CLIENT
Marvin Windows & Doors
A.W. Hastings
MARVIN
7 TIDE SHOWROOM
We created a suite of digital tools carefully integrated into the physical showroom allowing customers unprecedented control over the products they see - any option, finish, hardware - and any size or combination of windows demonstrated instantly before them.
Our Solution
Customers need to be able to contextualize these products: feel the sumptuous materials, stand in front of a dozen-foot-wide row of windows, and see with their own eyes the impact of Marvin’s custom-made windows and doors.
Insight
In the world of high-end domestic architecture, windows and doors are often an afterthought, only considered at the tail end of the project. Marvin wanted to demonstrate their ability to define a space and shape a room with light; to become a centerpiece for a structure.
Challenge
These tools, combined with the physical showroom and its robust unifying technology ecosystem, allowed 7 Tide to become part of Marvin’s customers' design process, demonstrating the power of their products to shape a space like never before, all while gaining valuable insight and data along the way.
The second experience takes the user into a room in which the brand ambassador, by means of a tailored iPad app, can create for them a true 1:1 scale rendition of their customized Marvin window and door products on a 10-by-14-foot projection wall.
The first experience is an interactive table that connects the handling of physical material samples from Marvin's luxurious product lines to an intuitive software system, which uses those very materials to build a custom 3D virtual product to the user's specifications.
While the technological side of the brand experience center involves an interconnected network of systems that manage user registration, management, and post-visit experience, it centers around two key experiences in the space itself.
Marvin's showroom at 7 Tide in Boston is a space that weaves a traditional product showcase experience together with innovative digital tools, all built from the ground up by Showroom.
Overview
One of the most commendable aspects of their work is the proactive approach to understanding their client’s needs. They acquire a deep understanding of industry trends and challenges leading to innovative and creative digital experiences.”
Keenan Burns
Vice President Business Integration
Marvin
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We took that as a challenge to find a way to not only add some flair and panache to the space but also make it a destination for customers and designers - integrating useful and helpful digital tools into the traditional physical showroom space.
They wanted to create an experience that would shift the customer’s consideration of windows and doors from a late-stage afterthought to a centerpiece for their homes.
A.W. Hastings, the northeastern distributor for Marvin Windows & Doors, came to us when they were planning their flagship Boston showroom because they wanted it to be something more than merely a museum of their wares.
Ideation
UX & Design
Given the breadth of the brief from Hastings, our initial brainstorms produced a variety of ideas for digital integrations, but two stood out from the crowd. Both ideas revolved around leveraging and demonstrating the customizability of Marvin's products, allowing the user to experience the breadth of possibilities firsthand.
A 55-inch interactive table became the technological foundation for this installation and as material samples were placed on the table, they became the nexus for the user interface from which the user would configure a product to be displayed in real-time on the table with the swatches.
One such experience was to leverage Marvin's own materials samples as an interface device, encouraging the user to handle their premium finishes and materials in order to generate a visualization of their products, configured in real-time with those very materials.
Touch Table
UX & Design
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From an iPad app, a brand ambassador would be able to demonstrate any product in any size and any finish for a client, projected on the wall in 1:1 scale, illustrating the possibilities for windows and doors to become a statement piece in any architectural project with more relatability and impact than ever before.
In order to contextualize the scope and possibilities of Marvin's bespoke products, the users needed to be able to see them in their true scale - thus, a floor-to-ceiling projector wall became the paradigm for the "living room" installation at 7 Tide.
Living Room
UX & Design
The creation of the software for 7 Tide entailed the development of an interconnected system, with each piece having its own challenges - however, the biggest technical achievement is perhaps the entire system itself.
Every piece of showroom tech is custom-built and interconnected; starting from registration through to inspiration and product configurations, the customer's experience is networked and stored for their personal post-visit landing page and for Marvin's CRM.
Development
Visitors were also given RFID-enabled notebooks tied to their user accounts, so with a swipe over a reader embedded in each installation, they would be able to activate each station for themselves and any choices they made would be automatically saved to their user account.
The interconnections of these installations was the key to the cohesion of 7 Tide, with the entire system controlled by a tablet issued to each Brand Ambassador - user sessions managed, activations activated, notes taken - all from a central, portable platform.
Interconnections
Development
Almost immediately after the opening of 7 Tide, Marvin's New England dealers expressed keen interest in harnessing this technology for their own showrooms, which would eventually lead to a pilot program to augment dealer showrooms in the region.
Customers and architects alike lauded the showroom's ingenuity and impact upon their projects, and 7 Tide became a focal point for Hastings' conversations with their clients and customers and a hallmark for a forward-looking company in a conservative industry.
Reception
Showroom exemplifies professionalism, reliability, and expertise in every aspect of their work. Their team is dedicated to understanding their clients’ specific needs and tailoring their services greatly contributing to the success of every project."
Keenan Burns
Vice President Business Integration
Marvin
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Contact
BOSTON
144 Lincoln St
Boston, MA 02111
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
San Jose, CA 95136