Case Study: STBY uncovers Dutch food habits with Smaply

Stby - Customer Case Study

STBY, a service design research agency, worked with a consortium of eight Dutch governmental institutions to tackle the challenge of understanding why citizens struggle to adopt healthier and more sustainable food habits. The clients had ample quantitative data on what people eat but lacked the qualitative insights into their motivations, behaviors, and the sources of their food information. To bridge this gap, STBY partnered with the vendor Smaply, utilizing its mobile ethnography platform to conduct in-depth experience research.

The solution implemented by Smaply was a multi-phase research project centered around a four-week mobile ethnography study. Using the Smaply app, 32 participants reported their food experiences in real-time, which was bookended by two workshops to deepen the insights. This approach generated 750 rich, qualitative touchpoints, revealing a critical gap between citizens' knowledge and their willingness to change. The measurable impact included providing the government with deep insights to inform future communication strategies and fostering internal organizational change as participating staff became advocates for this user-centered approach.

Stby

Sophie Knight

Design Researcher