SaladStop customers who have issues with the ordering app might be vocal, while delivery drivers who have a hard time finding pick-up points might vent their frustration on ground staff.

But feedback like this, which could help the salad shop chain improve efforts to satisfy its customers - and potentially stop revenue from dropping - may not have reached the corporate office if it is not flagged in a systematic way.

With this in mind, the company's staff attended a pilot programme earlier this month, called the Business Value of Design.

Yesterday, the programme was officially launched by the DesignSingapore Council (DSG) in partnership with business strategy and design firm McKinsey Design.

McKinsey Design is the design arm of American management consulting firm McKinsey, while DSG is a subsidiary of the Economic Development Board.

The scheme uses a design thinking approach to come up with solutions to improve a firm's bottom line.

Following the programme, SaladStop tweaked its processes.

Now, recommendations from managers on how customer experience can be boosted are surfaced to the corporate office on a weekly basis, instead of on an ad hoc basis, said the firm's managing director Adrien Desbaillets yesterday.

More companies like SaladStop that are looking to improve and transform how they do business amid the challenges posed by the pandemic can now tap the expertise of consultants from McKinsey Design under the programme.

It consists of two phases, the first of which is free.

First, a firm will undertake a self-assessment using the McKinsey Design Index online tool.

Companies will receive a detailed diagnosis of how they have incorporated good design into their business processes, while gaining an insight on how to improve their business performance.

The assessment takes about 45 minutes to complete. Firms can do it any time from now till Dec 31.

The index is a metric that rates companies according to four core areas that are linked to improved financial performance.

They include user experience, where products are designed to provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users, and having cross-functional teams, where firms recognise that user-centric design is everyone's responsibility.

The second phase of the programme, which is subsidised by DSG, will cost $2,500.

Experts from McKinsey Design will guide firms to take practical steps to address areas of improvement that have been flagged, culminating in a detailed business plan for a key product or service.

These hands-on sessions will likely take place online.

The first phase is open to all companies, with selected companies invited to participate in the second phase from Jan 25 to Feb 5 next year. Up to 100 companies can take part in the second phase and, if demand is healthy, more spaces can be opened up in subsequent rounds, said Mr Mark Wee, DSG's executive director.

He added that DSG felt it was timely to launch this scheme now that firms are in the midst of re-imagining their business models.

"Everyone has been forced onto the digital bandwagon and forced to rethink what customers need now...

"It helps to give them a concrete indicator of what they need to do (to reach out to customers)."

• Interested firms can go to this website to sign up for the programme.