Team Members: Lily Iannitti, Connor Coughlan, Abigail Colletto, William Swope

Team #1
Final Project
December 14, 2020

Empathy:

For the final project, we decided to focus on small apparel businesses and ways that we can
help them through this pandemic. In the beginning of 2020, all businesses closed aside from essential
businesses like grocery stores or police officers. Small businesses have suffered because of this shut
down. It is hard for them to get back on their feet and make revenues for their stores. The owners
worry about going out of business and providing for their families. In this project we will go through
all of the stages of Design Thinking to thoroughly understand how we can help small businesses
survive in this environment.

Persona: Ram Wear, a small apparel business store in Narragansett, Rhode Island had to shut down
because of COVID-19 and lost a lot of business and revenue. They had to lay off employees and had
no way to sell their merchandise. The only way they were able to keep selling items were by word of
mouth but because customers couldn’t come into the store anymore, they feared they would lose their
business. The pandemic has interrupted the store’s usual routine of making revenue.
Empathy Map:

Says:
● Covid-19 has made us sad that we might
not be able to continue our small
business dream
● We are trying to learn how to market to
potential customers.
● We didn’t think the pandemic would last
this long.
● We want everyone to follow the
guidelines so this can be over and so the
business can start up again like usual
Thinks:
● When will this be over?
● Looking forward to their next sale
● Am I being too paranoid?
● Thinking of new ideas to keep the
business running.
● Will I have to close my business forever?
● How do I rebuild after the pandemic?
● How do I lay off my employees?
● How can I keep my employees

Does: Feels:
● Tries to find new ways of making money ● Hopeless
● Participates in Facebook groups with ● Stressed
other small businesses ● Bored
● Calls their friends and family and asks ● Feels concerned they will have to shut
for advice down their business
● Researches ways to make money with ● Vulnerable
little contact with people ● Scared on how to provide for their
family

POV:

Users: Needs: Insights:

Small business owner in ● To stay in business ● Create innovative new

Narragansett, RI ● To keep their employees
employed
● To follow COVID
guidelines
● To create an efficient
delivery system
● To research ways to stay
in business during
pandemic
● To get better marketing
strategies than just word
products like masks
● Develop websites for
people to shop while
staying home
● Develop a system for
curbside pickup
● Advertise online and in
local newspapers
 of mouth

Interviews:
Will: I interviewed a friend who interned this past summer at Soft As A Grape, a local clothing retailer
with stores in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Florida. They specialize in high quality cotton
clothing for people of all ages. When the pandemic first started to really hit America, back in March
and April, stores were shutting down with the nation going on lockdown and people stuck in their
homes. Since everyone is at home, they all want to buy comfortable clothes, so business started to
skyrocket due to this change of events. Instead of the pandemic slowing down business, it actually
made it even busier than usual. When she got there in May, they had started to implement masks as a
new product in their stores, as an attempt to innovate with the arising market demands. They started
only offering masks in navy blue, with designs on them. Customers would see them at the front
checkout and give suggestive feedback. If enough customers suggested the same thing, she would take
note of it and they would roll out new products with the updated feature. This innovation of adding
masks to their list of products not only helped them survive the pandemic, but it has helped them
thrive, opening doors into new market segments. Over the past few months, she has worked in
coordination with her boss at Soft As A Grape, along with one of the people in charge of product
development for the URI Campus Store. She has designed masks that are now being sold here at URI.
She helped the Soft As A Grape company take tremendous strides forwards during the doubt that
surrounded what would happen to their business during the pandemic, and expanded their
marketability and outreach even further.

