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All the Flavours of the World
Seasonr is a regional ingredients online store. Seasonr strives to deliver healthy and unique ingredients for your exquisite recipes or dishes. Seasonr targets customers like fitness enthusiasts, chefs and workers who lack the time or means to purchase special ingredients.
Role: UX Designer & Researcher
Project Duration: 4 months
Responsibilities
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
The Problem
It’s hard finding some special ingredients and having them delivered to ones doorstep on time.
The Goal
Seasonr App will let users order ingredients through the app which will affect how physical stores stock up on ingredients by giving stores the ability to sell their ingredients on the app. We will measure effectiveness by analyzing number of app downloads and ratings.
User Research: Summary
I conducted interviews to determine what people go through purchasing ingredients, The Hows, Where, When & Whys. After conducting interviews and creating transcripts, I went on to map out two distinct user groups of which two personas were created from.
Before I began the research I made sure to document my own experiences and thoughts on the subject, to my surprise and contrary to points I felt everyone agreed to, there were just some views that were completely opposite to my assumptions and this made me appreciate the whole process even more.
A primary user group was identified comprising of middle aged adults who wanted ingredients that was affordable.
This user group confirmed initial assumptions, but research also revealed that other factors were responsible for their frustrations, such as quality, time, availability and other challenges that made it difficult to go to
User Research: Pain Points
Affordability: Older adults had an issue with accessing affordable ingredients, with prices in some places more expensive than others
Time: Most Working Adults have a busy schedule and are unable to spend time shopping for ingredients
Quality: Quality of ingredients was a major challenge, as young adults were not able to find reliable stores for fresh ingredients
Usability: Some adults had problems using apps to order ingredients as they were too complex, especially the checkout process
Persona: Mariam
Age: 40 years old
Education: Masters Degree
Hometown: London
Family: Married, 3 Kids
Occupation: Teacher
Problem Statement: Mariam is a teacher who has a busy schedule most times, and would like to get home to ordered ingredients instead of heading to the market from work
Quote: “There’s nothing that a good idea & a plate of good food can’t fix”
She enjoys getting home early from work to cook for her family and wants a way of getting ingredients stress-free. It is important that she has access to quality & a variety of ingredients for her meals, because what could set apart a good meal & a great meal, is addition of the right ingredients
Persona: Paul
Age: 24 years old
Education: Bachelor's Degree
Hometown: Dublin
Family: Single
Occupation: Fitness Instructor
Problem Statement: Peter is a Fitness Instructor who needs an app to order special ingredients fast, because he a-times does not find special ingredients in his neighbourhood.
Quote: “Healthy Nutrition equals Healthy Living”
He likes to get home to prepare a nutritious meal right after a workout session, using fresh ingredients. He would prefer if he could get ingredients delivered on time, due to his busy lifestyle. He believes he is a trend setter and creating healthy recipes for his clients is essential.
User Journey Map:
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Mapping Paul’s User Journey revealed how helpful it would be for users to have access to the mobile app; so that they can quickly make orders or returns on the move.
Paper Wireframes:
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Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app on paper ensured that the elements that made it to digital wireframes would be well-suited to address user pain points. For the home screen, I prioritized a quick and easy ordering process to help users save time.
Digital Wireframes:
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As the initial design phase continued,
I made sure to base screen designs on feedback and findings from the user research.
Various frames of rewards a user has available to be added during checkout for a discount
Bold hero slider that shows discounts & promotions going on at the time
Digital Wireframes:
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Easy navigation was a key user need to address in the designs in addition to equipping the app to work with assistive technologies.
The search form makes it easy to search for ingredients
Low-fidelity Prototype:
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The LoFi prototype connected the Primary user flow and the searching & ordering of an ingredient, customizing, confirming and submitting an order on the app. So the prototype could be used as a usability study with users.
Usability Study: Findings
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining.
Round 1 Findings:
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Users want to order ingredients quickly.
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Users want rewards more accessible.
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Users want a straight-forward ordering process
Round 2 Findings:
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A button for rewards & recent orders added to the home screen for a faster ordering experience.
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An inbox section added to the profile page for app messages and notifications
Visual Design Elements
Before Usability Study
After Usability Study
Mock ups
Early designs allowed for navigation using the search icon but this was not noticeable also there was a ‘What’s New & Deals” section but this didn’t cater for users trying to access previous orders quickly,
but after the usability studies, I added additional options like the bold search form at the top, also added a plus button for a quicker way to make repeat orders
Before Usability Study 2
After Usability Study 2
Mock ups
The second usability study revealed frustration with adding more orders. To make things easier we added a Cart page that comes up once the user makes an order.
Key Mock ups
High-fidelity Prototype
The final high-fidelity prototype presented cleaner user flows for ordering ingredients and checkout. It also met user needs for a more robust user profile option as well as more customization.
View the Seasonr’s App high-fidelity prototype
Accessibility Considerations
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Provided access to users who are vision impaired through adding alt text to images for screen readers
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Used icons to help make navigation easier
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Used detailed imagery for ingredients and properly balanced design elements e.g colour contrast, to help all users better understand the designs
Takeaways
Impact:
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The app makes users feel like Seasonr App really thinks about how to meet their needs.
One quote from peer feedback:
“I like freebies, so I enjoyed how it was easy to see & access the rewards/coupons section. I would definitely use this app as a go-to for fast ordering of special ingredients, and even healthy recipes.”
What I learnt:
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While designing the Seasonr app, I learned that the first ideas for the app are just the initial phase of the process. Usability studies and peer feedback influenced each iteration of the app’s designs.
What I learnt:
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While designing the Seasonr app, I learned that the first ideas for the app are just the initial phase of the process. Usability studies and peer feedback influenced each iteration of the app’s designs.
Next steps
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Conduct more user research to determine any new areas of need.
Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.
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Let's Connect!
Thank you for your time
reviewing my work on the Seasonr app!
If you’d like to see more or get in touch,
my contact information is provided below.
Email: kemdi.onwusiri@gmail.com
Website: www.kemdionwusiri.com
