This workshop was a 5-day knowledge exchange activity between RCA and John Lewis Partnership, conceived, planned and facilitated by Dr John Stevens, Senior Tutor on Global Innovation Design Masters programme, as part of the AcrossRCA programme in October 2014.
26 postgraduate students from a variety of disciplines were formed into seven teams. Their challenge was to explore, generate and develop innovative concepts around Retail Theatre, aiming for a delightful, rich customer experience that is an integrated fusion of the power of the physical and the virtual worlds. Concepts should account for the many routes to purchase available to the shopper, and reflect John Lewis’ brand values and commitment to excellence in service and product quality. The workshop culminated with formal presentation of concepts to a judging panel including CTO Paul Coby, and Senior Partners and designers at John Lewis.Concepts were extremely well received, and several teams were invited to re-present to a larger audience of John Lewis staff at their headquarters in Victoria, London.