Komeeda
OVERVIEW
Komeeda helps restaurants and chefs connect with food lovers seeking local events. We designed Komeeda’s new website to enhance the interface and clearly convey Komeeda’s mission and services.
We helped Komeeda steer UX/UI for the 2021 consumer and took a step forward on defining the design elements that will be essential to accommodate their existing user personas, and to begin welcoming the Gen-Z consumer.
MY ROLE
I conducted UX Research, designed the Wireframes and Prototypes for the homepage and RSVP process.
This was a 12-week project in collaboration with 3 other designers, we researched competitive products, Gen-Z users behavior and preferences, and enhanced the experience of exploring and booking fun eating experiences on Komeeda website. We worked closely with the Social Media Manager, Developer and Product Manager of Komeeda.
PROJECT TIMELINE
TARGET USERS
“Let’s begin welcoming the Gen-Z consumers”, they said.
After meeting with the clients, we realized that they wanted to seek a direction to steer UX/UI for the 2021 consumer and begin welcoming Gen-Z (refers to the generation that was born between 1996-2010). With some doubts about if Gen-Z was the right audience to target, we defined the target users in two groups and conducted user research to verify if that’s the user group we should focus on:
NYC Gen-Z residents who are adventurous and likes eating out.
Gen-Z travellers who are unfamiliar with NYC and want to explore some local food.
THE GOAL
We did a mini-brief exercise with the client and defined the scenarios, principles, and two main goals for this project.
Optimize homepage to maximum engagement by catering to Gen-Z audience.
Make RSVP flow clear, efficient, and transparent.
Client meeting preparation
Mini-brief
USER RESEARCH
We conducted Literature Review, in-depth Interview and Observation to understand Gen-Z users’ needs.
Literature Review
Online research showed that Gen-Z like personalized experience, instagram-able pictures, care about ratings and popularity, and love sharing experience, photos as well as trendy events with friends.
Observation
Qualitative Observation focused on how Gen-Z users react to the concept of Komeeda and if that’s the user group we should focus on. We observed 8 potential users to use 3 competitor websites (Ez Cater, Tock, and Eat With) to explore the homepage and book an event that interests them.
Interview
In-depth User Interview was conducted after the Observation to understand their likes, dislikes, frustrations and recommendations of each website.
My notes from User Interview
Post-interview survey focused on Gen-Z users’ needs, information-seeking habits, and preferences on exploring fun eating experiences.
Post-interview survey results
What did we find out about Gen-Z users?
Gen-Z likes personalized and instagram-able experiences.
Gen-Z wants a clear message of what services the website provides.
Gen-Z cares about the price, time, types of food, and location of the event.
Gen-Z expects the price of a fun eating experience to be under $100.
Gen-Z is more comfortable eating with new people with friends than alone.
Gen-Z tends to skim over text heavy content on website.
Gen-Z found the logos and press coverage more credible than user quotes on the homepage.
OK, it makes sense to target Gen-Z audience now.
After 3 weeks of user research, we got a better understanding of Gen-Z audience. Through the key findings above, I am now confident that Gen-Z likes the concept of booking fun eating experiences online especially when it’s straightforward, personalized, Instagram-able, and credible.
USER JOURNEY MAP
To better understand the current experience of Komeeda, I observed 4 potential users using Komeeda website.
I summarized the pain points, user quotes, and design opportunities in my Journey Map focusing on homepage, event page, and RSVP process.
Current Website
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
On top of the 3 competitors provided by the client, I added 3 more and analyzed 6 competitors.
I did 3 competitors analysis with two potential users and 3 on my own. After analyzing 6 competitors (Tock, Eat With, EZCater, Chefsfeed, Cater Cow, and Tasting Collective), I identify the patterns of similar websites and documented the details that we should learn from or avoid.
DESIGN PRINCIPLES
BUILDING THE FOUNDATION
Wireframe exploration
Based on the users’ needs and design principle, the homepage wireframe was designed in 3 sections:
Header image with the statement “Experience all types of food in New York This Weekend” also served as filters;
Event cards with the information users care about: price, time, location; mission statement;
Voting playground; press; reviews.
WIREFRAME USER TESTING
Users like the instagram-like “Voting” playground.
