PROJECT: Local Beer Garden App
ROLE: UX design & research DURATION: June-July 2022
Challenges
1. Create an interface capable of exploring new craft beers.
2. Retain recent orders for quick re-order on the next round of drinks.
3. Offer an Open Tap to allow users to make orders throughout the visit before making a final pay.
Understanding the user
I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users I’m designing for and their needs. A primary user group identified through research were adults who visit Local Beer Garden, but aren’t confident in trying new beer selections.
This user group confirmed initial assumptions about Local Beer Garden customers, but research also revealed that factors were limiting users from trying new beers. Other user problems included a busy bar intimidates orders and confusion from industry jargon when describing beers on the menu wall.
Starting the design
Pen and paper wire frames became lo-fi prototypes with Figma and the first round of usability study was completed. Using the completed set of digital wire frames, I created a low-fidelity prototype. The primary user flow I connected was finding and ordering a craft beer, so the prototype could be used in a usability study.
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wire frames to mock-ups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mock-ups needed refining.
Solution 1
During the usability study users were asking for a way to retain recent orders for quick re-order when they wanted to order the next round of drinks.
After the usability study a "recent orders" but was added for quick ordering.
Solution 2
The second usability study revealed a desire at checkout to have option to leave the tab open for more drink orders throughout the visit. I added another user flow with the option of “Open Tab”.
Hi-Fi Prototype
After two rounds of usability studies and updates made to the user flow that allowed for "open tabs" and "recent orders", the Local Beer Garden app is ready to move on to engineers.
Takeaway
This was my first project in a UX course and there is still so much to learn. In designing the Local Beer Garden app I wanted to design something user-focused. The benefits of usability studies, audits and insights helped to develop a better product. Local Beer Garden is an app that will help users find new craft beers. It will also allow them to order from their tables with an open tab and reorder recent orders with ease.
