York Personas

The Challenge

York is the oldest and largest wallcovering producer in the United States, creating fine products to exacting clients. They came to ZeroDegrees to get to know those clients better. What drives a homeowner to re-paper a room? How do interior designers choose a supplier? What do each really see when they look at a wall? 

Beyond key segment types and their purchase drivers, York needed to better understand the customer journey, including triggers, actions, and emotions. Doing so would help develop better-informed market strategies for each segment, and gain a deeper understanding of the risks associated with selling designer products online.

Our Approach

From our initial intake workshop, it was clear that there was no shortage of hypotheses. York wanted to pressure-test its assumptions with a rigorous and scientific research approach. Most importantly, they needed actionable personas that had both substance and style...much like their wallcoverings.

We knew we had to go broad and deep, to look at York’s full swath of customers across B2B and B2C channels.

To go deep, we asked interior designers and consumers to bring us into their workspaces and homes through webcams. We saw samples and tip sheets and sites where they shopped. We listened and watched and asked lots of questions. We learned that when York personas look at a wall, they see a canvas, a challenge, an expression of personal style. Eventually, some very clear personas emerged.

Then, to validate the patterns we found, we went broad, conducting a large quantitative study. We asked about attitudes and aptitudes. We looked for new patterns and deeper insights. And the personas evolved, getting clearer and more sharply defined.

But that was only half the challenge. York wanted us to bring these personas through life in rich detail. So we dug deep into the York brand book and design a full suite of customer personas that reflected our rigorous research as well as the beautiful style of York's offices.

The Results

By using multiple research methods, we were able to tell a story that mixed deep, small sample discussions with a large, wide-ranging customer survey. And what came out were frame-worthy personas that are as rigorously researched as they are beautiful.