EKANA
Slide 5 of 32

The exercises and what came out

The buyer utility map

What the tool is

The buyer utility map is a grid that walks through everything a buyer goes through, from choosing a supplier to getting rid of old kit, and asks two questions of every square: does this hurt today, and is every supplier already fighting over it. The squares nobody has looked at are the interesting ones.

Across the top, six stages of a club's year: choosing and ordering, delivery, the season, beyond the match kit, mid-season changes, and end of season. Down the side, the same six things every buyer wants, named here exactly as they are named on the grid: time, effort and money; simple; convenient; what can go wrong; look good, feel proud; and waste.

What we did

  • Karim and Nader walked all thirty-six squares together and marked each one: a real pain, ground every supplier already fights over, both, or nothing.
  • We did not watch buyers in the field. This is what Nader knows from running EKANA's own club orders, and the reasons clubs have given for saying no.
  • Clubs do see a sample before a full order goes into production, so the risk is not buying blind. It is a finished batch coming out worse than the sample the club signed off, with no way to send it back.

What came out

Pains nobody is fixing:

  • A large custom order comes out worse than the approved sample, and custom kit cannot be returned.
  • Nobody wears the local club off the pitch, and nobody sells anything for that.
  • Clubs over-order in a design's first year and are left with unsold boxes by its last.
  • Nobody has a plan for old kit and leftovers once the season ends.

Ground every supplier already fights over, where there is little left to win:

  • Getting an order in easily, and delivering straight to families.
  • Selling everything a club needs in one place.
  • Handling late sign-ups, and offering multi-year deals.

Squares nobody has looked at:

  • Feeling proud when the kit arrives, and again once the season is over.
  • Waste in the extras beyond the match kit.
  • Pride in the middle of the season.
  • How simple any of it feels after the season ends.

The buyer utility map

The club’s year, stage by stageWhat could be betterChoosing andorderingDeliveryThe seasonBeyond thematch kitMid-seasonchangesEnd of seasonand afterTime, effort, moneySimpleConvenientCan go wrongLook good, feel proudWaste
  • A club hurts herea real problem that nobody solves
  • Every supplier already works on itcrowded ground; no room to be different
  • Both: it still hurtseveryone works on it and the club is still not helped
  • Nobody has looked herean empty square is an opening
Red is where we found a pain a buyer actually feels. The muted marks are where the industry already puts its effort. Empty squares are the ones nobody has looked at. Hover any mark for why it is there.