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

Introduction

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:

  • 11% increase in ticket booking conversions.
  • 15% increase in hotel booking conversions.
  • Much improved site navigation and search experience.
  • A fresh new look across key pages, in line with the new brand.

Team

Role:
Research, UX, UI, Usability Testing, Visual Design

Team:
1
Designer, 1 x Product Manager, Dev team

Time:
6 months

Brief

Business requirements

  • 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.
  • Up-sell Double Portions, side dishes and desserts.

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.

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.

User accounts
Check outs

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.

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.

  • 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.

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.

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.

Account task flows
Choose/checkout flow

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.

Prototype

Wireframes

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

Upselling

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

User account

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

Testing

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 tests

The product manager and I tested the design with users live, using a Figma link and Zoom.

Test Results

Choosing recipes, extras, and checkout
Managing user account
  • 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.
  • 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.

Refine

Listings 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.

Checkout

A best practice checkout with minimal pain points. A particular challenge was to make clear that this was a recurring subscription, not a one-off purchase.

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.

Outcome

Outcome

The redesign yielded the following positive results:

  • 16% boost in "double-portion" orders
  • 20% reduction in calls to the help centre
  • 14% increase in subscription value
  • 12% increase in conversions in checkout
  • Up-sell Double Portions, side dishes and desserts.