Abigail: I decided to interview my friend who recently started a small business called Wicks on
Willow, a small candle business. She relies on small local general stores to sell her candles. Libby, the
owner of the business stated that COVID-19 created a large obstacle between her desire for her
business to thrive and the reality of business being slow because these local stores that would carry the
candles had to shut down and have limited business due to COVID restrictions. What was originally
planned to be a local candle brand that would only be sold in her hometown now had to be completely
reassessed. Being fresh out of college with limited funds to really get this business to take off and adjust
starting her first real job as a working adult, she found this reassessment to be extremely difficult.
Candles were supposed to be a fun local side business to her, something she wanted to share locally
with her town. With all of her money invested in the materials for the candles and nowhere to sell
them, she thought her business would be an automatic loss and she would continue to be in the
financial deficit. Libby did not have any form of advertisement or a website for the candles so they
were only known about by word of mouth. With many candles already made and set aside for the store
hopefully reopening, the in store shopping Libby had been waiting for was not coming soon enough
and she knew she would have to strategize a new way to sell her product. She was nervous that going to
an online store would be more costly due to shipping and that if she were to not get many buyers she
would not financially recover. After much hesitation she decided to open an etsy shop and luckily for
her in the last few months business has taken off online and she has now sold a candle in every state.
When speaking to her about this business she stated that without taking the risk of opening her
business online she would not have been able to generate anywhere near the amount of business that
she has and that without going online she probably would not have been able to open her business
whatsoever.

Connor: I interviewed a local business at home called North Chatham Outfitters, an outdoor
clothing/fishing equipment/firearms retail business that I did a social media marketing internship with
during my senior year of high school. After catching up with the owner, I asked how his business has
changed due to the challenges posed by COVID-19. He explained that the business certainly took a hit
during the beginning of the pandemic, but has since adapted to a new way of business. In the
beginning, the business had to be closed for a period of time which resulted in a loss of business and
the obvious need to begin bringing in revenue in different ways. Although NCO had already
established a website and social media page back when the business was started a few years ago, the
owner explained that they have not had to rely on internet sales and marketing as much as they have
now. With that said, the business has focused more on social media and using it as a marketing tool,
regularly updating the pages and showcasing products. As far as the website goes, new products are
being added on a daily basis and they have almost completely updated it to fill their COVID needs.
After being asked whether or not they thought our proposed solution would benefit the business, the
owner said that it most definitely would. He stated that because there was such a drastic change in the
way that the business had to be run, it would be much easier for someone to come in and build them
the ideal online business (website) in order to maximize their online revenue.

Lily: I decided to interview the woman in my town who runs a small business called Office Express.
They sell office supplies and little knick knacks. The store is like a Staples but for locals. The woman
who works there, Susan, states that this pandemic has been hard on her. Barely anyone comes into the
store anymore because of the pandemic and if they do they do not buy much. The small transactions
barely keep the business afloat. Susan also states that students are her main source of income but now
with the pandemic they are turning to amazon prime for their school supplies. She does not have a
website or a delivery service. She said that she is afraid that her business is going to shut down because
of the lack of foot traffic into the store. Susan also stated that this business has been in the family for
years and really hopes that the store can make a turn around. Since the store had to be shut down
during the first few months of 2020, she had to think about how she was going to help provide for her
family. She went through a lot of emotions like stress, hopelessness, anger, and sadness. She wanted to
bring back business so badly but since it wasn’t an essential business she was not allowed to open the
store. I wanted to help and give some suggestions that could possibly improve her business. I told her
that if she wanted to get in touch with not only the younger generation but parents as well she should
start up a website and to start she could do curbside pickup since most of her customers are local. She
said that she would take those tips into consideration because she never thought about that. She keeps
the store open 5 days a week but she gets very little customers and feels like she is wasting money.

Define:
POV: Small apparel businesses need a way to keep business flowing in their communities because of
the global pandemic and the shut down it caused for nonessential businesses.

