Epicured.com is a meal subscription and delivery service catering to special diets and restrictions. Working directly with the Epicured.com team, the original task was to rebuild their account page and then build the site to accommodate multiple subscriptions, as well as ship to different addresses within a subscription. They also felt that the current persona was not in alignment with their actual customers. They did not have a functional mobile site, which was not their first priority-they believed their customer did not use their mobile device.
THE TEAM & PROJECT KICKOFF
Jill Moloney Triceara Heydt Paul Seid Hsingyin Liang
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While the team worked closely, we all had our respective responsibilities. I performed a heuristic review of the current site, using the Nielsen Norman Group standards to evaluate. Comparing competitive websites, I understood the different business models, how the sites were designed, and what their users/customers were accustomed to seeing.
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The team participated in all interviews - listening to comprehend the users thoughts and feelings about using the site. From there, we compiled an affinity map to build the new persona, journey map and problem statement.
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In addition to reviewing the site, we also conducted several usability tests on the current desktop to see if first time users encountered any difficulties using the site. This information gave us additional insights into what to ask current users about their pain points when using the site.
All users were pleased with the meals and how they felt when eating them
They mentioned that they could see a difference in their health and well-being
The mobile site was not fully operational, and directed users to the desktop version, which was frustrating
Many of the ordering processes, delivery options and "fine print" were hidden within pages of the site, so users were confused
They all wanted to continue using the service, but did not always want to call customer service to have to update the orders each week
HEURISTIC REVIEW
Using the Nielsen Norman Group standard for evaluating heuristics, I found that they had some issues that were quickly fixable to improve user confidence. They had small design errors where buttons did not line up, or spelling errors. These seemingly small issues can make customers and users weary of the credibility of a site.
Epicured prides themselves on being a low-FODMAP diet and gluten free meal plan site. However, their definition of FODMAP was in clinical terms only. A new user that is not familiar with low-FODMAP may need more details on what to eat and what to avoid. This will bring real world wording to the site.
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The site also had very important information about how the meal plan works and delivery options hidden in the FAQ section. In conjunction with usability testing, this information needs to be more easily accessible.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
While Epicured.com is the leader in low-FODMAP and gluten-free prepared meal plan delivery services, we did find a great number of meal services that their current users would use in conjunction with Epicured or supplement with. Some other delivery services specialized in other dietary restrictions, but had similar pricing and/or delivery options. All had more clear payment and meal subscription explanations.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS
The Google Analytics showed Epicured was missing opportunities to engage with customers on their mobile site. A great number of users visited the mobile site, but only totaled 7% of the sales.
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Another insight was that their user base was mostly women, however, men were actually spending more on meals.
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Lastly, while the Epicured team was focusing more on older women, but we learned that users from 24-44 were bringing in 75% of the revenue- and they accounted for 60% of the total users.
EMILY - PERSONA AND JOURNEY MAP
Emily is a professional that likes to eat healthy and enjoys getting her prepared meals from Epicured. However, she encounters numerous issues when using their mobile site. She would prefer to use her phone to track her orders, but the mobile site directs her to switch to the desktop site or call customer service. This is frustrating, and she sometimes misses the cut off date to revise orders.
Epicured has helped users manage their health by providing them with meals that make them feel better. However, their platform is not fully functional across devices, has errors, and causes frustration amongst users.
Emily enjoys her Epicured meals, but has issues with their repetitive menu and the ordering process. These issues have caused her to skip meals and receive unexpected deliveries that she then needs to throw out.
How might we help Emily continue to enjoy her Epicured meals and streamline the ordering process?
DESIGN STUDIO & WIRE FRAMING
Once we had our research complete, understood our user's problems, needs and wants, the team sketched some wire frames to determine how we were going to simplify and streamline the site, especially the mobile site.
NEXT STEPS & TAKE AWAYS
Now that we have completed our research and re-design, I would like to interview additional users that fall within the 20+ age group. They were not interviewed in the initial round, but based on the Google Analytics, they are a user group that needs to have a voice.
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I would also want to implement the changes to the website, and then conduct additional usability testing with current users to see how their experience improves.
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Something that I found interesting was about this project was that I had reviewed the desktop and mobile site prior to talking to the client. I immediately knew that the mobile site needed to be fixed
and made responsive to the desktop.
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Especially in 2018!
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However, when speaking to the client, they assured us that their user and customer were "older" and did not use their mobile device, it was not a priority for the company or their user.
When conducting user interviews, it become clear the users were of all ages, and they all wanted to use their mobile device to track orders, change meal choices and just review their account. It only proved further one needs to understand their customer/user in order to be successful.
Through interviews with users about the food they eat and their meal choices, we found people were looking for healthy food options that improved their overall well-being and the meals or snacks were available quickly. We determined that a mobile app would be best for this problem.
THE TEAM & PROJECT KICKOFF
Jill Moloney   Raquel Winiarsky   Arielle Mamlin   Arene Inouye  Aaron Culp
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Although this was a completely collaborative effort; we did have our own tasks that each was accountable for. I handled the prototyping step with Invision, making any updates to the Sketch files that were needed. Then, I conducted usability tests on possible users to see how the app was going to work. I also focused on the iOS HIG to ensure the designs met requirements.
We all participated in user interviews, affinity mapping, design studio to complete hand sketched wire frames and started planning how the interface would look.
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We conducted 6 user interviews and learned that all the people considered themselves to:
Lead a busy lifestyle, and that directly influenced their food choices
They also wanted to have food solutions that were available to help them feel better
They all were aware that eating healthier foods increases their overall well-being
They wanted more information on foods and snacks to increase productivity
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Once we had completed our user interviews and had our insights organized from our affinity mapping, we began compiling our Persona, the user's Journey Map and our Problem Statement.
