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Foodie Fanatic Proposal
An information architecture project focused on revitalizing a declining culinary website to improve usability, navigation, and overall user experience.
Skills
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Sitemap
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Wireframing
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Taxonomy
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Information Architecture
Tools
Background
The project involved designing an information architecture proposal for a fictitious company, Foodie Fanatic. The company issued an RFP to either modify their existing site or create a new experience, aiming to make it easier for customers to find specific content, navigate the site, and interact with both the platform and other users intuitively.
Preliminary research had already been conducted, and relevant information was provided, but the company sought fresh ideas and designs before choosing an information organization to collaborate with.
Type
Mobile UI Design
Role
Information Architecture
UX Designer
Timeline
Sept. - Dec. 2023
Research
Define Research Goal
To review the company's research results to identify potential issues, understand user needs, and analyze the market landscape. The result analysis was based on the research result provided by Foodie Fanatics.
About Foodie Fanatic
User Interface
Recipes
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Information overload & search function not working accurately
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The site's navigation is challenging and leads to unrelated resources
Videos
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Video recipes documentation were not well structured, difficult to locate on the website
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Most content remain hidden
Community Events
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Social events were not noticeable
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Unable to register
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Limited interaction with the community
Store
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Lack of product variation
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Inconsistency in featuring relevant products on-site
User Information
Product Research/Purchase
Users seek specific products, relying on customer reviews, detailed product info, and a variety in recipes.
Recipes and Instructional Content
Users look for expert advice, inspiration, and events or classes to enhance their cooking skills.
Local Events
Users search for cooking classes, community groups with shared food interests, new recipes, and user-generated recommendations.
Reviews
‘There are no "details" on this cooking class page - no price, no dates etc. Then I realized it was because it happened yesterday.’
‘I always have a hard time browsing for things like blenders’
‘I didn’t realize you had local events and would like to more easily find out about that kind of stuff’
‘After about 10 minutes of searching I usually haven’t found anything. I browse through all of it, and it’s a bunch of crap!’
Users' Needs
1
Enhance UX on the website
Improve the structure and organization of the content
2
Create a community for food lovers
Connect with loyal users
3
Personalization
Create personalize shopping and browsing experience
Market Competitor Analysis
Direct
Similar service providers, cooking websties, instructional videos, instructional videos, products, and more.
Indirect
Competitors who don't have a recipe website but instead share short video tutorials and tips for cooking.
Define
Mission
Inspire global cooking passion, foster a lifelong love for cooking, celebrate diverse recipes worldwide, and be the go-to place for food lovers.
Vision
Become the "Disney World" for food lovers, offering opportunities to explore, learn, shop and embrace the inner "Gordon Ramsay."
To cultivate a vibrant community and establish Foodie Fanatic as the premier hub for all things delicious and nutritious.
Meet Paw-L, Bella, Molly and Sasha
To better understand users and their unique needs, three main personas were developed, representing different lifestyles, cooking habits, desires, challenges, and desired website features. These personas will help Foodie Fanatic identify its target audience and guide future business strategies.
Design
The Strategies
Based on the analysis, strategies were categorized into online, content, and business to clarify the approach.
Business Strategy
To boost revenue, integrating online and offline operations is recommended to create a seamless and unique experience for Foodie Fanatic's target audience.
Online
Recipes
Embedded link to:
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Ingredients used
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Equipment used
Store
Embedded link to:
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Ingredients used
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Equipment used
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Pet food
Delivery/Pickup Options
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Delivery through 3rd party vendors
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Pickup from store
Event tickets
Offline
Sells:
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Pet food
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Ingredients
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Equipment
Walk-in & buy items
Online Strategy
Three levels of user types were classified:
Guest users
Explore the website with no commitment, accessing a limited range of resources. This provides a frictionless introduction to Foodie Fanatic, allowing them to browse recipes and products without creating an account.
Free member users
Users who create a free account can access personalization features on the website, including setting dietary or cuisine preferences, creating meal plans, saving recipes, and accessing local events.
Subscription users
Subscribed members can enjoy complete website access and explore a wide range of recipe information as well as filtering options.
Early access to events, purchasing and sharing photo and recipes, as well as redeeming points.
Content Strategy
The main issue is that users have difficulty quickly finding the information they need. To resolve this, five key content strategies have been developed to enhance the overall browsing experience and improve usability on the website.
Correct embedded links
Improve taxonomy for better and more accurate search results
Encourage seasonal recipes
Accessible website and mobile application
Explore pet-related food content
Sitemap
To ensure content is easily accessible and accurately organized, the sitemap was designed with a focus on specific sections such as recipes, store, events, and newsletter. Users can directly find what they’re looking for: recipes in the recipes category, products in the store, events or classes in the events section, and articles on nutrition and tips in the newsletter section. This streamlined approach simplifies navigation based on user interests.
Taxonomy
Following the sitemap organization, a navigation and tagging taxonomy was developed. The navigation taxonomy helps users easily locate content, providing clear direction. The tagging taxonomy allows users to quickly find specific content via search engines, reducing the need for extensive browsing.
Navigation Taxonomy
Tagging Taxonomy
Delivery
Finally, low-fidelity wireframes for the mobile view of the Foodie Fanatic website were created using Figma. Prioritizing quick, direct access via mobile enhances convenience for the primary user base, eliminating the need to download an app before browsing.
Log in, homepage & filter option
Recipe pages
Recipes
Chosen category recipe
Recipe page
Store Page
Store
Pet Store
Dog Food
Review
Project Takeaway
This project highlighted the blend of IA, UX, and business, focusing on strategy, taxonomy creation, and design. It was structured to simulate real-world IA scenarios, where elements like research were beyond control. Adapting to these business limitations proved to be a valuable learning experience.
Future work
Conduct more in-dept research
Explore the taxonomy further, as it remains at a surface level
Implement card sorting activities to ensure accessibility and clarity from the user's perspective.
Gather testing and feedback on the wireframes for refinement.
Thank you!