Taste of Heaven Bakery
BAKED GOODS FOR THE SOUL
Challenge
The challenge was to create a responsive website design for a bakery offering customizable baked goods for a variety of dietary resections such as organic, dairy free, vegan, and gluten-free.
My Role
Lead UX designer/researcher for the mobile app and responsive website design.
RESEARCH
User research was conducted in two parts: in-person interviews and a competitive audit.
A series of in person interviews were conducted of 6 individuals, one of them was a bakery owner and the other five were consumers, three with dietary restrictions. The two main issues identified was the difficulty in finding gluten-free AND organic options and having bakeries that delivered their baked goods. In particular, users want to have their items delivered, since there are so many delivery options these days, it seems frustrating when that is not an option.
In the competitive audit there was some companies that allowed custom cake requests, but there were many limitations, and once placing the order, there was no follow up so the user was left wondering if their order was fully understood. Users want to have a follow up/confirmation call from the bakery about their order.
Insights
Gluten-free AND Organic
It is difficult to find both gluten-free and organic cakes so users want to have both criteria.
Confirmation Call
When ordered onine users want to receive a call to ensure their order is correct
How Much Cake Needed
When ordered online users want to receive a call to ensure their order is correct
Variety of Products
While cake may be the centerpiece, users want to purchase additional baked good items as well.
Delivery
Users want to have their products delivered to their home.
Personas
"One of my daughters is gluten-free so our family had to change how we eat. For special holidays I want to be able to get safe desserts for her to enjoy."
--Jessie, mother of gluten-free daughter
"I wish there were a variety of flavors in gluten-free cakes and if I could be organic even better."
--John, commercial realtor
IDEATE
During the ideate phase ideas were generated about the brand and feel of the bakery, the color palette and logo, narrow down the type of baked goods to be sold, what was the critical information needed to order a custom cake online and have it ready at a specific time, delivered or picked up, and what makes for the most ease of online ordering. There was extensive thought about an express checkout versus a regular sign in checkout process and when and where that would be. Additionally, there was much consideration for the structure of the customizable cakes portion and how to organize the options so the flow was coherent and the most important questions were asked first and then smaller details were seelcted below.
Initial Concepts
Have signature and custom cake options
Have a variety of baked good items such as cookies, macarons, and cupcakes
Indicate with icons which dietary options are available per the baked good
Follow up call to ensure the online order is correct/increase consumer confidence
Include delivery and pick up options with time and date
My Responsibilities
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, iterating on designs, determining information architecture, and responsive design.
Food Icons
One of the most important aspects to the bakery website is offering cakes safe for people with dietary restrictions and the possibility to combine more than one. For the website, it was desired to have identifiable icons that would effectively communicate which baked goods were available with which options. There are two icons that have a NO bar through them because those items don't have certain allergenic ingredients, while the vegan and organic icons symbolize that quality and type of ingredients used. In all the icons words are incorporated so there is no confusion.
Color Palette and Logo
The concept for the colors was to be whimsy, lighthearted and fun. The background color is a light turquoise that is soft and airy with a fun vibrant set of pinks and a darker complimentary turquoise.
For the logo there is a voluptuous cupcake with a large pink frosting swirl on top with a circle in light turquoise as the background dotted with stars representing the heavens. Taste of Heaven name came from a conversation about the most amazing bit of dessert tasting heavenly. The motto is baked good for the soul because we know baking typically is done with lots of love and how happy and content we feel, even for the health conscious, when eating a delicious dessert.
Food Icons
Color Palette
Logo
Consistent Ordering Process Across All Types of Baked Goods
The design for the bakery incorporated 4 different categories of baked goods: cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and confections. Because each category had a different amount of selections to be made, it was important to get the structure of each page consistent and simplified for ease of use. The dietary icons and quantity and add to cart buttons needed to be in similar spots and in a sequential order for selecting specifics for the baked goods.
TESTING
Usability Study
1
One Link Per Category on Main Page
Users want one link per category. More than that is redundant.
Adjust dozen and individual sales
The quantity selection is confusing for the cookies and macarons. Make it all individual or by the half dozen.
While many users want delivery service, some users still want to pick their order up at the bakery. Make both options.
Checkout From Added Page
Users wanted to be able to have an express checkout from the "added to cart" page. On that page their would be payment and delivery information.
5
Similar Items below are helpful
All the users enjoyed the "similar items" underneath the main selected item. It helped them see other choices they didn't notice originally.
2
3
4
Make Delivery and PickUp Options
What was said?
I was unsure if the quantity of 1 was one or one dozen. It needs to be clear.
I would love to see when you are in the added to cart an express checkout. It makes it fast and easy and i can pick a delivery time and place as well in that checkout process.
For certain occasions I want delivery but for other occasions I want pickup. It's important to have both options.
The similar items under the selected item were helpful. I like those suggestions because sometimes I miss other items I really like because I am looking at too many things.
PARTICIPANT 1
commercial realtor
PARTICIPANT 3
teacher
PARTICIPANT 4
boutique owner
PARTICIPANT 2
sales consultant
SOLUTION
Landing Page
Cake Category Page
Baked Good Options
Selection and Checkout Flow
3
Takeaways and Moving Forward
IMPACT
The Taste of Heaven Bakery increased its online orders by 25% the first quarter and on overall 35% its first year. Of the orders 28% of them were with a dietary restriction and more than 40% of these clients were return clients after their first dietary order.
LOOKING FORWARD
In the confections category new recipes will be created to add new and seasonal products that follow the dietary needs of customers.
LOOKING FORWARD
The Taste of Heaven Bakery will look into delivery options with Uber, DoorDash, Instacart and other delivery service to increase its clientele reach.
More and more consumers want gluten-free, vegan, and organic ingredients and making delicious food available allows them to enjoy deliciousness without the pain and hassle of allergy attacks.
IMPACT
