Telstra’s Future Retail Lab is a retail experience strategy and concept testing project led by NBBO founder Nicole Buchanan during her time at Telstra. The strategy informed a store design that redefined how Telstra engaged their customers across more than 380 branded and licensee stores across Australia.

Through large scale design research, simulated shopping missions and iterative concept testing within a purpose built retail lab, Nicole and her team led the development of a human-centred retail strategy that informed the spatial design and every aspect of the customer and staff experience. The resulting retail blueprint created a new store design that supported a new conversation model, enabling staff to engage customers as trusted consultants through more meaningful, solution-focused interactions.

The framework established a scalable retail experience that became a key enabler of Telstra's transformation from telco to tech-co, delivering a validated store concept that was successfully rolled out nationwide.