Defining Vibe: What Makes a Coffee Shop Feel Like a Third Space
Weeks from first field guide draft to final synthesis
Participants shadowed and interviewed across Chicago, Chicagoland area, and Madrid
Usage-group personas mapped from behavior to opportunity direction
Independent coffee shops get called “third places,” but the term is used more as a marketing buzzword than tested against how people intend to use the space. Over seven weeks, this study set out to understand the people who treat coffee shops as a third place, and what actually makes them feel like one.
Through contextual inquiry, shadowing, and interviews with eight participants across eight different locations, the study surfaced behavioral patterns in how people arrive, settle, and stay in independent coffee shops, then applied the findings to a major chain coffee shop's experience design team as a hypothetical stakeholder for recommendations.
Independently scoped and conducted
Case study coming soon.