A new e-commerce site for a premium UK pasta subscription service

Pasta Evangelists

Summary

UK subscription service Pasta Evangelists hoped to expand their business by improving the overall customer experience. They needed to address problems with the user account, as well as improving key e-commerce flows such as listings, subscription and the checkout.

I was hired to tackle these business goals, which were primarily aimed at maximising conversions, increasing order sizes and allowing users to more effectively manage their own accounts.

Over 5 months I researched, redesigned, tested, and delivered a new pasta shopping experience for their customers.

The redesign yielded the following results:

  • • 16% boost in "double-portion" orders
  • • 20% reduction in calls to the help centre
  • • 14% increase in subscription value
  • • 8% rise in conversions in checkout

My role

  • Research
  • Usability testing
  • UX design
  • UI design
  • Visual design

Team

  • 1 Designer
  • 1 Product Manager
  • 1 Developer team

Known problems

  • • Complicated Recipe Selection: Confusing process when choosing meals from listings page.
  • • Unclear Rotating Menu: Difficulty understanding changing meal offerings and availability.
  • • Confusing Subscription Choices: Lack of clarity in subscription tiers and benefits.
  • • Checkout Hurdles: Complex checkout process causing navigation issues and delays.
  • • Account Section Disarray: Poor user experience in managing account settings and subscriptions.

Business goals

  • • Streamline the checkout to maximise conversion.
  • • Better communicate the 'subscription' model to avoid confusion.
  • • Reorganise and redesign the functionality of the User Account section to take pressure off customer services.
  • • Implement gradual design improvements that could be A/B tested on the live site.
  • • Find ways to up-sell ‘Double Portions’, side dishes and desserts.
  • • Transition to a cleaner design while retaining the existing branding.

Design process

I

Research

• Research Approach
• Competitive Analysis
• Customer Interviews

II

Define

• Empathy mapping
• Customer Personas
• Journey Mapping

III

Ideate

• How Might We?
• Task flows
• Product goals

IV

Prototype

• Wireframes
• Usability testing
• Test results

V

Refine

• Listings
• Checkout
• Account

Part I

Research

Market research

Pasta Evangelists were a relative newcomer to an intensely competitive, dynamic and rapidly evolving UK meal subscription scene, with a diverse range of companies vying for consumer attention.

Established players like HelloFresh and Gousto continue to innovate, offering flexible plans that allow customers to customise meals and adjust delivery schedules, reflecting a growing demand for convenience and personalisation.

This competitive environment is driving constant evolution, as companies strive to differentiate themselves through unique menus, seamless user experiences, and efficient delivery logistics.

As customers increasingly seek unique and diverse culinary experiences, staying attuned to evolving preferences and maintaining a user-centric approach will be pivotal for sustained success in this crowded market.

Competitive analysis

Conducting an analysis involved identifying key competitors, evaluating subscription flexibility, assessing meal variety, studying delivery methods, and reviewing pricing and customer reviews. This process provided insights into market trends and informed my ideation in the next stage.

  • Diverse recipes, catering to various dietary preferences.
  • Reliable delivery with efficient time slots.
  • Flexible subscription plans for easy customisation.
  • Well-designed mobile app
  • Flexible subscription plans for easy customisation.
  • Precise delivery windows and tracking.
  • Flexible subscription plans with portion and frequency options.
  • User-friendly website interface for easy navigation.
  • Emphasis on healthy, organic, and gluten-free meals.
  • Emphasis on healthy, organic, and gluten-free meals.
  • Focused on flexible subscription customisation.
  • Limited recipe choices, mostly health-conscious options.
  • Offers flavour kits and recipes to complement ingredients.
  • No perishable ingredients.
  • No subscription; one-time purchases available.
  • Budget-friendly option for culinary experimentation.
Checkout
User account

Customer surveys

I studied around 30 responses from a survey sent to existing Pasta Evangelists customers, asking them for their experiences with ordering recipes and managing their accounts. Some recurring issues became clear and gave me a good indication of where to focus my attention.

