Overview
Key challenge
Users
Coffeehouse leaders peer coach (CHLPCs)& their trainers: Operational consultant managers ( OCMs ) responsible for various testing districts
Outcome
Designed a multi-level training and testing system that standardizes research practice while remaining flexible to real store conditions.
Impact
Training satisfaction score 4.3 / 5
Reduced testing data errors by 28%
Improved data analysis efficiency by 37%
Strengthened trainer–trainee interactions and activated latent operational knowledge
Time
Feb - May 2025
June - August 2025
Team member
Yanting Wang (Product Designer & Researcher)
Jiawei Zhang (Product Manager)
My Role
Lead design research
Design prototypes and final deliveriesPresent research and final presentation to the client's team & stakeholders
Tool
Figma & FigJam
Excel
Indesign
Chatgpt
Digital Product: CHLPC Hub
Prepare faster with everything needed for store visits in one place.
The Home dashboard brings the next visit’s schedule, contacts, test brief, checklist, and relevant learning into one place—reducing time spent searching across systems and helping CHLPCs move quickly from what to do to how to prepare.
Plan and act across multiple tests
When several tests overlap in the timeline, CHLPCs need a clear view of schedules, progress, and next actions across different tests.
The overview brings timelines and urgent tasks—such as visit confirmation, entries review, and feedback—into one place and ties each action back to its test.
Focus on the data that matters
Not every store metric is relevant to every test. This screen combines store analysis and visit planning, surfacing only the most relevant conditions—such as store format, daypart, and demand.
Selecting a store reveals its test-specific data, while AI-assisted insights highlight what it could add to the test and where gaps remain.
SETTING
Starbucks relies heavily on precise, high-quality research insights from field testing to drive organizational decisions.
User roles:
CHLPC
CHLPCs are high-performing Coffee store managers in a transitional role before moving into broader leadership positions such as District Manager, where they oversee 15+ stores.
Senior Operational Consultant Managers are mentors in training; leaders or collaborators in testing work for CHLPCs.
How CHLPC & OCM work together in testing
Guided by testing checklists, CHLPCs serve as the "eyes and ears" on the ground—observing test execution and interviewing baristas.
They log real-time data via Smartsheet, which is then sent to OCMs for macro analysis.
CHLPC timeline-a very short training for long testing work time
The Constraint: Coffeehouse Leader Peer Coaches (CHLPCs) must rapidly absorb complex research capabilities in a 2-week training window to effectively support Operational Consultant Managers (OCMs) during a 9-month rotation.
However, Starbucks' testing team faces challenges in operational improvement due to varied testing data collection quality and a lack of an efficient research training system for its testing team staff in different locations across the US
Our team's task is to…
Redesign and standardize the research education for CHLPCs
Optimize the workflow for the testing process with both digital & physical solutions
Scalable solutions that work for testing regions across the states and could be flexibly adapted
RESEARCH PROCESS
Key research questions
How do CHLPCs and trainers experience training and store testing, including key challenges and enablers?
How is testing data currently collected, documented, and shared—and where does data integrity break down?
How might the testing workflow and tools be improved to support more consistent and reliable insights?
Secondary Research
Using analogous studies, we reviewed 14+ training systems & materials across 8 industries that rely on hands-on execution.
Airlines
Art Education
Higher education
Adventure training
Retail
Design
Delivery logistics
Healthcare
Key insight
Primary research
I led the primary research in the whole project, including research planning, designing research protocols, analyzing data with thematic analysis, and usability testing for textbooks.
Key findings detailed in the next section
Primary research findings
Curriculum Mismatch
The Gap: 70% of research methods in existing training materials are rarely used by CHLPCs in the field.
The Reality: CHLPCs exclusively rely on just two core field methods: observations and intercept interviews.
Systemic Data Quality Gaps
An audit of 60% of open-ended entries across two large-scale testing datasets revealed highly ambiguous qualitative data—frequently mixing objective facts with subjective assumptions and opinions.
Vague Checklist Guidance
A comprehensive review of 8 core testing checklists spanning different test typologies showed a stark lack of standardized guidance.
This missing baseline directly caused high variation in data collection quality across different regional store locations.
Broken Feedback Loops
CHLPCs rarely receive or get to read final test results synthesized by the program team.
This gap leaves field teams disconnected from the final impact of their work, stalling long-term motivation.
Problems-Research synthesis
From initial interviews, observations and existing material reviews, we learnt these 3 barriers for CHLPCs:
High Cognitive Load & Compressed Timelines
Mentors balance training with full-time operational responsibilities
Training is largely remote, with only ~2 days in person
Dense material with high-level content makes it hard to absorb complex concepts
Training-to-application & career goal gap leading to low motivation
Existing training materials are high-level with limited concrete guidance or hands-on practice
Misalignment between textbook examples and real testing contexts
CHLPCs hardly see the link between skills required at work & their career goals
Lack of standardized practice at work & testing causing low data collection quality
75% of checklist lack the right level of specificity to guide CHLPCs with different testing's requirements
With no standardized testing report writing guide, there's high variation in data for the open-ended entries
Testing work materials have large volume but lack organizing tools
Design requirements
Training should support both learners and trainers, while aligning testing work with long-term career development to build motivation.
