As described by their founder, Virtual Dining Chicago is an online event space and e-commerce platform built to help the hospitality industry connect virtually with their customers and explore alternate revenue channels outside traditional dine-in experiences (combining the virtual with the physical).
When I was brought on in July of this year, the VDC team was in the midst of a major operational pivot. They were struggling to stay relevant as a new hospitality business in the middle of a pandemic. VDC recognized that Covid-19 was changing the fabric of their customer base and quickly chose to pivot their business model to survive as a beginning startup.
My goal was to identify clear user personas and aid in the successful acquisition, engagement, and retention of those users.
The original VDC site was created quickly in Squarespace to provide an online presence and validate new outreach campaigns.
Initial impressions revealed a muddled message and brand identity. Much of the site did not follow standard web conventions and the information architecture needed improvement.
My role was intended to begin with an immediate redesign utilizing the existing Google Analytics and customer feedback from the beta version of VDC's website. However on closer inspection, I soon realized that VDC did not have enough data to sufficiently create user insights or personas that would drive my UX redesign.
I requested permission from my stakeholders to conduct user research and explained the value research brought to the project. I was able to successfully gain the approval of an online survey including a participant incentive.
Using Google forms I created a user pain point survey. It was sent to the VDC email subscribers as well as posted live over 5 different online platforms such as Reddit, Craigslist, Facebook, LinkedIn and others.
The survey asked questions like,
“How much time would you give to a virtual event?” or
“How interested are you in ordering artisan products from local restaurants?”
The variety of these questions lead to a great many results and insights.
As well as validating to my stakeholders that there was confirmed interest in their hypothesis of virtual dining experiences.
At 77.5% or 334 responses, most were interested in recreating a restaurant experience at home.
Also 76.7% or 330 said they were interested in learning about virtual events from local restaurants.
This is a high rate of potential interest in services offered by VDC
VDC was using a phrase in their marketing campaign and website that referenced 'elevating' at home dining experiences. Users responded neutrally to this phrase on a Likert scale suggesting that the phrase was not performing well as previously thought to communicate the objective of VDC's product.
Our users were showing signs of fatigue with cooking their own meals more frequently than before the pandemic, however their schedules were not any more relaxed. Many users had only small windows of time available each week to spend on virtual classes or events.
Our foodies, who miss regular dining out, have the problem that they are anxious, bored, and lonely from social distancing. They are also exhausted by frequently making the same meals when at home.
Our solution should deliver a new, safe way to gather for fun times with others as well as share opportunities to create more interesting meals so that users enjoy cooking again and become inspired by interactions with others who are more knowledgeable.
Three clear personas rose from the research. These personas have been implemented throughout the VDC team and are currently being used for a range of product decisions and content creation.
My stakeholders hypothesized their customers with the proto-persona of successful person interested in very high quality food experiences and willing to pay exclusive prices to eat fine dining meals at home.
However, my research revealed that this persona was only 5% of their potential customer base. In fact, research identified that their main user persona was a 20-something of moderate income looking to learn and improve basic cooking skills.
The new personas have already been a strong influence on original content in the form of copy, sought after business partners, and original classes offered to users.
Having a great meal or new food experience with others is how I like to create fun, new memories, it makes me feel happy. But I find that while I’m trying to stay healthy by avoiding my regular crowded places, I miss other people and am always cooking the same meals for myself over and over. I wish there was a way to escape for a bit by enjoying other people’s company and changing up my food routines in an exciting way.
Learn how to make more interesting food that is better than I usually make and interact with others safely // So that I can end my boredom of constantly eating the same things at home by our/myself.
The original information architecture of VDC's website was not intuitive and buried most of the content that they were trying to highlight. The section meant to encourage B2B relationships was labeled with a button called "Work with Us" which is typically used to encourage career opportunities within an organization.
One of my first recommendations was to change this button copy to read "Partner with Us." Using the word "Partner" instead immediately conveyed to true purpose of the content.
The new site architecture lent itself to a cohesive flow with separate experiences for each the customer and business partner. With the addition of global and secondary navigation, users would now easily navigate within the site and find relevant information almost immediately.
To begin designing the user interface, the project began with sketches to better communicate my vision for the product to stakeholders. The initial vision consisted of eye catching copy that was clear and to the point, as well as on trend photo cutouts of ingredients.
These suggestions would increase the quick scanability of the site and instantly communicate its purpose.
The best way to eliminate bias is to user test products early and often. The first round of user testing was conducted with very basic wire frames and proved helpful in validating the new site architecture. This quick test also helped inform the stakeholders of my intentions and validate with stakeholders that requirements were being met.
The user interface was honed even further to facilitate the three personas discovered by initial research. Information was quick to find with a clear site purpose front and center.
• VDC's MVP features were front and center with clear explanations.
• A community page highlighted instead of removed to encourage and provide a sense of togetherness.
• Restaurant partners were to be highlighted based on an associated restaurant or other well-known detail.
• Copy and content was to be encouraging friendly and reminiscent of gathering around the table in better times.
• Separate experiences for each customers and business partners
• Image first style of sorting events for quick identification and reduced event detail preview
• Categories to sort events and products into buckets
• Page templates for quick additions and articles on the community pages.
• E-Commerce features with products, user account, shopping cart, checkout & recommendations.
• Partner pages and business accounts.
• SaaS features for partners to create event and item PDP's autonomously.
Considering that the site would be run by a team and potentially by others not familiar with design, the user interface was designed with Atomic design elements and page templates.
Virtual Dining Chicago has left the arena of filling their event calendar with shared or reposted events created by competitors. With the information provided through research and website redesign, the product now has a roadmap to guide them forward with confidence and original content that is tailored to their users.
Development is under way and the project will be relaunched soon with the newly redesigned experience.