While trying to create a POV, we looked for similarities that we had in all of our interviews.
We first asked the main question of, how can we keep small businesses up and running? We also asked,
what are some ways to keep the small businesses from shutting down? We then dug deeper and found
out that the small businesses suffer more than anyone else realizes. This is because, even though the
small businesses are closed, people are still able to go grocery shopping in big chain grocery stores and
even go to outdoor restaurants but not many people think about small businesses. This isolation
causes a major decrease in sales and revenue. As a group we found some needs for the small businesses.
Some needs are, they need websites so people do not have to leave their homes to shop. They also
should have any kind of delivery system to make their customers feel safe and a feedback questionnaire
so the small businesses can try and modify their store to the pandemic. For them to be able to achieve
some of the needs listed, they should start to think about new ways of marketing to their consumers.
They could use social media like instagram and facebook to reach out to a broader type of customer.
They should also be able to tell their customers that they have a delivery system so their customers do
not have to leave their homes and potentially be exposed to the virus. The small businesses should also
not be afraid to use word of mouth. Although that only covers a smaller percentage of people, it will
generate more ways of making money for the business. Another way for small businesses to generate
more business would be to research ways on how to benefit the business. The internet always has
different perspectives and creative ways that many people don't often think of.

Ideation:

HMW Statements:
How might we save our small business from closing?
How might we get the owners to feel less hopeless?
How might we find safer ways to keep operating the business?
How might we retain our customer base?
How might we generate enough business to keep our employees?
How might we market to potential customers?
How might we get our business name out there?
How might we reopen our business in a safe way?
How might we continue to pay our bills?

Will braindump:
● Find a way to innovate products to fit market demand
● Instead of trying to get past covid, use it as a way to get into other niches in the market
● Try to evolve as a company
● Try new forms of advertising
● Social media influencers??
● Safe covid protocols (put them in an info tab on website and front door)
● Hire interns- sometimes a young, fresh mind might create innovative ideas to help alter your
company’s course of action
Connor Braindump:
● However we do this, we must make it COVID safe
● Prioritize online methods of business
● Create a website/social media page
● Find new ways to market the business
● Use what we learn from this and implement it into post-covid business
● Find safe ways to allow customers to obtain merchandise outside of the website/social media
● We could produce business-branded masks as a way of generating more revenue while allowing
us to advertise the business at the same time
● If we produced masks, we could maybe provide a free one with each order as a way of creating
incentive and again, making for an easy way to further advertise the business
Abigail braindump:
● Set up a way to deliver clothes safely
● Limit employee hours to avoid layoffs
● Set up a website/ social media to advertise the store
● Use the store space as a shipping center while everything is shut down
● Send flyers for those who do not use websites with a phone number on it to order
● Utilize curbside pick up
● Try drive thru shopping
Lily braindump:
● Market the products on social media
● Make sure the small business has a website
● Have a delivery system so people don’t have to leave their homes
● Put markers on the floor for social distancing when the store can reopen
● Try to get a large following on instagram specifically so more people see the items and post a
lot so people don’t forget about the business
● Have a wide enough range of garments for customers so everyone can buy from the store
● Be available for curbside pickup so customers don't have to see people
● Have a telephone line for ordering clothes as well
● Keep an open mind for new ideas
Post-It Notes Idea Generation:

Impact/Effort Matrix:

High Impact/Low Effort: High Impact/High Effort:

 ● Curbside pickup ● Delivery System
● Website ● Drive thru shopping
● Small amount of employees ● Social media influencers
● Collaborating with other businesses ● New innovative products
● Online orders ● New marketing research on people’s
● Feedback from customers habits during covid

Low Impact/Low Effort: Low Impact/High Effort:

● Marketing products on social media
● Flyers
● Word of mouth marketing
● Talk to friends and family about ways we
can keep the small business afloat
● Zooming with other small business
about ways that they are adjusting to this
new lifestyle
● Telephone line to call in orders
● Covid protocols (arrows on the floor for
social distancing, cleaning surfaces)
● Pop up ads on websites
● Allowing employees to work a couple
hours a day
● Ordering more merchandise for the store
and for the customers
● Produce masks with brand logo

Prototype:

