UX Design Case Study
Patisserie Delivery
Patisserie Delivery is a project I took on during my UX Design Certification Course at Google. My randomly generated prompt at the start of the Course was "Create a Delivery App for a French Patisserie". For those who are unaware, a Patisserie is a bakery that sells bread a sweets. From Brioche to Macarons, you can get it all delivered to your door with "Patisserie."
Over the length of this project, I was tasked with researching and solving design problems for my target users.
Client /
Google UX Certification
Role /
UX Research
UI/UX Design
Agency /
Year /
2021
Over the course of 3 weeks, I created designs for a local delivery app for a fictional French Patisserie. The goal of the project was to deliver an effective design that allows users to have pastries and bread delivered to their homes quickly and effectively.
The Problem
My challenge with this was to not only create an app that conveys the tone of the restaurant, but deliver an effective and modern design to its users. We also have to keep accessibility standards in mind, to reach as many people as possible.
The Goal
Deliver an app that allows the user a quick and seamless transaction, and follows accessibility standards and modern visual design principles.
My Responsibilities
Conduct usability tests and user interviews, and iterate upon my prototype designs to build a final deliverable.
One of the Personas I created while researching for this app.
This Here is the User Journey for Marcus, and how he might use the app.
One of the Personas I created while researching for this app.
User Research Summary
I conducted usability tests and interviews, and built empathy maps to better understand the users this app might serve. A primary user group I discovered after researching is the working adults who need to fit ordering desserts for themselves or for a party into their busy schedules.
This group confirmed some initial ideas about Patisserie. customers, but addition research adds to the conversation. Customers who use our app are not just busy working adults, our demographic also includes, students, and seniors who share a sweet tooth. Factors that lead them to order from us include, convenience, speed, location, selection, or simply looking for a nice lunch.
Competitive Analysis
I looked at several potential market competitors, and although most don't compete directly with Patisserie. they can still influence the potential revenue an popularity of our app. Patisserie. has the chance to capitalize on the lack of direct competition by bringing it's specialized and highly sought after products to an active market.
The variation in our competition was great, and it goes from large enterprises, to local mom and pop restaurants. Here are the main things I've noted:
- Most large companies have accessible apps, while smaller businesses do not.
- Apps and websites vary from clean and modern to old fashioned and gaudy.
- Most large competitors have a very broad selection, with vague searchability.
Preparing for the Designs:
I constructed a user flow based on the basic user journey through the delivery app, from Search to Checkout. This helped me understand ways users will or could interact with certain steps of the process and how they should loop back together to converge on the user goal.
Digital Wireflow
After sketching out most of the pages on paper, I decided on the features I wanted to bring with me into the digitizing phase. I poured a lot of my time into this step, and took my usability tests to heart before moving on to the visual design stage.
Iteration
After finishing the prototype from low fidelity wireframes, they were given to 5 testing users in an unmoderated usability study of the primary user flow. After this test, I interviewed them to further understand their likes and dislikes about using the app. Where were the pain points? How could they be addressed? What was good?
These are the type of questions I wanted to gain insight to answer.
Findings
Round 1:
- Users need to be able to find what they want and order quickly
- User curiosity leads them off the primary flow and explore secondary pages
- Users want a scheduling option for their deliveries
Round 2:
- Users want to be able to customize their orders more
- Original color palette was too low contrast, and hard to read
After usability testing, I spent a lot of time creating effective icons, imagery and use of color to help direct the user where they want to go. I’ve also used some visual design principles to create a visual hierarchy for the user.
During the usability study, many users said they would need more information and options to fully utilize the app. Upon hearing this, I went to work making sure the user had many avenues to get the most out of their experience.
Style Guide
With Patisserie Delivery, I wanted to establish the Patisserie. brand as one of simplicity and eye catching colors, just like the food that'll be served at the patisserie. I'd like for the customer viewing the page to feel both comfortable and excited by the visuals we give them.
Takeaways
After completing the second round of user testing, I truly believe this app has made amazing progress, and can achieve its goal of being relied on for users to meet their pastry delivery needs. One quote I received during peer feedback was "I think the new design of the app really brings the user flow together, the brightly colored buttons draw them to move through the process naturally." During this project, I truly learned the importance and impact of accessibility and the users desire to have control of the own experience. Removing options from the user will only lead to frustration, but giving them too many can confuse them as well.
The next steps from here are to hold further rounds of usability studies to ensure all user pain points are addressed, and that accessibility standards are held up.
Thank you for taking the time to read through my work.