The fourth session was an applied exercise. Rather than
attend a lecture, the students ran a pop-up shop and put into action the lessons and skills they had learned during the module, as well as the blueprints and plans they
had been working on with their groups.
Groups arrived at their prearranged time to run the pop-up
shop. Upon arrival, groups were encouraged by the module
leaders to assess the layout and design of the pop up shop. They were also
given the resources and materials they had requested to promote the University
of Worcester's community activities to the public. Each group had the opportunity to create the layout
of the promotional materials and to set up the tables to display the materials. The lecturer encouraged groups to
consider the exercises from the previous week’s module (blueprinting, logistics
design) when laying out the materials. At
various points during the groups’ time slots, the lecturer asked the groups to consider
the progress of their shop’s operation and what could be improved.
The pop-up shop provided ample opportunity for engaging with
the public as it was located near an entrance of the shopping centre and a lot
of foot traffic passed by the shop. Some groups seized the opportunity and set
up a tables or stationed some of the group members outside the shop to maximize
the number of people they could communicate with. The most successful groups
set up tables outside the shops with biscuits and sweets to entice the public
to enter the pop-up shop. The University of Worcester promotional materials
were then given to visitors inside the shop by other students. By using this
approach, all students had a role to play and everyone remained engaged during
the exercise.
Most of the groups had no clear leader, and as a result,
they did not initially take the time to delegate tasks and launched into shop
operation immediately after setting up their materials. While most groups
enacted their plan with little prompting, some groups looked immediately to the
module leader for guidance before setting up their pop up shop. Some groups initially
struggled with engaging the public but when prompted by the lecturer to think
of other strategies, they then were able to successfully involve the public in
their promotional activities.
It was observed that students who were dressed casually had
an easier time engaging with the public and easily gained its trust. When
students who were dressed professionally reached out to the public, it became
clear that the people were unsure of the students’ intentions and mistook them
for sales personnel. In the future, students will be encouraged to wear shirts with
the university logo to convey a friendly image that will gain the public's trust.
Click here for more information about the project
