PROJECT OVERVIEW
Provo Bakery is a charming neighborhood bake shop situated in Provo, Utah, that has earned a reputation for its delectable novelty donuts, cakes, cookies, pastries, and other sweet treats. Despite having a functional website to place orders, they envisioned a mobile ordering app to better cater to their customers' needs.
THE PROBLEM
Busy professionals, moms, and other locals want to be able to place an order for baked goods ahead of time and pick up their orders in store at their own convenience.
THE GOAL
Design an app for Provo Bakery that allows users to easily order their favorite baked goods ahead of time and pick up at their desired time in-store.
ROLE
UX Designer
PROJECT DURATION
May 2022 to July 2022
RESPONSIBILTIES
•Conducting interviews
•Paper and digital wire-framing
•Low and high-fidelity prototyping
•Conducting usability studies
•Accounting for accessibility
•Iterating on designs
UNDERSTANDING THE USER
USER RESEARCH: SUMMARY
I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users I’m designing for and their needs. A primary user group identified through research was working adults who need a fast, easy way to place an order beforehand and pick up in store. This user group confirmed initial assumptions about Provo Bakery’s customers, but research also revealed that time was not the only factor that motivates users to want to order online. Other user problems included not wanting to wait in long lines at the bakery, having goods sold out by the time they get there, not knowing what’s available until they get to the bakery, being able to order for all people in one order, and being able to see ingredients of orders online.
USER RESEARCH: PAIN POINTS
USER RESEARCH: PERSONAS
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Jennifer is a working professional who needs an easy way to place an order beforehand and pickup in store because she doesn’t want to waste time in the mornings standing in line.
USER JOURNEY MAP
Mapping Jennifer’s user journey revealed how helpful it would be for users to have access to a dedicated Provo Bakery app.
STARTING THE DESGIN
PAPER WIREFRAMES
I wanted to draft a homepage that was intuitive, simple, and allowed for straight-forward ordering right away. Here are some iterations based on that.
DIGITAL WIREFRAMES
As the initial design phase continued, I made sure to base screen designs on feedback and findings from the user research. An easy, intuitive ordering process was an important user need for this app. To give users a more enjoyable experience, I included a donut visual/map that shows what donuts are being added to the order (inspired by Krispy Kreme's interface.)
LOW FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
Using the completed set of digital wireframes, I created a low-fidelity prototype. The primary user flow I connected was a donut ordering process so the prototype could be used in a usability study.
View the Provo Bakery App:
USABILITY STUDY: FINDINGS
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining.
ROUND 1 FINDINGS
ROUND 1 CHANGES
Early designs allowed for just one way to start an order. After the first usability study I added a way to get to ordering from the menu. I also changed the language from “Place Order” to “Start Order” to fix confusion among users. The user flow was also improved in the high fidelity design phase.
ROUND 2 FINDINGS
ROUND 2 CHANGES
The second usability study revealed frustration with the language used in the hamburger menu screen. I replaced “Start Order” with “Place an Order” since the user flow requires users to insert their pickup information before seeing menu availability.
HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
The final high-fidelity prototype presented cleaner user flows for customizing a box of donuts. It also included updated language that should be less confusing to users.
View the Provo Bakery App:
GOING FORWARD
TAKEAWAYS
Impact: The app makes users feel like Provo Bakery cares about their ordering experience. One quote from usability study participant:
“I love that the app is straightforward and clear to navigate.”
What I learned: While designing the Provo Bakery App I learned how important usability studies are. While the designer might think his or her design is intuitive, it might not be to other users. It’s important to have a variety of users test your design in order to get the most effective feedback.
NEXT STEPS
Next steps would be to start the development of the app with the development team. Once the app is developed, it would be wise to continue user testing to see if there are areas of the app that could be improved.