Summary:
Before a strategy designer can frame a problem, they must first ensure they understand the true problem space. The symptom is high call volume and long wait times, but the underlying causes are unknown. Jumping to competitor analysis or technology trends is premature. The first and most critical step is to collaborate with stakeholders to define the core business and customer problems they are aiming to solve.

Correct Option:

B. What problem(s) is CK trying to solve?
This is the fundamental first question. It forces a conversation to uncover the root causes and desired outcomes. Is the problem simply to reduce wait times? Or is it to decrease call volume by deflecting common inquiries? Is it to improve customer satisfaction scores? Or to reduce operational costs? Without a clear, shared understanding of the problem from CK's perspective, any solution will be built on assumptions.

Incorrect Option:

A. How does a competitor solve for a similar problem?
While competitive analysis is valuable later in the process, starting here can lead to copying solutions without understanding if they fit CK's specific context, customer base, or root causes. It risks solving the wrong problem efficiently.

C. What new technology trends exist for customer service?
This question jumps directly to a solution (e.g., AI chatbots, call-back technology) without first diagnosing the problem. This is a classic case of "solutioneering," where a technology is sought without a clear problem to solve, which often leads to wasted investment and misaligned expectations.

Reference:
Salesforce Trailhead, "Create a Strategy to Deliver Value": This module emphasizes the importance of beginning with a clear problem definition. It teaches that strategy starts by understanding the "why" behind an initiative—the core problem and the value of solving it—before exploring "how" it will be solved. This aligns directly with the need to ask "What problem(s) is CK trying to solve?"

Summary:
The challenge statement explicitly defines success as making the automated chat a "preferred channel" for "seek[ing] information and self-service." The core goal is to enable customers to accomplish their tasks independently through the bot. Therefore, the primary success metric must directly measure the bot's effectiveness in facilitating this self-service completion.

Correct Option:

A. Increased goal completion rate:
This is the correct metric. It directly measures whether customers are successfully achieving their objectives (e.g., finding information, processing a return, tracking an order) using the automated chat. An increase in this rate proves that the chat is effectively enabling self-service, which is the ultimate goal stated in the "How Might We" question.

Incorrect Option:

B. Increased human takeover rate:
This metric indicates the opposite of success for an automated chat experience. A high or increasing takeover rate signifies that the bot is failing to resolve issues independently, forcing customers to default to a human agent. This shows the transformation is not achieving its self-service objective.

C. Decreased length of support calls:
While this might be a positive secondary outcome, it is an indirect and incomplete metric. It measures an effect on a different channel (phone calls) rather than the performance of the chat channel itself. The transformation's success should be defined by the chat's own performance, not by its impact on other, unrelated support systems.

Reference:
Salesforce Help, "Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)":
(This resource emphasizes aligning KPIs with specific business goals. For a self-service tool, the primary KPI is task completion, not deflection or other channel metrics.)

Summary:
The business need is specifically focused on optimizing operations and promotions at retail partner stores. This requires a solution that manages the B2B relationship with these partners, provides insights into in-store execution, and enables targeted promotions to drive foot traffic and sales within the partner's physical locations. The product must bridge the gap between Cloud Kicks and its external retail network.

Correct Option:

C. Consumer Goods Cloud
Consumer Goods Cloud is designed for manufacturers (like Cloud Kicks) to manage their relationships with retail partners and optimize in-store execution. It provides tools for managing promotions, tracking in-store inventory, and guiding field representatives to improve product placement and availability at partner stores. This directly addresses the goal of running effective promotions and optimizing in-store visits to drive business and awareness through the retail channel.

Incorrect Options:

A. Loyalty Cloud
Loyalty Cloud is designed to create and manage direct-to-consumer loyalty programs. It would be used to reward end-customers for their purchases and engagement with the Cloud Kicks brand.

While it builds brand loyalty, it is focused on the end-consumer, not on managing the B2B relationship with retail partners or optimizing in-store promotions and execution at those partner locations.

