Story
FAB9 is a makerspace startup in Melbourne Australia, founded with the mission to democratize access to making. Through a monthly subscription, FAB9 offers high-end prototyping equipment to members, creating a new type of shared workspace that fosters community, culture and connections around making.
Challenge
As a seed-stage startup, FAB9 needed to build out and develop its marketing and product strategy, from identifying target customers to the design of its service offering. During the product development process, prior to launch, we discovered a funding shortfall.
Outcome
Through customer research and cross-functional brainstorm workshops, we developed a deep comprehension of the various business functions and the customer journey. Our discovery efforts were mapped using artifacts that helped us better understand the membership sign-up process, distill insights to improve processes. These strategic outcomes went on to inform a business plan that helped to attract $370,000 funding to fill the seed funding gap.
Client
Category
FAB9
Brand Strategy
My Role
Head of Design / Founding Creative Director
Internal team
CEO & Co-Founder
Head of Design / Founding Creative Director
Hans Chang
Ying Zhang
Persona
Through customer research, we created four personas that allowed us to build empathy with the end user and better understand their needs, experiences, behaviors and goals. These personas would served as a framework for the product and brand design.
Customer Journey Mapping
Mapping the journey helped us focus on the customer experience, visualizing every interaction a customer has with the brand and product over time. This exercise provided valuable insights into how customers feel at each touchpoint, highlighting both gaps and opportunities for improvement.
Service Blueprint
The makerspace service delivery process is relatively complex, with different membership and access levels. Mapping the service blueprint provided a comprehensive view of the process and visualized the service delivery from the customer's perspectives.
Service Ecosystem
The Service Ecosystem Map places the user at the center and describes all the entities, flows and relationships within the ecosystem and how they are connected. The diagram helped us to grasp the complexity of the service ecosystem and reveals opportunities to optimize services with the goal of delivering the best customer experience.
Design for Diversity
A core part of FAB9's mission was to create an open and inclusive space that welcomed people from all backgrounds. We embedded this ethos into a series strategies within every aspect of the business, from organizational design to spatial design to branding.
Business Plan
As we approached the product launch, we discovered a funding shortfall. Leveraging my background in business and marketing, I played a key role in preparing a 50-page business plan with a comprehensive marketing plan that helped raise $370,000 to fill the funding gap.
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