BET 100 - Section 081 - Fall 2025 / Assignment 3: Create a Customer Perception Map
Assignment 3: Create a Customer Perception Map
Objective
By completing this assignment, students will be able to:
• Conduct primary observational research in a real-world retail setting.
• Identify and interpret customer behavior. and experience using cues and clues.
• Organize insights using the Customer Perception Map framework ("See", "Hear", "Think & Feel", "Say & Do").
• Analyze customer pain points and inefficiencies in the purchasing journey.
• Recommend evidence-based improvements to enhance customer experience and business performance.
• Communicate findings clearly in a structured and professional written format.
Instructions
This activity has three stages to complete:
-Stage 1 where you will submit your assignment
-Stage 2 where you will evaluate other students' submissions that have been assigned to you
-Stage 3 where you will reflect on the feedback you have received from other students on your submission
Check the schedule to the right of your screen to note the deadlines to submit for each stage.
You will also receive email reminders when the stages open and when the deadlines are approaching. If you provide your phone number in Account Settings, you can opt in to receive text message reminders, too.
Assignment #3 Description
The 3rd Peer-to-Peer Evaluated Assignment is a fun one called Create a Customer Perception Map and it is worth 10% of your grade.
We have been studying customer pain points and design thinking in this section of the course.
For assignment #3, we ask you to observe customers as they interact at the business and make purchases. Carefully observe their interactions and behaviour and their use of ‘cues and clues’ during their journey.
Using principles discussed in the course, especially those in Modules 4 & 5, and using the template provide on Kritik, complete a Customer Perception Map – What did the customer ‘see’, ‘hear’, ‘think and feel’, ‘say and do’ during their engagement and what cues and clues did they use along their journey? You can combine your observations of customers to capture the most relevant and poignant observations. Submit your completed Customer Perception Map on Kritik.
· Example: Go to a local pharmacy and watch the customers on their journey as they get a prescription refilled or go to a shoe store and watch customers purchasing shoes/boots.
Then, in 1 page, describe the pain points you discovered from your observation and define what opportunities these pain points represent for this business. What would you recommend for improvements to make the customer experience better?
Steps:
1. ·Go to a large, local retail business or service provider (grocery store, retail outlet, coffee shop, pharmacy, big box retailer, fast food business, LCBO, movie theatre, etc) and spent time observing customers as they interact at the business and make purchases. Carefully observe their interactions and behaviour. Observe customers as they move through the store and interact with staff, products, signage, and services. Observe their use of ‘cues and clues’ during their journey. Watch for both obvious and subtle behaviors.
o If you wish to do this project on a different type of business, please feel free to email your professor with your request. It will likely be approved as this project will work in almost any type of business
2. · Using principles discussed in the course, especially those in Modules 4 & 5, and using the template provide on Kritik, complete a Customer Perception Map – What did the customer ‘see’, ‘hear’, ‘think and feel’, ‘say and do’ during their engagement and what cues and clues did they use along their journey? You can combine your observations of customers to capture the most relevant and poignant observations. Submit your completed Customer Perception Map on Kritik.
· Be specific. Observe carefully to capture highly specific moments, interactions, and actions that best define the customer experience and their pain. i.e. “customers walking down the isle” isn’t a useful observation whereas “older customers having trouble hearing the pharmacist instructions because of in-store music playing” is very relevant.
· Example: Go to a local pharmacy and watch the customers on their journey as they get a prescription refilled or go to a shoe store and watch customers purchasing shoes/boots.Complete the Customer Perception Map using the provided fillable template.
You must include:
• 9 to 16 concise observation points per section:
• See – What do customers visually encounter? (e.g., layout, staff, signage)
• Hear – What are customers hearing? (e.g., music, staff instructions, announcements)
• Think & Feel – Based on body language and expressions, what are they experiencing emotionally or cognitively? (e.g., confusion, frustration, satisfaction)
• Say & Do – What do they say out loud? What actions do they take? (e.g., asking for help, abandoning a product)
•
3. Write a 1-page analysis (12 pt Times New Roman, single-spaced, standard margins) that includes:
• A summary of the customer pain points you observed and the size, scope and importance of these issues to the business.
• A brief explanation of how specific 'cues and clues' may have caused or contributed to those pain points
• A discussion of the opportunities these pain points present for business improvement
• Specific and actionable recommendations for operational changes that would improve customer experience and outcomes
• Note: using business appropriate bullet points and subheadings to make your submission more consumable is encouraged.
4. Submit both your completed Perception Map template and 1-page analysis by the deadline. Ensure both documents follow the guidelines (12 point, Times New Roman font, single spaced, standard margin).