As a group, we decided to create a website for Ram Wear, for our customers to look at
merchandise while being in the comfort of their homes. This will allow the business to stay up and
running even though the brick and mortar store might have to be shut down with the second wave of
COVID. With the website, customers will be able to browse through the online store and shop. The
website will also give the customer the option for delivery straight to their house or for curbside
pickup. Ram Wear’s website will have all of the merchandise uploaded and it will be easy to maneuver
around. With customers completing online orders, this ensures that Ram Wear can keep paying their
employees and their bills. The employees will then be able to come to the store and pick the items the
customers ordered and ship the merchandise out. This website not only benefits the store but also its
customers who don’t feel comfortable exposing themselves to the virus by leaving their homes. The
website will also give the customers the hours of operation and a phone number where they can call
and ask questions or even order clothing over the phone. When they are done shopping online, the
customers will be able to view their shopping cart, remove or add anything else and then hit proceed to
checkout. The website will then ask them if they would like curbside pickup or delivery. If they click
on curbside pick up they will enter their name, phone number, card information and email address. If
they chose delivery, they will enter their name, card information, email address to track their package,
phone number, and billing and shipping address. Once all the information is entered, they will get a
confirmation number on the next screen and a confirmation email.
Link to prototype: https://ram-wear-bus247-uri.square.site
 Connor Coughlan 12/14

The problem that we are solving is helping unessential businesses that have been
closed continue to genrate revenue.

Our proposed solution is to build an online version/website for the business that
customers will be able to shop on from the safety of their homes.

What makes this solution better than existing solutions is that it is essentially the safest way for people to shop right now while still
being able to keep these businesses afloat. Our solution would also benefit these businesses post-COVID because online business
is the new big thing and this would allow these businesses to establish themselves on the internet as well.

To make this solution work, we would have to be good at website building, online
marketing, and fundraising.

What we need to get to the next stage of developing our solution is customer feedback
and funding.
Abigail Colletto 12-14
Will Swope:
Testing and Feedback:
Conclusion:
For this project we decided to focus on the small apparel businesses. We came up with a
clothing store called Ram Wear located in Narragansett. For a solution, we came up with making a
website for Ram Wear so they could still keep their business running even if there is another shut
down or if people are too scared to leave their homes because of the ongoing pandemic. This website
also allows for customers to get their items that they have purchased delivered to their doorstep. We
thought this was a very efficient solution because we believe that during this time, it is essential for all
small businesses to have a way to reach all of their customers. The website allows customers to keep
buying items while being contact free from anyone else.
For our testing process, we decided to share the website link to friends and family to see if they
found it easy to navigate and then they shared their feedback with us. One person who reviewed our
website said that during this time we would definitely need to keep updating and specifying the hours
of the store. We should also be adding in the area with curbside instructions where the delivery will
take place. They said that the website was easy to use and the instructions for delivery were also so easy
to follow. The most valuable feedback and most common piece of feedback was that we should
explain how curbside pickup works and where it takes place. For the final website we will be
implementing curbside pickup instructions for our customers. Based on our feedback we will also add
more distinct categories. For example, under the “shop all” tab, all of the merchandise pops up.
Instead, we will have a “shop all” tab and tabs that refine what customers are looking for. For example,
there will be separate tabs for pants, shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and other products that we have.
While completing this project, we learned that customers like a simple and straightforward
product. They don’t like pop up windows with advertisements for other stores and they like to be able
to find what they are looking for easily. We also learned during our interviews that a lot of small
businesses do not have a website and would greatly benefit from starting one. The steps to creating a
website are very easy and will have a significant impact on their business. During this pandemic
everyone was focused on staying safe and buying their essential products from a chain store but no one
understood that those actions hurt the small business community immensely. With this project, we
now understand that we have to support our local businesses whenever possible, even if it just means
sharing them on social media.
This project was very eye opening. As a group we came together and thought up of a solution
that could not only help our small business but to help every other small business out there. We believe
that something as simple as a website will help business increase.