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AVEUGLE



Concept E-Commerce platform for an innovative wine tasting experience

Platform: Desktop

Duration: 2 week sprint

Role(s): Researcher, Strategist, Information Architect, Interaction Designer and Visual Designer

Methods: User Research, Business Analysis, Sketching/Wireframes, Usability Testing and Prototyping

Tools: Sketch, Pen and Paper, Invision

Prototype

Full Case Study

October 2017

OVERVIEW















︎ Discovering new wines is difficult for most wine consumers out there. I wanted to find an innovative solution for users to develop their own tasting palate without feeling self conscious, and be able to discover new wines.





︎ Pain Points & Challenge


  • The purchase of wine is overwhelming and complicated

  • It’s difficult to access the knowledge without knowing a connoisseur, or someone in the wine industry

  • Blind tasting can be intimidating

︎ Solution


  • Making the online purchase of wine more enjoyable

  • Making learning about wine fun and less intimating

  • Introducing consumers to new wines

  • Provide an easy and pedagogical way to blind taste for all types of wine drinkers






THE PROCESS




︎ Discover


︎ Ideate & Design


︎ Test & Iterate


︎ Build & Deliver












︎ DISCOVER


Methods:Market Research, User Interviews, Business Analysis, Personas, Empathy Maps, User Journey

︎ Most challenging insights

From market research
  • Wine consumption in the US has been growing exponentially
  • The market is open and adapting to the increase of online sales for wine enthusiasts

From interviews
• More experienced individuals have a tendency to purchase their wine online with a specific goal in mind, versus less experienced wine consumers prefer to be part of a wine club, or a membership program

• Discovering new wines is difficult for most of the people I interviewed.

• 12 out of 14 people said that if given the opportunity to blind taste they would do it, but they are too intimidated to do it in public

From the business analysis
• In terms of digital strategy, wine E-commerce platforms are often a bit behind in comparison to similar markets, like coffee

I compared 2 of the more modern versions of wine online retail with comparable markets (Coffee, chocolate and cheese)

One of the most interesting insights is that Winc buys it’s wine bulk, and does their own branding, while Naked Wine partners with smaller producers and distributes them directly


︎ Full Research Report

︎ Storyboard




︎ Personas 

The Pairer

“I always purchase wine while thinking about the next meal I am going to enjoy it with”
- Alice

Goals
Wants to find the perfect wine for her diner

Frustrations
Overwhelmed with the amount of wine to choose from in the store and online

The Connoisseur

“I never buy a wine that’s under a 92 pt grade on Robert Parker” - Bob



Goals
Wants to impress at dinners


Frustrations
Lack of experience

The Sommelier

“Part of my job is developing my nose and palate” - Tyler




Goals
Wants to find the next new trendy wine

Frustrations
Can’t practice blind tasting on his own
Difficulty at finding people with the same level of experience to share new discoveries





︎ IDEATE & DESIGN









Image: First sketch





Methods & Tools
Sketching, Whiteboard, Prioritization Matrix and Site Map, User Flows


︎ What influenced the design decisions
  • Highlighting the types of wine that the personas would be most interested in trying

  • Keeping the E-commerce platform as simple and standard as possible so people can find their product easily

  • Keeping breadcrumbs through the website so that users don’t get lost

  • Implementing Instagram on the front page, as we discovered during research that that specific brand of social media is very important to our users

︎ Challenges
  • The translation of volume and portions on the product page, how to make the process as easy and clear as possible for the user

  • Highlighting the option to purchase bottles with our wine merchant partners on the product page



︎ TEST & ITERATE




Method: Paper Prototype, Wireframing, User Testing

Tools: Sketch, Invision





︎  BUILD & DELIVER







Tools: Sketch & Invision

Deliverable Full clickable prototype

︎ Next Steps


For the user’s experience

  • Finding a way to reach out to the beginner persona

  • Adapting the website to mobile & tablet


For the business

  • Develop a cost effective and simple packaging

  • Develop a membership program

  • Have an events program with our partner merchants to raise brand awareness

  • Develop more shipping options

︎ What I’ve learned


  • You can’t design for everyone. I tried building this website for multiple personas when I should really have focused on 1 or 2

  • Check out flow needs to be rigorously clear so that the user can trust the system and go through with the purchase

  • The product page is highly important. Designing a clear and enjoyable page is key for the user’s experience