has projects you can explore:
An e-commerce site for at-home fermentation products, community, and inspiration.
My role: The user experience team of one.
For this solo project I worked on various aspects of the UX process, including:
- User Research
- Surveys and Interviews
- Information Architecture
- Wireframes
- Interaction Design
- Brand Building
- Figma Prototyping
- Usability Testing
Conceptual client and customers.
Conceptual, sure, but I knew a few people who would be interested in the Wild & Fermented site. From Reddit users to community gardeners, I searched for the real questions and answers that would guide this project.
Because this was a conceptual project without client communication or instructions, my users and my research truly guided the work. A big shout out to my friends, classmates, and instructors who also supported me along the way!
Users care about community and culture. (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast, that is!)
During the research process I had the opportunity to get to know the potential users of Wild & Fermented. I conducted a survey with 22 participants, and spoke with busy full-time workers, moms, and students in four separate 1:1 interviews.
After sharing with me their love of kombucha, sourdough, and garlic fermented in honey, I learned that my users were excited to get started on fermentation projects, but lacked the time and confidence.
They wanted:
- Curated products
- Bite-size information
- A mobile platform (to use on their phone in the kitchen after a long day!)
Defining the problem.
Insight 1: The current market lacks a cohesive shopping and learning experience.
Users are getting their information and products from a variety of platforms including Pinterest, TikTok, food blogs, and adjacent food and wellness sites.
What’s less than ideal, is that besides an affiliate Amazon link, the majority of these sites do not provide curated fermentation products that users feel confident purchasing.
Insight 2: Despite a desire to learn, information overload presents a huge pain point.
Since many users are already pressed for time, they lack the motivation to travel from site to site seeking the products and information they need. Too much complicated jargon and conflicting information also gets in the way for users who are otherwise very interested in learning more about the fermentation process.
I was inspired by these results and wanted to figure out a way to create a more all-encompassing, educational experience for users.
Insight 3: Users are excited to talk to each other, see recipes, and share insights.
There is a strong desire to get connected with communities of people through the exploration of at-home fermentation. From the words of one of my interviewees, “Because a good meal tastes best when it’s shared!”
Opportunity.
How might we design a simple way to shop, learn, and share at-home fermentation products and best practices?
Idea 1: A product page that inspires confidence.
Interview participants talked about feeling confused, unmotivated, and information overloaded when venturing to buy fermentation cultures and equipment.
Wild & Fermented offers curated products and quick, bite-size information so that users can find everything they need in one place. In the image below, you can see a hi-fidelity wireframe of a sample product page.
The Fermentation Library is featured at the bottom of each product page for quick access to more relevant product information.
Idea 2: Design for the curious and time constrained.
With busy schedules dictating our lives, and various styles or preferences for learning, users of the Wild & Fermented website will be provided with a variety of easy to digest content options.
This first-iteration prototype for the Fermentation Library features a horizontal carousel component with tabs for fermentation types. Each card contains a description, a related article from the journal, and recommended products available in the shop.
Idea 3: Make sharing with friends as memorable as the meal.
Home cooks love to share their experiments both online and offline. Wild & Fermented has interactive features like the journal and shared recipe box which allow its users to embrace the most fundamental ingredient: community.
In the journal wireframe, each article is organized with tags according to seasons, resources, interviews, and recipes.
Final recommendation.
A website that bridges the gap between the shopping and learning experience.
Process: Designing a circulatory web environment that supports site exploration.
Preparing for usability testing, I designed some Figma prototypes and user flows. I prioritized designs with easy to navigate educational content allowing for faster, more informed purchase decisions. This concept flow demonstrates how a user can travel from home to purchase in just under 10 clicks.
I performed my user tests with a set of questions that would help determine how users navigate between product pages and information-based pages.
- Can users accomplish the task without use of the primary navigation? → Testing the site’s circulatory environment
- Are there UI or copy elements that cause confusion? → Testing for accessibility, effectiveness, and learnability
- What challenges persist? → Testing for next steps and revisions
Users may choose an unexpected route, and unclear language is not always the culprit.
In the screenshot below, you can see a user trying to expand the accordion menus on the kefir grains product page.
She wanted to learn about kefir grains by reading more from these elements. What she didn’t want to click on, was the Fermentation Library located right below that menu.
In this test I was expecting the phrase “More to learn from the Fermentation Library...” to clearly indicate a way to learn more. The user was not confused by the language, however. She simply chose an alternate path to the information she needed.
I think this helps prove that different users have different preferences, and providing multiple ways to access information can empower users.
100% of users were able to complete key tasks.
After being shown the Wild & Fermented site, many users expressed their wish that it become a real product, noting that the Fermentation Library would be particularly helpful.
I'm happy that my work resonates with people, but any real success will have to be continually measured.
Although users generally had an easy and enjoyable time navigating the prototype, there were still some hiccups along the way. The experimental format of the main navigation menu caused some confusion. However, users stated that under-developed UI was the main reason for error, and that they still found the feature a joy to use.
Reflections: Wild & Fermented’s speculative future offers much more to explore.
I would love to continue refining the wireframes and visual identity of the site, and I am still wrestling with questions regarding logistical feasibility. As a conceptual project, I’m not sure if I will ever get to know how exactly the technical or financial aspects will play out...
- How would curation of the product and article pages take place?
- Who would moderate the community forum?
- And how would user profiles be integrated with shared recipes?
When I take a step back and a moment to think, I realize I have thoroughly enjoyed my time working on this project and all the collaborative effort that culminated into its creation, despite being a “designer of one.”