Research

Market Research

Market Research was conducted in order to have a deeper understanding of the background, market size, and trends. As this project evolved I gathered additional data for the demographics to have a more targeted approach to creating my provisional personas. I analyzed the information gathered from my market research in order to have a thorough understanding of the problem and user base.

Trends

• As the economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an expected increased demand as stores reopen, and industry profitably is expected to increase at an annual rate of 0.6%.

• As for the food trends, baked goods – such as cakes and cookies--tend to be high in fat and sugar. These low-nutritional content foods are associated with poor health outcomes. Thus, a shift towards baked goods with higher nutritional value has been of recent focus.

• 40% of individuals state that food and beverage purchases are the most vital to taking care of overall health

• 28% have dietary restrictions that influence purchasing behavior

Competitive Analysis

I also completed a competitive analysis in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of both direct competitors and indirect competitors. The direct competitors reflect competing companies that offer the same service (Cakes and Bakes, Tous les Jours) whereas the indirect competitors offer similar services (Starbucks, Nation’s Giant Hamburgers). I conducted personal research and analyzed each of these and was able to uncover positives and negatives of each.

A couple takeaways from this process are that: (1) All of the direct competitors provide a responsive website and use pictures to display the different food options to choose from. However, none of them cater to as many different dietary restrictions as Amia Bakery does. (2) All of the indirect competitors also provide a responsive website and have a large variety to choose from. However, like the direct competitors, they do not cater to as many different dietary restrictions.

Direct Competitors

Empathy Map

Synthesizing the information gained from my interview transcripts was the next step. I referenced the transcripts to determine patterns, which I then clustered into different groups, and finally translated into three insights and needs. These needs enabled me to have a deeper understanding of the user persona. Analyzing the typical Amia Bakery customer was a precursor to developing the user persona as well as HMW Questions.

Insights

1) Customers appreciate being able to quickly access information on Amia’s website

2) Customers strive to attain unique desserts

3) Customers appear to have difficulty with a lack of visuals

Define & Ideate

POV Statements & HMW Questions

After developing the user persona and empathy map, I had insights and needs that I could create POV and HMW statements from. I translated the insights and needs into each POV statement from Becca’s perspective and finally created HMW questions. These HMW questions were the precursor to the brainstorming process.

Strategy

Business & User Goals

After the brainstorming process was complete, I could then focus on creating a venn diagram of the business and user goals. I wanted to then utilize the project brief to extract the business goals, determine the user goals based on the persona, and establish the similarities between both. This process enabled me to determine which features to prioritize. In this particular case, both sides wanted a responsive website and for foods that cater to particular dietary needs. These would be considered when creating the product feature roadmap.

Information Architecture

Sitemap

I referred to my product feature roadmap in order to create the structure of the sitemap. This involved creating the main pages and subpages to reflect the layout of the website. This was a precursor to the wireframing process and also serves as a reference when creating task flows. For this sitemap, I was able to determine a number of main pages including the order, FAQ, and about us pages. Furthermore, the menu page would branch into the subpage for cakes and cupcakes. Having this structure laid out was extremely helpful in completing the proceeding stages.

Responsive Mid-fidelity Wireframes

I also created the mid-fidelity wireframes in a responsive format so that they could be utilized for desktop, tablet, and mobile. This would provide increased flexibility and access to the website despite the type of device being used. The responsive version of the home page is displayed below in all three formats.

Usability Testing

Usability Test Plan

After completing my prototype, I wanted to establish a clear usability testing plan in order to determine the guidelines for the usability test. This would include the objectives, test methodology, test method, participants, and tasks. Furthermore, a script would be created in order to determine what would be stated in each usability test. Once the usability test is complete the findings will be synthesized with an affinity map.

Objectives

1. Determine the user's ability to complete four user scenarios
2. Identify user's pain points
3. Determine each user's thought processes while completing tasks 4. Improve design functionality based on feedback

Method

Think aloud usability test. This usability test will be conducted via Zoom and/or Skype. There will be an audio recording of each user stating aloud their thought processes while completing each task.

Participants

Number of participants: 5-10
Age range: 25-40, 55-74 years old Gender: Female and male
User traits: Has had COVID

Revision to Mid-Fidelity Wireframes & Updated Frames

With the affinity map complete, I now had direction as to what changes needed to be made in order to improve the user experience.

The modifications made include: (1) removing additional page that separates “cakes”" and “cupcakes”; (2) implementing an “order now” CTA. Based on additional research, I added separate wireframes for purchasing cupcakes vs. just browsing, so that the website would be in congruence with competitor websites.

(1) Remove additional page that separates “cakes” and “cupcakes.” Cakes and cupcakes are shows in nav bar (left). (2) the “order online” CTA in the top right corner was implemented above the fold in order to improve the ease of ordering online and improve user experience.

After the revisions were finalized, I was able to create a final set of mid-fidelity wireframes. Examples of these wireframes are presented below.

Brand Logo & Style Tile

By referencing the moodboard, I was able to create a logo that reflected the attributes of “unique” and “pleasant.” After finalizing my design through the sketching process, I was able to digitize it and add it to the style tile. The style tile as a whole was created with reference to the moodboard and the associated pins. It includes the additional visual design elements of color, graphics, and typography, which would be incorporated into the website.

UI Kit

I finally created a UI Kit in order to further demonstrate the visual design. This would show how other critical UI components would appear in the high fidelity wireframes, including the navigation, colors, typography, color palette and more. This UI Kit is a valuable tool that would be utilized when making modifications to the app and would allow for clear communication to other disciplines as to what the different elements involve.