kiln.

A world within your workplace.

During my Kiln internship, I focused on the importance of high-quality services for member retention. Using research-driven analysis, I developed a strategic retention plan and provided recommendations to enhance member experience.

View Kiln’s Website  →
Role
UXR
Date
Jun - October 2024
Participants
Detractors & Churned
Project Type
Evaluation Research
Methodology
Mixed Methods Case: Linear Temporal Order
Method
Affective CX
EXD Framework
Social Exchange Theory
NPS, CRR, IDI’s

The

Problem

Kiln, a company experiencing rapid growth with the addition of ten to twelve locations in the coming year, has primarily concentrated on marketing efforts. This focus has led to a gap in customer experience (CX) research, resulting in a limited understanding of product quality and customer retention strategies. Consequently, Kiln is facing challenges in retaining its customers effectively.
Solution
To address Kiln’s churn, I first conducted comprehensive secondary marketing research to identify effective retention strategies for the business. This research informed a qualitative study I led, ultimately uncovering the underlying reasons for the recent increase in member churn and negative product experiences. I provided actionable insights and recommendations to enhance future retention rates and member experience.
Marketing Research
View  →
The once a week office. A workspace solutiondesigned for remote-first teams who need an elevated environment to gather once or twice a week.
Proposal & Plan
View  →
The once a week office. A workspace solutiondesigned for remote-first teams who need an elevated environment to gather once or twice a week.
Research Report
View  →
The once a week office. A workspace solutiondesigned for remote-first teams who need an elevated environment to gather once or twice a week.

The Research Process

A look into what the project entailed across the many changes, iterations, and explorations! So much to delve into.

Defining the Problem, Research Goal, & Questions

Collaborated with stakeholders to identify an increase in churned members and uncovered several untested hypotheses contributing to a knowledge gap about Kiln's members and it’s product. Crafted a research goal a questions.

Secondary Research & Planning

Conducted a literature review on marketing and retention strategies to create a detailed business strategy and research proposal aimed at enhancing Kiln members’ satisfaction, service quality, and b-to-c relationships to improve member experience and increase retention.

Data Collection & Analysis

Collected NPS and CRR data to inform and enhance the qualitative remote moderated interviews I conducted using semi-structured guides. Identified quantitative and qualitative themes.

Reporting & Recommendations

After analyzing the collected data I crafted detailed reports and provided actionable recommendations to improve member experience and reduce churn at Kiln.

Double Diamond Approach
I adopted the Double Diamond approach to guide each step of the research process. This methodology ensures that Kiln is well-positioned to implement my recommendations in a future Design & Development phase.
Research Phase
Research Phase
Defining the Problem
To determine how I could best support Kiln during my internship, I met with Chief Operations Officer Jeff Clark. We discussed the company's limited understanding of member needs and experiences, as well as assumptions that had not yet been explored.
Assumption 1
People will pay premium prices for Kiln's offerings because they surpass those of Kiln's three major competitors: retail spaces, coworking spaces, and wfh.
Assumption 2
Kiln's amenities are highly valued by members and contribute significantly to their overall satisfaction.
Assumption 3
Kiln members who use amenities frequently are more likely to to value their membership and be retained.
Research Goal
Understand Kiln members' satisfaction, service quality, and product usage to provide better experiences and increase retention.
Defining Research Question’s
Designed to address member churn and either validate or debunk the untested hypotheses.
Secondary Research
Secondary research to identify industry retention strategies and develop a research plan, literature revealed three major themes vital to Kiln’s survival.
View Secondary Research   →
1. Relationship Depth
Relationship depth involves the quality and number of interactions between customers and organizations/products. It includes feeling valued by the organization, mutual support among customers, and attentiveness from service providers. These factors enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by fostering a supportive service experience.


A good metaphor for relationship depth is a personal relationship: the more positive experiences and interactions you share, the deeper the connection becomes.
2. Retention Factors
Alshurideh (2020) provides a systematic review summarizing dozens of studies focused on factors that contribute to company retention. He found the following factors to be most mentioned and important to retention:
  • customer satisfaction ⭐️
  • service quality ⭐️
  • trust
  • commitment
  • loyalty
  • usage ⭐️
1. Affective Customer Experience (CX)
Retention strategies can be categorized into two types: Lock-in, which focuses on economic incentives, and Affective CX, which emphasizes emotional and experiential engagement. While Lock-in strategies prioritize monetary benefits and transactional relationships, Affective CX builds loyalty through emotional connections and positive customer experiences. Research suggests that customers with deeper relationships focus more on affective experiences rather than economic factors, making Affective CX crucial for reducing churn.


