Kohaku Springs
A new mobile experience for newly engaged individuals who are seeking healthier catering options for their big day.
Overview
My Role
I contributed to the overall design process and oversaw aspects related to user research, user flows, wireframes, prototyping and usability testing.
I spearheaded user interviews, synthesized our research findings into workable prototypes, and created the interaction design.
Tools
Figma, Mural, Google Slides, Adobe Acrobat, Pen and Paper
Timeline
March - September 2023
Process
Problem
Users are struggling to find healthy wedding catering options for themselves and their guests.
Solution
Develop an app for Kohaku Springs that lets users sign up, explore vendors, select items, and make purchases.
Empathize
User Interviews
A primary group identified through research included newly engaged individuals who were feeling overwhelmed by the wedding planning process.
During the ideation phase of the project, user interviews were conducted to build a new persona and inform the design.
Four users were remotely interviewed and I asked questions like:
How important is it to you to have healthy options available to your guests?
How do you feel about having to choose your own vendor for your wedding?
How important is it that the guests enjoy the food you serve them at your wedding?
three main pain points
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01. lack of healthy food options
Users are frustrated by the lack of healthy food options on catering menus.
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02. time-consuming
Creating a wedding catering menu can take a lot of time when going back and forth with the vendors.
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03. lack of accessibility
Most catering apps that exist do not have accessibility considerations built in.
User Persona
Based on information gathered from interviewees, a common group was identified and our persona was born.
Meet Ellie.
Journey Map
Define
Problem Statement
Ellie is an overwhelmed, health-conscious bride-to-be who needs a way to create a healthy catering menu because she wants to feel good about what she puts into her body on her wedding day.
Hypothesis Statement
If Ellie downloads the wedding menu catering app, then she will be able to quickly and easily create a menu that is to her liking.
Value Proposition
Ideate
Sketches
Crazy 8s
Storyboarding
Competitive Audit
To shape the design, I conducted a competitive audit amongst four key competitors.
My goals:
Compare the in-app/online ordering process
Observe pros and cons
Identify gaps and areas of opportunity
I discovered that there were many areas of opportunity that my app could address.
Four key competitors:
EzCater
The Knot
WeddingWire
Foxtrot
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PROS
ability to create an account
detailed list of ingredients
consistent branding
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CONS
unclickable elements
requires account to purchase
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OPPORTUNITIES
add modal frames to prevent users from accidentally closing windows
include alt-text for images
include images of food served
add typeface-size adjuster
ensure items are clickable
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GAPS
lack of accessibility features
inconsistency across devices
animations slow down page load times
Design - Low-Fidelity
Paper Wireframes
Digital Wireframes
Focusing on the core features identified during user research, I sketched the first wireframes using pen and paper.
I starred the features I liked the most, to come up with a final design that incorporated all of these on one screen.
Following my sketches, I then created an interactive digital low-fidelity prototype and brought it to five potential users to collect feedback.
Test
Lo-Fi Prototype
Usability Testing
Affinity Mapping
Gathering Insights
I conducted an unmoderated usability study with 5 participants to determine if there were any pain points with the lo-fi prototype. Findings revealed there were three key insights:
01.
Problem: Users don’t feel like the menu is intuitively laid out.
Improvement: Add visual cues to indicate when items are added to cart, update layout of menu page to follow an intuitive process.
02.
Problem: Users are confused by the checkout flow due to inconsistencies with button content and a missing “delivery address” section.
Improvement: Clearly label buttons and screens so they are consistent to reflect intuitive checkout flow and add “delivery” section.
03.
Problem: The homepage layout feels unintuitive and there seems to be no difference between “vendors” and “menus”.
Improvement: Re-design the bottom navigation bar to be more intuitive and update “Menus of the Month” to only vendor names to prevent confusion.
01. iteration of menu screen
02. iteration of cart and checkout screens
03. iteration of home screen
Design - High-Fidelity
Digital Wireframes
Mockups
After incorporating feedback from the lo-fi prototype, I ran another unmoderated usability test with 5 participants to determine if the pain points had been addressed and/or if other pain points had arisen.
Test
Hi-Fi Prototype
Usability Testing
Affinity Mapping
Gathering Insights
I conducted an unmoderated usability study with 5 participants to determine if there were any pain points with the hi-fi prototype. Findings revealed there were three key insights:
01.
Problem: Users want better visual cues for interactive elements and navigation throughout the app.
Improvement: Add visual cues to indicate which elements can be interacted with and utilize filled and unfilled icons to better navigate through the app.
02.
Problem: Users are frustrated by the current way to access the menu.
Improvement: Re-design the menu page so the menu is easily accessed in an intuitive way.
03.
Problem: Users want better visual cues when items are added to cart and want an easier way to add items to their cart.
Improvement: Utilize filled and unfilled icons to indicate to users the status of their cart and re-design menu page to follow more intuitive layout.
01. iteration of bottom navigation menu and interactive elements on home screen
02. iteration of accessing menu from vendor screen
03. iteration of adding items to cart
Final Designs
Design Evolution
lo-fi to hi-fi evolution of menu screen
lo-fi to hi-fi evolution of checkout screen
lo-fi to hi-fi evolution of home screen
Next Steps
01.
For future iterations, I would conduct another usability study to see if the design iterations are improving users' experiences.
02.
I would continue this project by adding icons next to food items that fall under a dietary need category such as vegetarian, vegan, or pescetarian.
03.
I would also look into adding other methods of payment such as ApplePay, GooglePay, PayPal, and Venmo.
Reflections
I learned the importance of well-crafted questions for usability tests. During the first few rounds of testing, this became very apparent to me and I would rework my questions so that users could better understand.
In the future, I would try to conduct a moderated usability study where I could better support the testers.
I also learned how crucial early feedback is for any project. When I was first designing for this app, pain points that I had not anticipated arose and I needed to come up with a way that was familiar and intuitive for users.
I came to realize that a designer is always looking for ways to improve the app based on user needs, and not on designer wants.