Case Study:
Street Brew Coffee
I had the chance to conduct research and develop a case study for Street Brew Coffee to gain insights into the challenges small businesses face when competing against corporate chains.
I gathered data, interviewed customers, and engaged directly with the owner of Street Brew Coffee to discuss their pain points and aspirations. As a UX Designer, I analyzed the data and created personas, wireframes, and high-fidelity designs aimed at boosting coffee sales and enhancing customer traffic to Street Brew Coffee.
Research & Data
To gain a deeper understanding of the issue at hand, I conducted an interview with the owner of Street Brew Coffee, whom we will refer to as Molly for privacy reasons. She shared valuable insights about her shop, highlighting the significance of personable baristas, high-quality coffee, and the inviting brick-and-mortar atmosphere. Molly particularly stressed the importance of the overall experience customers have when visiting the shop. The primary challenges facing Street Brew Coffee include limited exposure and competition from digital-savvy corporate chains.
I categorized the information into three sections: "The Experience," "Corporate Benefits," and "Tech and Aesthetics." "The Experience" focuses on what local coffee shops can provide to enhance customer satisfaction. "Corporate Benefits" outlines the strategies and amenities that corporate chains use to retain customers. Finally, "Tech and Aesthetics" examines the visual appeal of technology and its role in the coffee experience.
The data revealed that while customers generally prefer and support local coffee shops, the technology and efficiency offered by corporate chains often influence their decision-making.
To effectively tackle this issue, I examined the local area to understand the competition that Street Brew Coffee encounters. A Starbucks is located within walking distance, and Molly frequently observes potential customers passing by her shop. In this case study, 4 out of 5 participants indicated they would travel 5 or less for coffee, often opting for corporate chains due to the convenience of ordering ahead or using a drive-thru. Within a 5-mile radius of Street Brew Coffee, there are 14 different corporate chain coffee shops, each offering online ordering through both desktop and mobile applications available in app stores.
Wireframes
After gathering data from my research, I started brainstorming ideas for a product that would best meet user needs. Initially, I believed that the optimal solution was to design a fully functional app that mirrored the application of a competing corporate chain. However, my conversation with Molly shifted my perspective, prompting me to reassess my approach. Currently, Molly is not looking to invest in app development but is focused on expanding Street Brew Coffee's reach to attract more customers.
Wireframes:
I chose to address the issue by revamping the mobile desktop website for Street Brew Coffee. My focus for the redesign was to enhance the customer's ability to place quick orders in advance. To start I developed low-fidelity wireframes using a digital notepad.
My initial iteration featured just four screens, showcasing a simplistic design akin to the current website. After finalizing the wireframes and testing them in Figma, I identified several design flaws.
The existing model requires users to scroll up and down to access various categories, and they must navigate through multiple screens to complete a purchase. Essentially, I hadn't made significant changes and instead added more actions for users to navigate between different screens.
First Iteration:
In my second iteration, I incorporated additional screens and features into this set of wireframes. While I retained some concepts from the first iteration, I fundamentally altered most of the design.
I approached the mobile desktop as if it were an application, ensuring that every page includes an "order" button to emphasize the option for ordering ahead. Each page links to its respective section and provides navigation to both the "homepage" and the "checkout."
Second Iteration:
High-Fidelity Prototype
I gathered my data points to develop a persona that accurately reflects a potential user. Additionally, I considered the values and objectives of Street Brew Coffee.
I created a user profile page to enhance the personal experience.
I focused on the experience and aesthetics by highlighting the distinctive ambiance of Street Brew.
The existing website combined coffee orders and products on a single page.
I organized the e-commerce page into categories and enhanced the aesthetics and user experience.
Participants expressed that online orders placed through desktop/mobile sites often include excessive unwanted information, which can be overwhelming.
The checkout page is fairly simple and allows the user to return to either the home page, previous page or to add more to the order.
One participant in the case study was interested in testing the usability of the prototype. They reported that the re-design was easy to learn and "felt similar to using an app." I evaluated the current design against the re-designed one by measuring the efficiency based on the number of clicks needed to order a vanilla latte. The new interface required just 6 clicks for the order, compared to 13 clicks for the existing model. I chose not to measure the time taken to use the application since individual users may have varying speeds.
Applications play a significant role in enabling corporate chain coffee shops to outperform competitors. While many local coffee shops may lack the financial resources to invest in an application, creating an interface that achieves similar or better results could help them attract more customers and compete with nearby coffee shops.