Given Kiln’s experiential nature, adopting an Affective CX strategy, supported by Experiential Learning and Social Exchange Theory, is recommended to enhance retention.
Moment for Immediate Recommendation
After reviewing retention literature, I found that several articles urge businesses to solidify the ideal product experience for consumers before pursuing expansions, as failing to do so can significantly reduce the chances of business survival.


I scheduled a meeting with COO Jeff Clark to share my findings. During our discussion, I emphasized the importance of the upcoming research I would be conducting and recommended that expansion and marketing efforts be scaled back. I suggested that future efforts focus on further product research to enhance the customer experience before continuing with growth initiatives.
Planning
At this point I crafted a comprehensive plan to guide the research. Below I have illustrated a brief overview of the mixed methods temporal order, case study bounds, member context, and interview guides.
View Research Plan   →
Linear Temporal Order
Linear mixed-methods design alternates between qualitative and quantitative steps, with each building on the previous findings. In my case, I started with quantitative data, using NPS and CRR metrics to identify which Kiln members to include and exclude in my interview sample. Quantitative methods addressed the ‘how much,’ while qualitative methods explored the ‘why.’
Quantitative
NPS Survey: Overall Satisfaction
CRR: Retention
Qualitative
IDI’s: Quality & Usage
Linear Temporal Order
Linear mixed-methods design alternates between qualitative and quantitative steps, with each building on the previous findings. In my case, I started with quantitative data, using NPS and CRR metrics to identify which Kiln members to include and exclude in my interview sample. Quantitative methods addressed the ‘how much,’ while qualitative methods explored the ‘why.’
Quantitative
Kiln locations, buildings,
experiences, & amenities
Sample
NPS Detractors
NPS Protractors
CRR Churned
Phenomena
Kiln Experiences
Member Experience Landscape - Ameneties
In addition to the shared amenities, each Kiln location is shaped by unique contextual factors such as its geographical setting, events, decor, and the local team. This study aimed to collect data from multiple contexts and cases to provide insights into the overall Kiln experience while acknowledging these differences. (Hancock et al., 2021)

Although the scope of this particular study was limited, I recommended conducting a more in-depth, case-level analysis to achieve data saturation. This would allow Kiln to gain a deeper understanding of why certain locations or contexts outperform others.
Interview Guide
I developed semi-structured interview guides with questions tailored to each participant group: Detractors, Promoters, and Churned members. The questions were designed to address the primary research question and assess the three key retention factors: quality, satisfaction, and usage (relationship depth).
View Research Plan   →
3 portions to the protractor/detractor interview guide’s
1
Quality
Establishing a baseline for the overall quality of Kilns’ services and outlining the ideal customer experience.
1
Satisfaction
Building on the assessment of quality, I evaluated member satisfaction with individual amenities. This provided valuable insights into their NPS.
1
Usage & Importance
The literature defines “usage” as “relationship depth,” which refers to the frequency with which a member utilizes an amenity, independent of their satisfaction perceived quality of the service.
Informed Recommendation’s
Data Collection
As the study followed a mixed-method approach with a linear temporal order, I began by collecting quantitative data to establish a foundational understanding of member experiences. This data also informed customer segmentation and guided the sampling process for subsequent qualitative interviews.
NPS Survey & CRR
Kiln Members
Systematic Sampling & Customer Segmentation
Interviews
Tools
Hubspot
Used to distribute and collect NPS and CRR data.
Zoom
Used to conduct and record interviews.
Dovetail
Used to transcribe Zoom audio, for coding, and thematic analysis.
Google Sheets
Used to track members quantitative data.
ChatGPT
Used for data analysis and editing recommendations.
Data Analysis
Only data relevant to the research questions were interpreted and analyzed.

The study used a Mixed Method Explanatory approach (Creswell, 2008), where qualitative data was intended to provide insights into the quantitative data. Therefore, the quant data was analyzed first, followed by the qual data.
Step 1: Quant Analysis
Analyzed NPS, CRR, and Scale Rating Questions.
Step 2: Interview Memo Analysis
During each interview, I took memos to capture interesting insights and patterns. Using Chatgpt I uploaded all interview memos to identify memo themes for future coding.
6 Initial Memo Themes
1
Vale
2
Privacy & Noise
3
Usage
4
Social Matters
5
Manager Concerns
6
Events
View Research Plan   →
Step 2: Interview Memo Analysis
Using Dovetail, I separated interviews based on their NPS score. This allowed for further theme segmentation.
Step 4: Initial Coding - Interview Questions
I categorized the interview questions into three main areas: General Experience, Amenities, and Relationship Depth. I then coded each transcript according to the relevant interview question, which streamlined the process of identifying recurring themes within each category. This approach allowed for a more organized and targeted analysis of the feedback, making it easier to draw insights related to specific aspects of the member experience.
IN PROGRESS...

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