Awareness

Before using the service, a customer has to know it it exists, so awareness is an important part of customer adoption. In my case, I became aware of Kleen hub through social media, got interested in it and started working on this case study.
But how do other customers become aware of Kleen hub?

To get a better view of the service, I conducted qualitative user research by interviewing six customers (B2C) and four baristas(B2B).

I’ll note some of my findings throughout the case study, as well as a couple of improvement opportunities.

The first finding relates to awareness of the service; all customers I interviewed started using Kleen hub through a recommendation from a friend or a colleague.

Finding

Customers become aware of Kleen hub through friends and colleagues

Here it’s important to note that the findings don’t represent the entire customer base.
I assume a few customer profiles (or personas) at the end of this study with a few ways I’d like to expand it.
With the last disclaimer being that Kleen hub also offers reusable food containers, but they aren’t included in this study;

Let’s get some coffee, shall we?

Getting coffee

And borrowing a cup

App has an overview of the cafes that work with Kleen hub, which is quite practical. However, the map is quite sparse around my location. That means choosing a café I’ve never visited before, so I settle for a café within a 10 minute bike ride from me.

Map in the app showing one café

The fact that I went to a new café has advantages and disadvantages.
On the one hand it might be an interesting way to discover new places for some customers, and businesses might increase their traffic through being a part of the Kleen hub network.
On the other hand, many people have their favourite coffee spots and aren’t interested in experimenting. Sparse locations also mean less opportunities to return the cup. Having enough locations increases the convenience and presents as an important factor in the service. In user interviews I discovered that most people don’t use the map feature at all.

Finding

Most customers don't use the map feature

Now back to my coffee.
Before entering the café, I opened my app to login beforehand...

...but the app doesn’t work?
The only clickable button was the email login so I went to “Forgot your password” and after a long loading got an error message.

What should I do?

App error message

Took me a while to realize my mobile data wasn’t on and that was causing the issue. This could have easily been a point of giving up, thinking the app just doesn’t work. Even worse yet, I could have been at the cash register scrambling to make it work while there was a line of people behind me. 

This is a way to handle this error better.

The first fix could be to add an informative error message. That means explaining what’s wrong, how to fix it, and possibly giving alternatives.

It should also be considered if there’s a viable way to prevent the error in the first place. Could the app work without the internet, and “update” once the internet connection is restored?

Improvement opportunity

Mockup of improved error message

My experience isn’t unique as the app was the biggest pain point for customers I interviewed. Reasons differed; from features not working properly to the inconvenience of having to wait in a line to borrow the cup in an otherwise self-service café.

Finding

App is the biggest pain point for the customers

Alas, the café I was going to wasn’t self-serve, so I walked in to the café and ask if I could get a coffee to go in a Kleen hub cup.

The answer is no!

They don’t work with Kleen hub. In fact, they never did - they had a plan to collaborate but left it at that. That means the map in the app is not up to date.

What a bummer.
The only option I had was a single-use cup or staying at the café, which I didn’t have time for. Knowing that just one bad experience can deter customers from using a service, this could be a deal-breaker for many.

An obvious improvement would be to keep the list of cafes and restaurants up to date in the app. I also found examples of opening hours differing in the app and Google Maps;  in this example, the cafe was closed for a week, but the app didn’t display that. A possible approach could be to keep the opening hours aligned with Google Maps as the owners are likely to keep it up to date there.

Improvement opportunity

Keep opening hours in the app up to date

App showing a café is open, while Google maps say it's closed

At this point, I didn’t get to experience the value of the service; reducing the amount of trash I produce, while the costs are adding up. Downloading the app, giving my card information, going to a specific café and (a big one) changing the habit of throwing away the cup presents a challenge in the motivation to use the service.

Luckily, I’m not a quitter, so I gave it another shot, this time in the city centre.

Map of Kleen hub affiliated cafés in the center of Copenhagen

Here, I had a much bigger choice of cafes so I chose one close to my office. Making sure I had internet connection I scouted the café for signs of Kleen hub. Spotted Kleen hub cups on the counter and felt more certain about asking about it.

Went to the counter, ordered an iced latte and the barista led me through the process of borrowing a cup.
Even got a 10% discount that wasn’t advertised!

Kleen hub cup on counter

Drinking coffee

And using the cup

How was the experience once I got my coffee?

Kleen hub cup definitely has a more “legit” feeling than a single-use cup. The outside of the cup doesn’t get cold and wet, so it’s more comfortable to carry. I brought the coffee back to my office as well as the train ride home with no spills. The last thing I noticed is that the iced latte remained cold for a long time during a surprisingly hot day in Copenhagen.

Really good!

