Presentation

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Background Overview

Who is our Client?

Kroger is one of the largest retailers in the US based on annual sales with over 500,000 employees across 2,700 supermarkets and multi department stores. Kroger recognizes the importance of technology in their business. Recently, Kroger partnered with Nvidia to boost freshness efforts using AI and computer simulations.

Who we worked with?

Dan Whitacre is a Senior Director at Kroger who has led a large team in this position both before and after the pandemic. Dan is a team-player and describes his work as uncomfortable due to the riskiness of R&D. He finds satisfaction in his relationships at work and prides his team on trusting one another.

Why does this problem need to be solved?

This sense of community aids in talent acquisition and talent retention in a team everyone is expected to work together with the same ideology and goal at the exact pace. To achieve this we need to create a sense of belonging among the employees. An employee needs to know what his boss is expecting him to do and what his team is capable of. By doing this one's involvement in the team is increased, the bond between the employees is increased, talent is retained for the boss as hiring is becoming expensive, personal satisfaction and one's growth in the company is ensured and finally an individual does not feel bored for coming to work.

Coming up with a solution

Pain and Gain points

• Pain point: geographically diverse team with no proximity to build trust and relationships.

• Gain point: manufacturing an artificial experience to create a sense of belonging among the team and build trust in one another.

Empathy Map

Reimagining Spontaneous Interactions

We always have moments where natural and unforced interactions happen in the office. For example when you move around the office, when you make a cup of coffee or when you have a cup of water from the water cooler. But when it is online, these moments are eliminated. Therefore, our goal is to recreate Spontaneous Interactions in a virtual setting.

The Solution

Conversation, Competition, and Story-sharing

(Very) Short meeting - Conversation

How it works:

• The system connects 2 people that have at least 1 similarities

• The challenge is to find what is their similarity through chitchatting

• They can end the meeting anytime they want.

Why it work:

• Create small conversations and human interactions

• Get to know other employees

• Make friends and create bonds

Daily Games & Puzzles - Competition

We all had that scenario where we sat down solving a problem for hours, days even weeks. Suddenly we get an idea to solve that during the time when you do tasks that you like. For example, ideas that strike when you take a shower or while doing a workout or even while sleeping. I myself have got dreams that give a spark of why should I not try this method to solve my research problem.

How do we get employees a short break in between their hectic schedule and find them a refresh button along with some competitive interaction in this remote environment? Healthy competition is good for all.

How it works:

• Notification appears everyday to ask if they want to play games/puzzles

• You can totally invite other employees to compete with you

Why it work:

• Fun and stress-relief while making friends

• Chess/Puzzle can train your brain!

• Receive a little recognition on the leaderboard

• A good break from work

• The competitiveness in gaming can be transfer into working

Virtual Story Telling Board - Storytelling

Checkpoint

Results

• My team won the 1st place of the challenge among the 3 groups.

• We got invited to an online meeting to meet with Kroger managers to present our idea to the company.

Pic. Me and my teammates