AtiJat
It is all about flavors
Today, spices are primarily used as a food flavoring all around the world. Spices reveal a lot about the culture of cuisines and are used in a wide range of savory and sweet foods. AtiJat offers all types of herbs and spices to customers online and helps them find the magic of trying unique flavors.
My Roles: UX researcher, UX/UI designer
Duration: October 2021 – December 2021 (3 Months)
Tools: Figma, Miro, Lucidchart, Google forms (survey)
Design process
My design process was based on the following phases in the Double Diamond design approach:
Discover: Competitive analysis + Semi-structured interview
Define: Empathy map + Information architecture
Ideation: Brainstorm + User flow + Low-fi wireframes
Deliver: Visual system + High-fi prototype
Problem statement:
How might we design an innovative online shopping experience for customers who are looking for herbs and spices that is informative, engaging, and easy to navigate?
1. Discover
Competitive analysis:
My first step was to better understand the current digital market for spices and conduct a competitive analysis. To perform the heuristic evaluation, I selected these 4 high-traffic spice websites around the world:
I analyzed how our competitors looked, defined the information, and interacted with their customers. I also wanted to see the user flow for the purchasing function. Then I thought about how I could do it better. Based on my analysis, I knew there was a lot I could do to set AtiJat apart.
Semi-structured interviews:
I conducted 10 semi-structured interviews with participants who cook frequently and deeply care about the taste and quality of their food.
Participant profile:
- Ages 18-65
- All genders
- Cooks 5 or more times per week
- Cares highly about the taste and quality of their food
- Makes online purchases at least once per month
Personas:
Analyzing the data gathered from the interviews helped me define the following personas:
- Professional cook (Jimmy) who have advanced cooking skills and are looking to better taste and their passion to widely add flavor, aroma, color, and taste to food & beverages
- Home cook (Sarah) who enjoy following recipes and are looking for ways to improve their cooking with a basic flavor
I created an empathy map in order to gain a deeper understanding of the persona’s behaviors, attitudes, and thoughts. It helped me better understand the persona and examine the problems from the user’s perspective.
Key insight:
The professional cook already knows everything about spices; they’re only worried about reliable information and the quality of the product.
The professional cook always cares about the substantial health benefits of spices.
Home cooks need to know about go-to spices that they always keep in their kitchens.
2. Define
I developed my design around the following 2 main principles:
3. Ideation
I analyzed the results of my research and came up with 10 ideas.Then, I narrowed them down according to my insight and design principle to select the top 3 concepts.
Packaging
AtiJat offers two different packaging options for its products: kraft and jar.
Thank you card and QR code
Every customer receives a thank-you note, plus a QR code to simplify the reorder process.
Tasters packs
Small amounts of spice in plastic zipper bags can make it easier for customers to make decisions and encourage them to shop again.
Information architecture
User flow
Low-fi wireframes testing
To validate my assumptions and improve the usability of my designs, I tested the wireframes with 7 ordinary cooks. The flows were straightforward and easy to follow for almost all participants.
However, during testing the following improvements were identified:
- We needed to provide delivery options clearly.
- We had to provide more information about the spices so they would be easier to identify and purchase.
- Inform the user about the period of use of spices so they know when to buy them next
- I assumed the wishlist was a favorite part of the site for users, but after prototype testing, I realized the users didn’t engage with it, so in the final design I didn’t include it.
4. Deliver
Logo and branding
Initial sketches: On a sheet of paper, I sketched out my rough ideas for the logo design of AtiJat. I brainstormed ideas based on food and cooking keywords.
Each color of the logo represents a specific sign. Here is the final design logo:
Branding
Visual Design
Final concept
Impact
- %98 satisfaction with the final prototype
- 8/10 they will use QR codes in future orders
Learnings
- Ordinary cooks can provide valuable insight
During my interview, two women confessed they cook without passion on a daily basis. These two users helped me uncover new challenges that I did not think of. They need more details about spices.
- My passion for cooking benefits me as a designer
Cooking, which has become a kind of meditation for me, has helped me to know more about spices and I have been able to categorize them into different groups.