LILY - PERSONA AND JOURNEY MAP
Lily is looking for healthy food options to make her feel better and improve her productivity. Â She often gets sidetracked at work and misses lunch, and her energy levels decline due to that and eating snacks. Â She is looking for quick solutions that are close-by.
Busy users want to enhance their overall well-being and productivity by consuming food with proper nutrients. They need to have healthy food options that are available on the spot and within close proximity.
Lily keeps a busy schedule but still wants to include healthy solutions to help her feel her best. She needs a platform that would inform her of nutritious food choices quickly,
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How might we help Lily optimize her search for quick fixes for her health needs?
DESIGN STUDIO & WIRE FRAMING
After understanding Lily's needs more clearly from from our research, the team sat together with our developer to review, discuss and sketch out key features that would be necessary to the solution. We did decide to make an app since this was viewed a quick solution and most of users were "on-the-go". We all quickly agreed that there would need to be a dietary restrictions or preferences screen for each user so this could be filtered for them.
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Working with a developer for this project was helpful, as we were implementing map APIs to locate restaurants and grocery stores to help the user navigate their options. The developer also explained how long it would take to create the database, and how he would need information handed over so he could implement.
NEXT STEPS & TAKE AWAY
Since completing this project, I would want to test the coded prototype which our developer made from our artwork and specification document to see how users interacted with a functional prototype.
I would also want to move back to the research phase and determine if users also wanted to purchase from our platform, as well as if they wanted a dietitian to give suggestions on what to choose. Â Another option would be to see if they wanted a social aspect where users could share recipes and ideas.
Where music and family come together.
A responsive web site where families choose shared music listening preferences to enjoy together.
THE TEAM & PROJECT KICKOFF
Jill Moloney   Paul Seid  Chelsey Pinke  Mark Kahn
ALISON- PERSONA AND JOURNEY MAP
Allison wants to share time and listening to music with her family, but they can't always agree on what to listen to. Â She needs a better option than mediating with her husband and children to bring everyone together.
There is a huge selection of music that families can access, but they often don't share the same tastes or agree what to listen to when they are together.
Allison wants music to be something that brings her family together, not something that separates them.
How might we help them share music with each other and find common ground?
While this was a completely collaborative effort, we did have our own tasks that each was accountable for. I conducted user interviews, persona and journey map creation based on research information. Taking the ideas from sketched and low-fi wire frames, I designed high-fi wire frames and conducted usability tests.
We all participated in user interviews, affinity mapping, design studio to complete hand sketched wire frames and started planning how the interface would look.
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We conducted user interviews and learned that all the people considered themselves to:
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Everyone loved listening to music
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However, they all listened to music alone, it was to difficult to find a common ground with their significant other and families
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They would like a way to help them choose music that everyone agreed upon
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All interviewees were frustrated with the arguments and mediation that occurred when everyone listened to music together
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Once we had completed our user interviews and had our insights organized from our affinity mapping, we began compiling our Persona, the user's Journey Map and our Problem Statement.
DESIGN STUDIO & WIRE FRAMING
DESIGN STUDIO
Now that we had our problem statement clarified, we started to brain storm and draw out our ideas of what the site should look like. We quickly sketched hand drawings of the site to review with each other and make decisions on features that were required for our site.
IDEATION
Working through different concepts of the site, we built out a medium-fi prototype to test with users to see how intuitive the site was to use and if the users were expecting anything different. Â This gave us insights into how to design the hi-fi version and do additional usability testing on that version as well. Â The low and medium prototypes are designed for functionality and not for color or design. We just needed to know if the user could find their way through the site completing tasks that would be required when the site was fully functional.
HI-FI WIREFRAME
After conducting several usability tests with the lower fi prototypes, the team proceeded to move into hi-fi sketch designs to finalize the site and project.  We took into consideration the coloring, graphics, typography and font size so we could make the prototype as real as possible.  We each designed 2 pages from the website in Sketch. We combined them to a final design board, and made the prototype using Invision.
Once we had the prototype complete, we began conducting another round of usability testing and compiled our results.
NEXT STEPS & TAKE AWAY
With our prototype complete and tested, I would want to go back to the research and testing phase on our initial user interviewees to see if this helped solve their initial needs and wants.
I would also want to see if there were additional needs/wants from users. From the first interviews, we learned that many people listened to music from older family members, so there may be an additional feature to add as to why others are suggesting music - a learning/teaching feature.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a renowned hospital for treating young cancer patients - at no cost to the family. It is also a teaching facility for medical students.
HEURISTIC REVIEW
Using the Abby Method of heuristic review, I analyzed the site to see where users may get confused or lost while navigating the site.
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The site is visually engaging, but the moving images that makes the site difficult to focus. The colors are very bright, where this feels a bit contradictory to what the users are coming to learn, I am not sure that a parent or family that was searching for information for their ill child would want to see parties and confetti.
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The navigation bar disappears as you scroll down the site and enter into different areas. This leaves the user disoriented.
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The donate buttons are on all pages, which makes sense because it is a completely non-profit organization. However, all of them are red, but one is green on one page. This should be consistent throughout the site.
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COMPETITIVE REVIEW
To gain more insight on design trends, and ideas on how to set up basic navigation, colors, and overall layout of the site, I reviewed other websites that have similar business models and goals in treating patients.
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Looking at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and NY Presbyterian Hospitals, the landing pages on each site is a bit more subdued in color and they don't have moving carousels with fast moving videos.
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The sites all have similar navigation but since there is not too much going on visually, it is easier to gather your bearings and understand how to move about the site.
