you can’t buY happiness but YOU can buy cupcakes…
Yours Truly Cupcake is a local bakery catering to weddings and corporate events. Launched in 2015, Yours Truly Cupcake has seen so much growth in their company. They have become well established among their community, as they are now the Denver Broncos official primary bakery/catering company.
PROJECT OVERVIEW:
I was the Lead UX/UI Designer. My ambition was to create a visually enticing site that would be very easy for customers to navigate. I was given three weeks for this responsive web overhaul.
TOOLS USED: Sketch, Zeplin, Invision
THE CHALLENGE:
How might we make the food catering portion of event planning easier?
Planning an event is no easy task. One of the more stressful parts of event planning is finding a caterer. One that can offer more than just dropping off your sweets. Yours Truly Cupcake aspires to be a local go to for anyone needing a dessert based catering service. My challenge was to create an experience for a service that was fairly new in the Denver area. Yours Truly Cupcake e-commerce site struggled with creating a user-friendly experience. It was very unclear as to how to put in an order for pick up or delivery. Prices were not clearly posted, and images were not correctly uploaded, thus leaving the site looking incomplete. It took numerous clicks to make an appointment for the tasting room. The user flow was not simplistic enough. It was very tricky to navigate their pages. They also did not have their social media linked to their site.
USER RESEARCH AND INSIGHTS:
From the market research and online reviews that I conducted at the beginning of my project, I was able to gather important insights that guided the direction of my responsive web design process.
User’s were confused if they could place an order online, and how to do so. It was also unclear if vegan or gluten-free goods were an option. Many customers were also confused by the overall services Yours Truly Cupcake offered. Within the site the overall navigation was difficult to understand as well.
CUSTOMER REVIEWS:
“Be sure to ask for pricing of desserts since their website doesn't clarify it, after reviewing my receipt and felt that I got over charged.”
“It was impossible to tell if our appointment for the tasting room was confirmed.”
“I honestly couldn’t tell if I could place an online order then pick up in person.”
“They have a walk up window to buy cupcakes but it isn’t clear online that they are also a catering company.”
wait…what?
As you can see, to the left we have a shot of their original homepage. How does a customer book a dessert bar? Why doesn’t the tasting room link lead to the appointment page? Where is the cart icon?
PROCESS:
I began my redesign by first auditing their current site. It was unclear as to how to reserve a tasting, place an online order, and just what their services were. I then researched Yours Truly Cupcakes competitors. My analysis consisted of local catering companies and bakeries, as well as large scale companies in other cities. This research helped me to identify missed opportunities but also observe best practices. To learn who the user is, I utilized google reviews and composed in person interviews. This led to me creating personas, two possible YTC customers with different and specific needs.
CUPCAKE CUSTOMERS:
The below are a desktop view walk through for Jamel and Calli. Jamel is scheduling his dessert bar for his son’s birthday party. Calli is scheduling her tasting room appointment for her wedding.
Calli maran-
bride to be
Age: 28
Calli is a local artist who is planning her dream wedding. She enjoys all things unique and creative in life. She is wanting a presentation cake for her and her partner to share, and cupcakes for their guests.
“I want a modern presentation cake for me and my fiancee, but very colorful cupcakes for my guests to enjoy. I need a catering company to make the desserts as well as display them for us.”
Jamel Henderson-dad of the year
Age: 34
Jamel is a pediatrician who loves spending all of his free time with his son Tyson. Jamel is planning Tyson’s upcoming birthday and wants to throw him a fantastic party with a dessert bar for all the guests to choose their favorite sweets from. Due to his busy schedule Jamel needs a catering company to also set up a display of the dessert bar.
“Tyson is my world and I want to throw him an unforgettable party that provides an array of sweets for all guests".”
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Once personas had been created I moved on to the creation of a site map and user flows to understand how the user would navigate the site.
I mapped out the site in a hierarchical structure. Content was categorized by topic:
maybe add possible specific user flow here
LO FI AND HI FI MOCKUPS:
Once the sitemaps were completed I moved onto low fi and high fi mockups of the necessary screens:
NEXT STEPS:
option for Spanish translation
Gluten/vegan menu