Ways to Buy FY21 Refresh

Project: Ways to Buy FY21 Refresh

Company: Apple Inc. (corporate level)

Scope: Apple Retail, global

Format: Online/E-Learning courses

Project Length: 5 months

Project Retired?: No

My Contributions: 30+ new courses, six regional curriculums, leadership presentation materials, updates to several course/curriculum architectures, updates several existing courses, developed new course gamification prototype.

Programs Used: Keynote, Pages, Numbers, Workfront, Quip, Procreate

Apple has an expansive ecosystem of products and services to offer, and our customers rely on the recommendations of our team members so that we can guide them to the purchase that is the best fit for them. There are different ways to get from point A to point B for an Apple customer, point A being their wallet and Point B being their new product.

When designing the Ways to Buy curriculum for the Learning app, I thought the most logical way to think of Ways to Buy was as a wallet, just like our customers would use their wallet to pay for something, and might use multiple payment methods in the same transaction. But the longer I worked on the project, the more I started to see the Ways to Buy as a roadmap, helping customers navigate toward device ownership. With that mindset, the sales specialist is considering all the options available for the customer to pay with, but is also specifically mapping out the best method - or combination of methods - for them.

When structuring the curriculum, I felt the need to emphasize that the specialist should use their skills and best judgement to help the customer navigate their purchase in the way that makes sense for them. I didn’t want the specialist to feel like they had to recite all the data of each payment option, but instead figure out which purchasing path their customer is heading towards and to make sure they are aware of all the checkpoints along that path. Ultimately, showing the customer all the options available and seeing what’s recommended for that journey, but ultimately knowing that the owner is in control.

“By defining the key differences in the Ways to Buy methods that are significant enough to impact a customer’s decision, we help our team members to provide a personalized and effective approach that leads to new device ownership.”

I wanted to position to the learners that as they used their resources, they would encounter these Ways to Buy methods the same way that our customers might. An Apple customer might consider Apple Card cash back and a trade-in the same way a Walgreens customer might use their store rewards points and a coupon along with their credit card. We know that Apple can have a lot of jargon that doesn’t make sense to everyone, so our customers are looking to use to break it down and curate the best purchasing solution for them.

Together, all the Ways to Buy methods can lead to that customized purchasing solution, but the key word is customized - picking up on those conversational cues and keywords in interactions to start changing course toward the best Ways to Buy path for the customer.

Below are some snippets of the Ways to Buy curriculum brainstorming and restructuring that took place. You’ll see sketches, slideshows, illustrations, spreadsheets, and mind maps all created by myself that reflect what the final project became.

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  Slide explains my concept approach to redesigning Ways to Buy at Apple like a wallet

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  Sketches of Ways to Buy curriculum mockup

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  Slide explains the scope of Ways to Buy regional application as well as goals and challenges moving forward

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  Mind map of all relevant pre-existing courses at the time of project management that could be reintegrated into the new Ways to Buy curriculum

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  Mind maps breaking down the projected Ways to Buy curriculums organized by global region

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  Expansive spreadsheet detailing all planned courses organized by global region and Ways to Buy purchasing method category

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  A pie chart depicting the different types of documents I completed for the project, and a bar graph showing that with all regional curriculum combined, I oversaw the organization of nearly 100 courses.

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  Flowchart depicting all of the ways to buy methods available to apple retail customers

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  Slide from presentation given to my store team bulleting the different ways to buy methods available in our region