave.

Once StreetSide Developments
and Design Q had collaborated and created the pallets, StreetSide Developments
leveraged a focus group to collect feedback and impressions.

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“Our insight into the
pallets from the focus groups saved us from making costly mistakes in
merchandising our show homes. We received comments around some
industrial pallets looking too dark. We also heard how
popular the white packages were, with the requirement that they weren’t ‘too
white.’ Focus group members wanted some
texture. This forced us to create lighter and
darker versions of some of our options based on the feedback,” said Dave.

Once the most popular
design pallets were identified, they were applied to the personas. In the new
Desrochers show homes, Maggie received a Scandinavian design theme in the
Granville that flowed to every room including a baby’s room, with elegant and
show-stopping feature walls and fireplace.

Fallyn identified
with the Bourbon plan with a roommate option and an industrial theme. The
industrial theme included both a masculine and feminine appeal with the master
bedrooms being pulled in different directions. The feature walls, dry bar,
fireplace, micro powder room, waterfall counters and hard surface flooring
throughout reflected the desires of this group.

“Design Q and our
product managers worked tirelessly to make this happen and really hit a home
run,” said Dave.

StreetSide Developments has worked hard to cater its home
design to the needs of the Edmonton market, and going forward, the Marketing
and Sales team fully intends to keep putting the customer
at the forefront of the process.