Then I tested the homepage wireframe with 4 users. Since it’s still the early stage of the interface, I didn’t get major pain points from the users. Sometimes users just don’t have a clue of what’s going on in the wireframe stage.
HIGH-FI PROTOTYPE EXPLORATION
I explored 3 versions of interactive High-fi Prototype for Homepage.
Homepage was designed using Komeeda’s branding color and other compatible colors. The font was chosen using Adobe Fonts which can better represent Komeeda’s fun and cultural identity.
We also had multiple design solutions for the event card.
The team brainstormed 8 different design solutions for the event card focusing on displaying the important information (price, time location) in a clear and aesthetic way.
Mission statement design exploration
The team brainstormed 5 different design solutions for the mission statement focusing on sending a clear message of What is Komeeda and What service Komeeda provides.
Voting playground design exploration
So, which one should we use to move on to the user testing stage?
At this stage, we didn’t really have a boss to decide on the direction we should go with and it was still one week before the second client meeting. It was there when I learnt to say “Yes” to similar ideas with different visuals to make the design process more efficient for the team, as long as they were desirable and didn’t cause any usability issues.
Homepage and RSVP process the team agreed on for user testing:
HIGH-FI PROTOTYPE USER TESTING
1 Task, 12 users, 27 issues
We conducted 12 moderated in-person user testing with one task:
You are a resident of NYC and you are planning a pop-up food experience with your friends this weekend. Browse the homepage and book a pop-up food experience for you and your friends.
We got 27 issues from user testing mainly in three categories: the purpose of the website, the purpose of “voting playground”, and some content details.
Moderated in-person user testing
Problems we discovered from user testing
Changes we made from user testing feedback:
We changed the banner to make the purpose and search more clear.
We changed “Experience” to “Discover fun culinary experiences”, which directly communicates what the user can achieve on the website.
We decreased length of banner so users want to scroll and could get a feel for Komeeda events without needing to search first.
We included icons and labels that make action explicit so users know what to expect from the drop downs
“Experience? Experience what? Is this a traveling website?”
“I had no idea I could scroll down actually.”
Voting Playground
Most users found the voting playground fun and familiar (to instagram stories). Some were initially hesitant about playing with it as they did not know what they would get out of it.
We adjusted the description so that it communicates the purpose of the playground.
It is for Komeeda to hear from its Kommunity and gather insight about its users preferences.
Display
Users prefer one column of text.
It is easier to scan information in one direction, top to bottom.
Reviews & Ratings
Initially, we outlined individual customer reviews.
Users want to see overall rating of an event at first glance,
with a breakdown of top and lowest ratings.
FINAL DELIVERABLE
After solving the issues from user testing, I was also responsible for final detail check and interactive prototype.
HOMEPAGE
Straightforward navigation outlines services Komeeda offers.
Event cards provide users the price, time, location, and options to share or save the event.
The mission statement is clear, concise, and easy to digest in chunks.
The press coverage is highlighted and a descriptive sentence to explain what the icons mean is included.
Voting playground enables personalized content and provides users’ preferences for Komeeda. .
Event Page
Fixed booking card allows users too book anytime as they scan through the event details.
Overall rating of an event helps users to filter the top and lowest ratings at first glance.
“Popular events near you” provides more personalized selections for users to choose from.
RSVP Process
Users are presented with multiple ways to book: sign up, log in, or guest checkout.
Order summary sticks on the left side of the screen to remind users order details.
Confirmation Page
Users are able to edit payment method or number of guests after booking
Users have the option to save the event to their calendar and share it with friends.
Favorites Page
Favorites page provides users the express way to book any of their saved events.
FUTURE STEPS
Our clients were pretty satisfied with how this project turned out and was looking forward to working with us in the future. If given more time, I would love to explore more on some ideas I tried with the “More Events” interface, it was visually attractive but we did discover some usability issues. I had a solution to solve the usability issues but we didn't have time to do another round of usability testing and iteration. I would love to test that idea and update the homepage. If I were to do this again, I would get more users’ input at the research stage and we will have more consensus rather than compromise.
This time we focused on food lovers seeking local events. We might also work with Komeeda in the future to design the experience for chefs who want to host events.