Josh Stewart
Frurranis Doux
A story of adapting to change
This was a conceptual case study for a business named Frurranis Doux, who was exploring solutions for their business to bring new customers to new wines either online or in person.
Along with my two teammates, I was tasked with research, iterating designs and storytelling. Without the red stained teeth or slightly tinted wine lip. Promise.
We aimed to make sure our solutions executed the business goals of garnering new customers and sales.
What I did:
UX Designer, Wireframes, Usability Testing & Storytelling
Duration: 2 Weeks
Tools: Miro, Figma, Zoom
So... what's the problem here?
Frurranis is a business that was leveraging their in person services almost exclusively until COVID-19 hit. With many other retailers also moving to e-commerce, Frurranis Doux was also looking to be sure they had an online platform to bring new customers to new wines while also still safely leveraging their in person services.
My teammates and I set out to discover what could be done to make an e-commerce experience engaging for new customers as well as create a service to retain a piece of their normal day-to-day.
Knowing our customer
We first needed to understand customers from a wide breadth of experience with wineries to better understand their habits when purchasing wines and attending wineries. Surveys were sent out first to set a good precedent as to who who we should interview. After plenty of results, we found that:
80%
of responses were from people 21-39
98%
of money spent on a bottle of wine was less than $25, though 50% of those responses spent < $15 at places like liquor stores
62%
of transactions consisted of 2 bottles of wine being purchased
During interviews, folks had plenty to say
Our interviews consisted of questions that were based around people's interactions with wineries to comprehend deeper motives to their thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
"I like the relaxing environment. I always assume the quality of wine is better as well which makes me feel more comfortable spending about $30 on a bottle"
"I'm always curious about new wines. I want to learn in an engaging way and have recommendations tailored to me with jargon that makes sense"
"Wineries typically feel more environmentally conscious to me. They also connect me to this broader sense of community, which adds to the environment."
Piecing together our persona
Given all the information we had, we synthesized all of it into one persona to better understand their motivations, pain points and more.
Natalie is artisan, hand crafted jewelry designer who sells her work at street fairs and flea markets to stay connected to her community. On weekends, she likes to go to local BYO restaurants with her friends to unwind. She's always so fascinated by her friends' ability to pair wines perfect with their meals!
Natalie
Her goals:
-
Seamlessly discover and purchase new wines online or in person
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Attend events that connect her with her community
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Have a knowledgeable visit to a winery
Her Behaviors:
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More willing to purchase an item she finds a deeper connection to
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Values recommendations from various sources
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Posts on social media to share unique small businesses she considers a "hidden gem"
Her Frustrations:
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Confused by "wine jargon" online
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Doesn't like when businesses don't follow COVID safety guidelines and procedures
Aligning solutions and our customers
We carefully iterated on our proposed solutions while centering our customers through the process. After carefully considering our scope, research and the business needs, we decided to implement:
Our virtual ideation session with paper and pencil
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A short quiz that would help personalize flights of three wine bottles to their liking that they could customize or take the business' suggestions via relatable questions. Our research showed users wanted to have some choice, so the customization would empower them to choose suggested wines
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We would also host a safe, community based event that would connect them to their community.
We also uncovered the steps for each solution
Taskflow for customers going through the personalized recommendations quiz
Taskflow for customers attending safe community event.
Customers needed function and clarity
Wireframes started to get tested by prospective users to implement feedback to create a successful journey.
Page: Quiz
The quiz was getting good feedback as a way to discover personalized options through relatable questions
But customers were stating they felt a little confused about the breadcrumb at the top of the page. Was it five questions? Was it four and then your results? We needed to provide better prior to users starting the quiz.
Page: Event Tickets Order Processed
We confirmed that users found this positive feedback valuable to reiterate on the information important to their purchase.
But customers were looking for an "Add to Calendar" feature so that they could be reminded about the time of their purchase.
Page: Home Page
Our design of a hero image paired with a call to action button was made to draw attention, which we were able to confirm.
But customers couldn't access this from everywhere they were on the site. We found it powerful to move this to the navigation bar after the tests we ran to provide accessibility.
Our event breakthrough
How do people remember events to emotionally connect to them?
This was something a user asked us during our testing phase in regards to our in person event. It seems simple on the surface but they were poking at something deeper. They mentioned concerts. Something as simple as a parking lot tee shirt can bring you right back to that moment.
Our team decided that including a promotional item, like an etched wine glass, during our event solution would allow our users to viscerally connect back to the shared personal experiences they were hoping to have at places like wineries. This in particular could have huge upside when it came to driving business.
Building out the event
We processed a storyboard for our in person service as it pertained to the event we planned. This event was a social distanced, outdoor drive-in movie event. We were certain to maintain education as a part of this event. Customers would obtain a menu that would pair the winery's products with visiting local food trucks.
Our Final Solutions
Below is a walkthrough of our final prototype design that outlines design decisions like:
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Call to action button addition in navigation bar
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Hero image layout to draw users into experience with paired call to action button that leads to personalized quiz
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Social media feed introduction on homepage
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Recommendations quiz and results that allow them to personalize their flight or choose business suggestions
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Communicating item incentive when attending the event
Iterations continued from here
Page: Quiz Results
During results, we aimed to use imagery to make flavors of the wines more relatable.
But customers were looking to have descriptions as well to better inform them of the flavors. This would also be of benefit of accessibility features like screen readers.
Page: Shipping Details
We knew there had to be a way to validate the age of our customers, so we added a terms and conditions box.
But customers also wanted the ability to upload a picture of their ID to virtually confirm before shipment, just in case they were not home during delivery.
Page: Event Page
Though testing, we validated that all customer found value in the description of the event and saw important info like the complimentary item solutions that we proposed.
But customers also wanted a better expectation of the schedule of occurrences during the event so they could be better prepared for the night.
Measuring our impacts
Our research drove our solutions, and because we were centering someone like Natalie so readily, we knew we could drive business impacts. Such impacts would include:
Changing spending behavior
During interviews and surveys, many responses indicated that customers frequently limited their spending to ~$15 on a bottle. Though, this spending habit increased to $30 when visiting a winery. Driving traffic to the business through safe events would change these behaviors and increase revenue for the business.
Increasing event attendance
Our breakthrough we had about our promotional item was so important because we knew that these items could drive attendance. If we drove attendance to our events throughout these limited run items, we knew then there would be benefits from the increased spending. These two impacts quickly became symbiotic.
Empowering our customers
The personalized quiz will allow our users to not only see what it being suggested from the business, but allowing them to make decisions they are comfortable with. With a flight priced at $45, it allows customers to explore new wines they ultimately get to decide, grow revenue for the business and build retention over time.
Takeaways
This process was such a great learning experience, particularly in terms of making sure we were in alignment with solutions both online and in person. From this project, I would say I learned:
1
There is much more work to do! Our team wanted to push more into the messaging of the business to grow a deeper connection to the environmentally conscious customers. We also did plenty of competitive analysis to implement other solutions that would grow the business, like wine club subscriptions.
2
Perfection isn't the goal! With having this hypothetical company, we often strived to get everything perfect and do as much as we could. It really taught me the purpose to making sure scope is reachable and iterations are always things that can be worked into the future plans!