About

Duration: September 2022 to January 2023

Roles: UX Researcher | Product Designer

Just Roll With It Cakes is a captivating, family-focused enterprise that proudly presents a complex variety of four successful sub-entities: Just Roll With It Cakes Cake Craft Essentials, Cafe, Training Academy, and a Film Division. I undertook the responsibility of managing and transforming their existing website.

Tasked with elevating the user experience in their online marketplace, enhancing the site's visual appeal and layout, and incorporating the remaining three sub-businesses (as their old website featured only Cake Craft Essentials), I not only redesigned but also led the comprehensive development of a brand-new website.

Project Details

Design Goal

Elevate the online market's user experience to establish it as the primary revenue stream, amplify brand impact, introduce compelling content pages, and draw online users from various regions across England.

Target Users

• 18 - 80 years old

• Cake Enthusiasts and Customers

• Baking and Cake Decorating Enthusiasts

• Aspiring Bakers and Culinary Enthusiasts

• Aspiring Bakers and Culinary Enthusiasts

• Families and Event Planners

• Local Community and Beyond

Design Criteria

• User-Friendly Navigation: Implement an intuitive and easy-to-navigate design to ensure a seamless and enjoyable experience for users seeking information on cakes, products, courses, and events.

• Visual Appeal and Branding: Capture the captivating and family-focused essence of Just Roll With It Cakes through visually appealing design elements that align with the brand identity across all sub-entities.

• Minimalistic Design and Intuitive Navigation: Simplify the navigation process by employing easily understandable menu labels. Craft a straightforward layout to empower older users in effortlessly locating the information they seek.

• Accessible E-commerce Features: Simplify the online shopping experience with a straightforward checkout process, large product images, and clear pricing information for cakes and Cake Craft Essentials.

Their Before Website

Recognizing the limitations of their ability to create a good Shopify website, which suffered from significant brand and layout deficiencies, the decision was made to undergo a comprehensive overhaul. This involved not only integrating the other three subsidiaries but also addressing pervasive issues such as high error rates, user confusion, and inaccuracies in product stocks and information.

Given the website's modest contribution of 5-7% to overall business and a notably high dropout rate of 92%, the strategic choice to build a new website from scratch was deemed a valuable investment. This approach not only promises a superior user experience but also serves as a strategic opportunity for effective rebranding and streamlined inventory management.

Usability concerns included missing menus in the café section, complicated class scheduling, and the absence of online sign-up forms for cake-decorating classes. The afternoon tea section lacked essential forms, requiring customers to call for bookings, and the in-store cake tin rental service was missing. The outdated visual appeal did not reflect their brand image.

Research

I performed a user survey via Typeform to collect data regarding individuals’ actions and inclinations. I also carried out a comprehensive evaluation of both cherished local entities such as Hobby Craft and foreign bakeries in Calgary, as part of my additional duties as a Market Analyst. During this thorough investigation, I examined various elements such as SWOT analysis, technological progression, social media visibility, website navigability, user-amiability, and aesthetics, among other considerations.

Despite the majority of survey participants being UK-based, a select few were from the US and other global regions, resulting in an 36 contributors collected over a period of 6 days.

Insights

• Decision to build a new website justified by deficiencies in the old Shopify site.

• Low contribution (5-7%) and high dropout rate (92%) emphasized the need for a more effective online presence.

• Usability concerns included missing menus, complicated class scheduling, and outdated visual appeal.

• Global reach indicated by a few participants from the US and other regions, highlighting the need for international considerations.

• Trust and security on the website rated positively by half of the respondents.

Opportunities

• Integrate all sub-entities for a comprehensive one-stop-shop experience.

• Strategically rebrand to match the captivating essence of Just Roll With It Cakes.

• Enhance user experience by addressing usability concerns, particularly for mobile users.

• Engage a global audience with multilingual support and localized content.

• Strengthen security features for increased trust and user loyalty.

Sitemap

Featuring a diverse array of four thriving sub-entities—Just Roll With It Cakes, Cake Craft Essentials, Cafe, Training Academy, along with the Film Division—the following sitemap elegantly organizes the multitude of pages and functions on the website.

Design Systems

I led a thorough rebranding effort, overseeing the transformation of product cards, menu designs, and diverse marketing materials, including business cards and flyers. Building on the prior success of the rebranding initiative, I translated it into a meticulous UI guide for this website project, ensuring consistency through essential elements like colour palettes, typography, and reusable UI components.

Website Interaction Showcase

In this project, each page is carefully crafted to cater to different screen sizes, ensuring a seamless shopping and browsing experience across a spectrum of devices. I infused this site with engaging animations, showcasing my proficiency in HTML and CSS to enhance user interaction and overall site dynamism.

The visual design of the new pages aligns seamlessly with the brand's essence, aiming to impart a sense of softness and cuteness to visitors. A consistent design system is employed across all pages, each subtly infused with a unique visual treatment to maintain individuality.

The revamped "About page", exemplified by the inclusion of a "Meet The Team" section on the new website, serves as a conduit for visitors and customers to forge a meaningful connection with the brand, imbuing the overall experience with a genuine touch of authenticity.

Takeaways

Managing a substantial portfolio of over 2700 products, curating content and details for over 40 cake classes, implementing two menu redesigns, and authoring and integrating five videos into the site, alongside comprehensive content writing for all pages, this project proved to be both thrilling and demanding.

The added challenge of completing these tasks within a tight timeframe of approximately four months, alongside other concurrent responsibilities, heightened the complexity.

During this intense period, I maximized my personal efficiency by 70%, consistently delivering exceptional results while undertaking extensive project management. This experience provided invaluable insights into various aspects, including user research, project management, data analysis, and design.