Background
While completing CAL Art’s Coursera UX/UI Certification program, I designed a food delivery app/website centered around providing hot, high quality coffee to neighborhoods. Having worked in coffee while in college, I really wanted to capture the essence of craft coffee.
Role
UX/UI Design
Current Experience
In our current technological climate, delivery apps are a dime a dozen, and many of them already include coffee, so the initial question was, why should this app exist, and if it does, what should make it stand out? I started by researching available apps, websites, and programs, each of which offered some small individual piece of the solution. What I ended up identifying would help shape the design and aesthetic of the app, in order for it to be a unique, successful product. Below I’ve identified the app’s key functions.
User needs/Functions:
1. To find out if the restaurant delivers to their area.
2. To Order Coffee and food online.
3. To find additional information about where the coffee comes from (eco-friendly green coffee purchasing from sustainable farms?)
4. To purchase subscriptions and sign up for daily deliveries.
Business needs/Functions:
To sell drinks/food online that will be delivered.
Provide a system for order customization.
Teach/grow audience of educated coffee enthusiasts (important for standing out).
To sell coffee subscriptions/daily/weekly deliveries (keep them coming back).
To increase engagement with merchandise sales (e.g. shirts, hats, buttons, coffee equipment).
Coffeehop Sitemap
Next, I mapped out the site so that I could ensure that each of the user and business needs are being met by the structure of the website/app. Before moving on to high-fidelity mockups, I iterated on a number of quick wireframes in InVision to determine if the flow and structure of the user journey made sense.
In developing a brand identity for Coffeehop, I researched key competitors, and really studied the aesthetic of the modern specialty coffee shop. I created a moodboard comprised of apps, modern high quality photography, and specialty coffee websites. The idea behind the app wasn’t to compete with specialty coffee but to offer something that specialty coffee, because of its carefully crafted nature, has been unable to offer until now: The ability to get an above average cup of coffee, maybe a rare geisha microlot, delivered so quickly that it’s still hot and fresh. I wanted to be able to bring that sensation of being in a space where your love of coffee is respected and nurtured into the user’s home.
I settled on simple, bold lines that match the thick, straight font. For the logo, I went with a design that combined the two meanings in the name, coffee - a coffee mug, and rabbit ears/tail - hop. I wanted to match the modern stylistic elements that illicit the image of specialty, carefully crafted coffee. I wanted the logo to feel the way that I wanted the customer to feel while using the app - simple, clean, and easy.
Clickable Prototype - Enjoy!
Take aways
The responses I received during user testing on this app were largely positive. Most were excited by the prospect, and some had ideas about contributing features and ways that the product could be used in a day-to-day way, such as having a cup of coffee delivered every morning as a wake up call, or app integrations with hotels and applications like AirBnB. Overall, developing this app design was an enriching educational experience, and while the design of the app was a theoretical case study, it was a great opportunity to gain valuable insight.