Ethnographic and Omnipresence Research Project
Project description
Decathlon shoppers experience in-store and online shopping very differently. In stores, they enjoy touching products, getting advice from staff, and feeling a sense of community, making shopping feel fun and social.
Online shopping is faster and more convenient but feels less personal and exciting.
There’s a big opportunity to create hybrid experiences that bring the trust and engagement of stores into Decathlon’s digital platforms.
Process
This category details the step-by-step approach taken during the project.
Research & Planning
Conducted ethnographic study by observing users in their natural environment to understand real behavior, habits, and pain points.
Define
Identified key problems such as disconnected experiences across platforms and mismatch between user expectations and actual usage.
Ideation
Explored ideas around creating seamless and continuous experiences that exist across multiple touchpoints.
Design
Created user journeys and flows showing how users interact across devices while maintaining consistency.
Prototype
Developed wireframes and concepts to visualize how the omnipresent experience would work in real-life scenarios.
Solution
The solution focuses on building a connected and omnipresent experience where users can move across platforms without losing continuity. By using ethnographic insights, the design fits naturally into users’ daily lives rather than forcing new behaviors.
The system ensures that interactions remain consistent, accessible, and context-aware, whether the user is switching devices, locations, or tasks.
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Results
Decathlon's app fulfills basic transactional needs, user reviews reveal little to no mention of exploratory browsing, inspiration, or discovery.
Unlike the in-store experience—where customers naturally wander, test products, and interact— the digital channels currently fail to encourage emotional or exploratory engagement.
This gap represents a key opportunity: improving online “browsability” and emotional connection could move the app from being merely a tool to being a discovery-driven experience.