B. Marketing Cloud
Marketing Cloud is a digital marketing automation platform for engaging customers through email, social media, mobile, and advertising.

It is excellent for direct-to-consumer digital campaigns but lacks the specific tools for managing retail partner relationships, in-store execution, and the B2B operational aspects of running promotions within a partner's physical store.

Reference:
Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud:

This official page explains how Consumer Goods Cloud helps companies "increase retail sales with in-store execution excellence" and "manage promotions and introductions," making it the correct recommendation for optimizing business at retail partner stores.

Summary:
The goal of this activity is rapid, high-level ideation to gather a wide range of hypotheses from a multi-disciplinary group. The tools provided (fat markers, sticky notes, a short timer) are intentionally chosen to shape the output. The fat marker is a constraint that prevents participants from getting bogged down in details and forces them to focus on the core concept of their idea.

Correct Option:

C. They enable stakeholders to focus on generating ideas rather than detailing UI.
A fat marker is a physical constraint that makes it impossible to draw fine details, intricate diagrams, or precise user interface (UI) elements. It forces the sketcher to communicate the essence of the idea using simple shapes, stick figures, and keywords.

This directly supports the strategic goal of generating hypotheses. It keeps the focus on the "what" and "why" of the idea (e.g., "a bot that recommends products") and prevents stakeholders, especially those with a technical or design background, from prematurely designing the "how" (e.g., the specific layout of the bot's interface).

Incorrect Options:

A. They anonymize the sketches so that stakeholders cannot judge others' drawing abilities.
While using the same tool can create a level playing field, the primary reason is not anonymity. Sketches on sticky notes are often presented and discussed by their creators, so they are not truly anonymous.

The fat marker's main function is to influence the content and detail of the sketch itself, not to hide the identity of the sketcher.

B. They ensure stakeholders can fit detailed sketches on a sticky note in the allotted time.
This is the opposite of the marker's purpose. A fat marker actively prevents the creation of detailed sketches. The combination of a thick tip, a small canvas (sticky note), and a short timer is designed to inhibit detail, not to facilitate it.

Reference:
GV (Google Ventures) Design Sprint: The Sketch

The GV Design Sprint methodology, a benchmark for such activities, explicitly recommends using a fat-tip marker for sketching. The reason given is to keep sketches "crude and simple," preventing people from wasting time on visual details and instead focusing on the idea itself. This aligns perfectly with the strategic goal of generating hypotheses.

Summary:
Integrating sustainability as a core value is a strategic shift that affects the entire business model, not just a single product. To help stakeholders understand the widespread impact, the strategy designer needs a holistic framework that visually maps out all the key components of how the company creates, delivers, and captures value, and how each is influenced by this new priority.

Correct Option:

B. Business model canvas:
This is the correct methodology. The Business Model Canvas provides a single-page, visual overview of the nine core building blocks of a business, including Key Partners, Activities, and Resources (e.g., shifting to sustainable suppliers), Value Propositions (e.g., marketing eco-friendly products), Customer Relationships, Channels, Cost Structure, and Revenue Streams. It is the ideal tool to facilitate a structured conversation about how the sustainability decision impacts every aspect of the current products and services.

Incorrect Option:

A. Heuristics evaluation:
This is a usability inspection method for evaluating a user interface (UI) against a set of established usability principles (heuristics). It is unrelated to assessing the strategic business impact of a core value like sustainability on products and services.

C. Corporate integrity workshop:
While integrity is related to ethics and values, this is not a standard, recognized methodology for analyzing business model impact. It sounds more like a general training or discussion session on ethical behavior, which lacks the structured framework needed to systematically analyze the effect on specific business components.

Reference:
Salesforce Trailhead, "Create a Strategy to Deliver Value": This module introduces tools like the Business Model Canvas to understand and communicate how a business works. It is explicitly used to explore how changes in one area (like a new core value) affect other parts of the business model, making it the perfect tool for this scenario.