Aladdin Mediterranean Cuisine
Whetting the Appetite with Cuisine and Aesthetic
Role
– UX/UI Designer
– UX Researcher
– UX Consultant
– UX Researcher
– UX Consultant
Timeline
– March 20, 2024 – April 20, 2024
Tools
– Figma
– Google Forms
– Zoom
– Google Forms
– Zoom
Introduction
The Problem
Aladdin Mediterranean Cuisine is a restaurant that mixes the rich cultural eats from the Mediterranean and the strong charred spirit of Texan barbecue. The client was having some issues with user retention and overall SEO for his restaurant’s landing page. The client wants a strong online presence due to the major shift in the restaurant business to online orders that started during COVID-19.
How Might We Attract More Users to the Website and Bring Them Back for More?
Our Key Users: users who are in their teens to young adults.
To understand how the landing page impacts user retention, I sent out user surveys asking the following questions:
– How would you rate the overall look and feel of the page (1-5)?
– Does the design make you want to explore more of the restaurant? Why or why not?
– How easy was it to find key information about the restaurant (1-5)?
– Were there any sections that were difficult to navigate? If so, which ones?
– Did the images of the food and restaurant make you more interested in visiting?
– What would you change or improve about the page?
– Would you recommend the restaurant to others based on this page alone?
– Does the design make you want to explore more of the restaurant? Why or why not?
– How easy was it to find key information about the restaurant (1-5)?
– Were there any sections that were difficult to navigate? If so, which ones?
– Did the images of the food and restaurant make you more interested in visiting?
– What would you change or improve about the page?
– Would you recommend the restaurant to others based on this page alone?
10 users sent back their responses and the data showed that many of them were uninterested in the restaurant due to information overload
and how long it took to scroll through the entire landing page.
Quotes from users:
– “I feel like there’s way too much going on when I get here. I just wanna order some food.”
– “Is it really necessary to have all this information right upfront?”
– “It’s great that I can see all the different things this restaurant does, but I feel like the home page is just way too long.”
– “I would love to try the food. It looks amazing, but I don’t see why I would need all this other information just on the home page.”
– “Isn’t the purpose of a restaurant home page to get people to order food on the spot?
– “Is it really necessary to have all this information right upfront?”
– “It’s great that I can see all the different things this restaurant does, but I feel like the home page is just way too long.”
– “I would love to try the food. It looks amazing, but I don’t see why I would need all this other information just on the home page.”
– “Isn’t the purpose of a restaurant home page to get people to order food on the spot?
The Proposed Solution
Based on the data from the user studies and surveys, the following objectives were drafted:
1. Shorten the amount of information presented on the landing page, prioritizing the important information.
2. Update the design and build a more modern style guide.
3. Improve navigation by removing unnecessary pages.
2. Update the design and build a more modern style guide.
3. Improve navigation by removing unnecessary pages.
Initial Designs
I came up with these 4 initial prototypes to present to the client. The following changes were made based on the original website:
– The page length was decreased dramatically (by around 35% – 50%).
– The essential information was rounded up, while the rest of the information would be found on their own respective pages.
– The navigation bar shaved off around 45% of its pages to ensure efficient navigation.
– The essential information was rounded up, while the rest of the information would be found on their own respective pages.
– The navigation bar shaved off around 45% of its pages to ensure efficient navigation.
Revising the Design and Priorities
After presenting the prototypes to the client, we discussed and devised edits for the high fidelity prototypes. To proceed with these prototypes, I created the style guide below based on his and the users’ wants.
Click on the image to see the Figma file
Priority Revisions
After discussions with the client and further user tests, we came up with these revisions to our priorities:
Priority 1:
In order to attract more users to the page, we need to enhance the landing page’s SEO with more photos, backlinks, and better internal linking for navigation.
In order to attract more users to the page, we need to enhance the landing page’s SEO with more photos, backlinks, and better internal linking for navigation.
Priority 2:
Reorder the information presented by importance and add information based on client needs.
Reorder the information presented by importance and add information based on client needs.
Priority 3:
Based on client specifications, add animations to increase user engagement, add visual interest to static elements, and creating a more dynamic experience.
Based on client specifications, add animations to increase user engagement, add visual interest to static elements, and creating a more dynamic experience.
The Final Solution
Based on the priorities stated above, I made the following changes for the high fidelity prototype:
– Added animations for user engagement and visual interest.
– Reorganized information based on user interest: ordering, exploring the website, restaurant location, etc.
– Add more images such as blog posts and social media posts to enhance the SEO.
– Reorganized information based on user interest: ordering, exploring the website, restaurant location, etc.
– Add more images such as blog posts and social media posts to enhance the SEO.
Click here to view the high fidelity prototype.
Moving Forward
With the project completed, I recommended the client that he conduct another usability test with different key users to see if the changes I made retained user attention and enticed them to explore more of the website. If a usability test is not possible, then I would suggest the client to check for the following usability metrics:
– How long are the users staying on the site overall?
– Are users exploring the other pages after landing on the home page?
– Are users exploring the other pages after landing on the home page?