Challenge
Starbucks has invested millions in creating a world-class brand, complete with comprehensive brand guidelines, mission, values, and brand promise.
These guidelines provide over 400,000 global partners with detailed instructions on using brand assets like logos, photography, and other visual elements, along with defining the brand's mission and values.
However, extensive research and partner feedback revealed a significant challenge: partners needed more support in bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application.
They required guidance on how to critically understand and apply these principles in real-world scenarios – ensuring a customer experience that’s consistently true to the Starbucks brand.
solution
In an ongoing collaboration with Starbucks, Mindspace created a world-class Global Brand Training experience that seamlessly connects the “what,” the “how,” and the “why” in a modern, engaging, and immersive format.
We designed a gamified, globally-scalable training program that immerses partners – including international licensees – in the basics of the Starbucks brand. This experience provides hands-on application of the principles behind delivering the Starbucks experience in a way that aligns with, and enhances their brand promises.
Our approach was holistic, offering both digital and in-person training options. These were designed to enable partners to test their knowledge through real-world, scenario-based Retrieval Practice Activities (RPAs) – either individually or in a group setting.
Beautiful brand.
Beautiful brand training.
Starbucks' success goes beyond their coffee; it’s rooted in the experiences they create in every store and through every guest interaction. We worked closely with Starbucks to design a tailored experience that reflects the essence of their brand – from beautiful UI/UX to meaningful interactions and engaging, easy-to-digest micro-learning based content.
Content strategy that drives engagement
After thoroughly reviewing Starbucks' existing brand materials, we developed a content strategy designed to engage partners from the start. The learning experience is comprised of two introductory modules, focused on the brand and the customer promise.
The two modules consist of multiple micro-lessons, each lasting 1-5 minutes, delivered through an engaging UI/UX, and interactive elements. These lessons include bite-sized pieces of content, as well as moments of reflection, where users can journal personal responses to prompts related to the content they've reviewed, and multiple interactive Retrieval Practice Activities (RPAs) that challenge users to apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios based on brand principles.
Each module concludes with a short, interactive Knowledge Assessment, requiring Partners to answer a set percentage of questions correctly before progressing to the next module. In order to obtain a certificate of completion, they must answer 4 out of 6 answers correctly.
Interaction design infused with the unexpected
Mindspace crafted an elegant, modern, and intuitive interaction design to enhance engagement and reinforce the training material. Moving away from the traditional slide-based learning format that leads to passive clicking, Mindspace developed a dynamic, web-based, bi-directional navigation experience. This design shifts automatically between vertical and horizontal scrolling to highlight key content, and increase user focus and interaction.
*Critical thinking required
Mindspace’s approach to testing knowledge retention is reflected in the design of the RPAs. Instead of relying on traditional e-learning assessments that require participants to recall content verbatim from obvious multiple choice options, we emphasize practical application of concepts through scenario-based questions. This method encourages participants to think critically and apply the training principles to real-world situations.
Developed to deliver a custom learning experience
Instead of using traditional e-learning authoring tools like Rise or Storyline, Mindspace opted to create this experience with Webflow. This approach leverages the power and flexibility of custom HTML5 development, enabling us to deliver a modern, fluid responsive training experience that delivers a world-class learning experience on all digital forms – from desktop, to tablet, and mobile. Additionally, we took advantage of increased development capabilities by incorporating JavaScript-developed RPAs, achieving a level of execution that traditional e-learning tools are unable to deliver.
SERVICES PROVIDED
Strategy
Brand + Market Research
Brand + Market Research
Competitive Analysis
Competitive Analysis
User Research + Insghts
User Research + Insghts
Learning Needs Assessment
Learning Needs Assessment
Creative Approach
Creative Approach
Engagement Strategy
Engagement Strategy
Gamification Strategy
Gamification Strategy
Content Strategy
Content Strategy
UX Strategy
UX Strategy
Evaluation Framework
Evaluation Framework
Creative
Creative Direction
Creative Direction
Copywriting + Content Development
Copywriting + Content Development
Instructional Design
Instructional Design
Scripting + Storyboarding
Scripting + Storyboarding
Video + Photography Capture
Video + Photography Capture
Art Direction + Visual Design
Art Direction + Visual Design
Motion Graphics + Interactive Element Design
Motion Graphics + Interactive Element Design
UX/UI Design
UX/UI Design
Wireframing + Prototyping
Wireframing + Prototyping
Execution
Project Management
Project Management
Video Editing + Production
Video Editing + Production
Event Support
Event Support
Front-end Development
Front-end Development
Back-end Development
Back-end Development
QA Testing + Deployment
QA Testing + Deployment