Amoco

A team of ID alumni at the Doblin Group, a design consultancy founded by Jay Doblin, outlined how the chemical and oil company Amoco could leverage design for customer satisfaction. After extensive user research, the team proposed that Amoco develop a customer-driven facility (CDF), rather than a system based on supply economics, by transforming customers’ gas station experiences from dirty tasks to friendly, efficient, positive ones. Solutions could be tailored for various locations based on different needs through “a kit of predefined parts,” showing how the station might appear when finished. The three fundamental principles behind the work were (1) aiming to satisfy customer needs at every interaction within the retail facility; (2) relying on three contributions of design, user-centered approaches, systemic view, and simulation of solutions; and finally (3), using all relevant aspects of design, architectural building systems, graphics and identify subsystem, and products and retail environments.