User needs
CHLPC
Clear standards for what “good” test & training looks like and concrete guidance of teaching
Focusing on skills and teaching activities that could be addressed in a limited time
More meaningful interactions that surface individual learning needs
Getting authentic feedback from the staff to improve testing data integrity and operations
Design requirements
Standardized Training + Testing by distilling the core knowledge and learning activities
Concrete scripts and guides for trainers
A repeatable training structure
Reduce information overload by distilling core knowledge and scheduling an appropriate length of time for practicing
Clear, Test-Specific Instructions
What to observe
How to conduct interviews and intercepts
How to record findings
Accessible, Individualized Learning for career growth
Highlight what learners need for career growth
Best-practice breakdowns
Visual explanations for quick digestion
Engaging Educational Interaction
Question prompts for meaningful dialogue
Turn testing into teachable moments that increase motivation
SOLUTION
Solution Strategy Overview
A multi-level strategy spanning system, collective practice, and individual career growth.
CHLPC
Individual identity
Career-driven motivation
Strengthen leadership identity by explicitly connecting tactical field-testing skills to future District Manager competencies, boosting intrinsic motivation.
Collective culture
Standardized field methods & collaboration
Builds Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) around practical research methods to foster objective testing, while optimizing mentor-learner interactions within time-sensitive environments.
Company system
Closed feedback loops
Re-architects data flows to give CHLPCs clear visibility into final testing results and their own work records, creating a sustained learning feedback loop
System Tool
Interconnected Toolkit
Deploys an ecosystem of three interconnected deliverables to support these strategies (detailed below):
One-Stop Dashboard
For process monitoring & efficiency
Textbook & Syllabus
For building core skills & motivation
Data obscured under NDA.
The methodological framework is included in the following section.
Testing Checklist
For real-time operational guidance
Solution Dive-in
One-Stop Dashboard
Serves as a centralized management platform for the entire training and work lifecycle to improve process monitoring & efficiency
Centralize key materials for faster access before and during store visits
Surface schedules, feedback, and next actions to support clearer planning
Connect learning with fieldwork so skill development continues through real testing
Textbook & syllabus
Standardizes organizational training with high-relevance career and operational content to not only build core skills & users' motivation for testing work, but also long-term leadership development
Beyond general research method guides, I learn from workarounds & best practices of current staff and incorporate 3 design principles to textbook designs
Focusing on core skills
Linking testing skills to career growth
Support mentor-student interaction
Focusing on core skills to prioritize mastery over variety
Before
Overwhelming & Abstract: Covered 10 low-utility methods using plain-text frameworks without concrete examples or steps.
Example of previous educational material: Only 1 page for each method, with a high-level summary
After
Linking testing skills to career growth for increasing motivation
Goal Alignment: Highlights store visit planning's connection to their main career goal of becoming a district manager.
Leadership framing: Uses leadership-oriented language throughout the textbook.
Support mentor-student interaction for customized learning journey
Good prompts to CHLPCs & mentors discussions rather than giving answers directly
Checklist design
Provides actionable, on-site guidance for standardized data collection during store visits. It translates complex evaluation criteria into a clear, point-of-action tool that reduces subjectivity in field testing.
Collaborated with a senior researcher at Starbucks, we designed example checklists as references for the testing team
Rather than asking CHLPCs to prepare their own questions, we incorporated questions for them to use on the spot
Built a clear structure with information design
Confidential alert:
These materials contain sensitive operational details and are not shown publicly.
Let's talk if you're interested.
2 rounds of usability testing of checklists with both physical & digital formats
Workflow diagrams & implementation plan
Maps the recommended team coordination, data flow, and how the three deliverables work together to support the testing team's implementation.
The workflow diagram incorporates some best practices as recommendations to elevate latent knowledge and can be a small step to take for building sense progress and morale.
Reflections
1. Power Dynamics in Field Research
Because mentors (OCMs) introduced us to participants (CHLPCs), most CHLPCs felt pressured to demonstrate flawless competency rather than openly discuss training gaps.
We have prepared our protocols to explicitly state: "We are learning about how to improve the current training & testing system, not evaluating your personal competency," and in the interviews we need to reassure the participants many times on this.
2. Mining Latent Organizational Knowledge
Our breakthrough came from codifying organic workarounds already used by star field staff.
We observed experienced coaches implicitly building rapport by working side-by-side with baristas to minimize operational disruption, then built these exact best practices into the our design & recommendations.
Generative Tooling Sparks Deeper Reflection
Simply asking direct questions during standard interviews frequently yielded general or corporate answers. Inviting OCM mentors to create and draw their own journey maps unlocked deep, systemic reflections that traditional interviews completely missed.