Unsurprisingly, customers I interviewed named the cup as the highlight of the service.
They name it as the main motivation to continue using Kleen hub, as it keeps the temperature of the drink for a long time and feels more “legit”. One participant said that “Using a paper cup now feels like a downgrade” and that using Kleen hub became a habit. All participants expressed that sustainability is something they like about the service as well, but doesn’t seem to be enough of a reason to use the service by itself.

Finding

Cup quality is the main motivation to use Kleen hub

So actually using the cup is a high point of the experience, and it delivers on what it promises to be.
Knowing how enjoyable using the reusable cup is, are there improvements that would make it easier for customers to get the cup in their hands?

Looking back at the experience of actually buying the coffee, two things stand out:

Making it clearer that the café uses Kleen hub (and maybe offers a discount as well) means working with business owners. At this point, I’d love to understand how they work and how Kleen hub integrates with their offerings. That understanding would allow me to bring forward changes that are feasible in the real world and test them.

Without access to business owners however, I drew up options of possible improvements with a goal of raising awareness of the service by physical environment changes and customer touchpoint enhancements .

Physical environment changes

Making Kleen hub more visible would adress the pain point of uncertainty for customers, as well as raise awareness for those who are not cusomters of the service (yet).

While I was working on this study, I visited multiple other locations on the Kleen hub map.
In one of them, I saw this example of offering Kleen hub as a option:

Display of a Kleen hub cup

Inviting, with simple instructions, and right by the register. Hard to miss!
Display definitely makes it clear the café works with Kleen hub, removing the uncertainty and making the service visible for everyone.
This might be the right approach for some businesses, especially if sustainability is very important to them and their customers.

Others might not want to put so much emphasis on it, as the advertising might not align with their brand or the ambiance. That means taking a more individualised approach of: “How can we make Kleen hub a visible option at this café, while respecting the look and feel of the space?”

And that usually means options.

Maybe the most subtle change is to make sure Kleen hub cups are clearly visible from the cash register. That was the case in another café.

Kleen hub cup on the coffee machine

It would be great to add signs of the service before the customers comes to the cash register. That could even start before they enter the space, by adding a sticker to the door. Another reminder could be on the menu so they see it while choosing a drink or waiting in line. While less subtle than only the cups, they could be incorporated in a way that doesn’t disrupt the feel of the space.

Improvement opportunity

Make Kleen hub more visible in the cafes

Café menu with Kleen hub logo

Customer touchpoint enhancement

Apart from the environment, changes could be made to key customer touchpoints. A touchpoint where the business, Kleen hub and the customer directly interact is at the register. At that point, there's an opportunity to both elevate the experience for customers and increase awareness of the service. A good example was my first experience with the service, where a lovely barista led me through the process of using Kleen hub and gave me a 10% discount. During my research, however, I've also come across baristas that are unaware of the Kleen hub partnership in their café or being aware of the service, but not being sure how it works. One more reason to focus on improving this touchpoint.

Baristas are the the key actors, and working with them on a better "script" is a viable approach.
I'd love to do a workshop with them to understand how they usually handle their to-go orders with and without Kleen hub and come up with changes that would work in the specific context.
For the time being, I'll use my experience as a barista to come up with a potential script.

Improvement opportunity

Barista script for to-go coffee orders

Introducing questions in the ordering flow:

If these script changes were to happen, they might lead to increased adoption. They also, however, highlight how conversion could be limited by the app download. To support adoption, it would be beneficial to raise the value or reduce the price of the service for the new customers. In this case, app download is a "price" that the customer has to commit to in order to use the service.

Returning the cup

When it comes to the price of the service, as long as the customer returns the cup to any partner café within 10 days, it’s free. I closed the cycle by returning the cup to the same café where I borrowed it from, by scanning a card at the register.

I believe this “closing the cycle” behaviour is the biggest challenge in circular business models. If customers were to get a coffee in a single use cup, the process is done once they reach a trash can. With reusable cups, customers have to stick to the cup, rinse it and remember to bring it back in time.

I’d love to invest more time exploring what could be done to support this behaviour as interviews shed some light on current pain points:

I conducted my interviews on a college campus so it’s fair to say the experience map is likely to represent the first persona much better than the other two.

This in in no way a complete overview of the new service or the effect it might have on the customer experience. Not only did I not get a first-hand experience with it, but the customers I talked to were already using the original app-based system. That means they had specific expectations (for example a metal cup that was the highlight of the service ) and went through the process of setting up the app on their phones.

The initial expectation I’d have is that the new system might increase adoption though removing the friction of downloading the app. That being said, I’d love to understand how it works and how the service is perceived by those who are not yet customers in a new project.

If I were to improve this project, my next steps would be to:

More information means improvement suggestions that would benefit specific customer types better, changes in line with Kleen hub’s business strategy, and a way to prioritise them.

On a personal note, I’m happy this service is making strides in replacing single-use items, one cup of coffee at a time.