Assumptions validated
  • Ordering Recipes: Some users expressed frustration, indicating a lack of clear categorisation or for specific preferences.
  • Confusion about menus: The rotating menus are slightly confusing, with a number of respondents struggling to differentiate between them.
  • Changing Orders: A portion of users had difficulty changing their orders, suggesting that the process was not as intuitive as anticipated.
  • Rescheduling Deliveries: Problematic, as a subset of participants reported encountering challenges in altering their delivery dates.
  • Managing Account: Frustrating, with customers reporting difficulties in modifying their meal preferences, addresses, and payment information.

I love the pasta, but dealing with changing orders is such a hassle. Every time I want to swap a recipe, it's like navigating a maze on their website. They really need to simplify the process to make it more user-friendly.

James, 55
Birmingham

The quality of the pasta is great, no doubt about that. However, I've had to reschedule my deliveries multiple times due to unexpected events, and their rescheduling options are limited. It's frustrating to not have more flexibility.

Olivia, 29

Edinburgh

Part II

Define

Understanding through empathy

After the research, I synthesised the insights I had gathered into an empathy map to provide insight into the customer's perspective, showcasing their challenges, frustrations, and positive experiences.

It helps in understanding their needs and emotions, allowing for targeted improvements to address their pain points and enhance their overall experience.

Getting personal

I created two personas to empathise with a broader range of customers' needs and perspectives, Bella and Quentin. Each persona represented a distinct variation of customer, helping me understand different behaviours, motivations, pain points, and aspirations.

Mapping the journey

With these personas as a guide, I created User Journey Maps that detail the experience of browsing pasta selection, creating an account, checking out, receiving the order, and then reviewing the food or managing the account.

Part III

Ideate

How Might We?

To address some of the business goals and other issues uncovered by the user research, I posed some open-ended questions to colleagues as part of a brain storming session, in order to reframe the challenges and hopefully spark creative thinking.

User flows

To get a clear understanding of the steps involved in choosing recipes, subscriptions and paying, I put together a User Flow.

Account management necessitated many different task flows for the user, though most of these were fairly straightforward.

Choose/checkout flow
Account task flows

Mapping the user account

The account section quickly expanded in complexity as the various needs of customers and stakeholders were added to my list. This required a rethink of existing structure and an exercise in trying sort all of these elements into the most logical order.

I originally had a dashboard planned but this was replaced by ‘Upcoming Orders’ as the best choice for a home page.

Sketching

Throughout this step of the process, I was sketching concepts for the recipe cards, check out flow and user account, so that ideas was not lost when it was finally time to do start some designing.

Part IV

Prototype

Wireframes

Early sketches and initial thoughts on the listings and setting subscription preferences.

Recipe card design - UI exploration

Stakeholders were particularly keen to upsell Double Portions and so I looked at ways in which this could be encouraged.

User account - UI exploration

Exploring navigation, UI for dietary preferences and different visual styles for the account section.

After completing high fidelity prototypes, I conducted usability tests with six customers. An additional two in-house volunteers were also used. They completed tasks such as ordering recipes, navigating checkout and managing the user account.

Zoom testing

I tested subjects online, using a Figma link and Zoom

Test results

Part I

Choosing recipes, extras, and checkout
  • Users found the recipe selection interface intuitive and visually appealing.
  • Most participants successfully chose recipes without confusion.
  • Some users had difficulty finding the "Add to Cart" button on mobile devices.
  • Adding extras was well-received and easy to use.
  • Checkout process was generally smooth, with clear steps and prominent CTAs.
  • Overall, users appreciated the transparent pricing and meal customisation features.

Part II

Managing user account
  • Users easily accessed the account section and understood its purpose.
  • Changing address was straightforward, with users locating the relevant settings.
  • Some users requested an option to save multiple addresses for future changes.
  • The profile management layout was clear, but a few users suggested grouping related settings.
  • A couple of users couldn’t find where to reset password.
  • Overall, users felt confident managing their accounts and making address changes.

Part V

Refine

Listing page

Arguably the most important, this page needed to communicate the unique business model of the subscription service and the rotating weekly menu. The product cards also had to include the ‘Double Portion’ up-sell option.

Member Account

We managed to fit a lot of functionality into the new account section, enabling users to customise their subscription, see and change upcoming orders, personal details, and gain extra rewards by referring friends.

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