Overview

Client

Craft Notes is a local organization that curates an experience designed to support local businesses, encourage consumer exploration, and build an all-inclusive community of craft lovers. They are focused on connecting craft breweries, distilleries, and restaurants with local consumers, in order to allow them to find something new and exceptional. Craft Notes helps to address the awareness marketing needs of small, local businesses, by connecting with potential customers and creating opportunities for initial and repeat engagement. Consumers are incentivized to explore businesses through Craft Note’s two products, a “passport” rewarding them with a complimentary drink at each included establishment ($25-$30) or by subscribing to a membership ($13.95/month) and using a mobile app to receive 2-for-1 drinks (up to 3 daily). 

Team

I partnered with three other UX designers for this project and we each focused on different touch points to search for usability issues and to look for ways to better achieve the client's goal of building community through expanding monthly membership. My focus was on the website.

Challenge

Craft Notes is interested in building trust as the go-to expert for identifying the"best" in the local market. They have found that many of their current consumer customers use Craft Notes because they are interested in feeling like a part of a community. The client is hoping to boost growth in the monthly membership program, especially converting the people who purchase (or are gifted) the passport book into monthly subscribers.  Craft Notes wants to prioritize the customer base of people who subscribe to the membership in order to be a part of the craft-lover community rather than focusing on customers who make a one-time purchase of the passport for the deals (this market has much more competition). 

Recommendations

Fix usability challenges in the website.

1. Reorganize site navigation so that critical information is easier to find.

2. Improve website branding and usability by changing the layout of top level pages to organize content into easy to scannable copy blocks and reduce the usage of “tiles” to convey important details. 

Communicate why Craft Notes is better than the competition.

1. Tell the story of how partners are selected. Add a biography and photo of the Business Owner to about page (since he curates the Craft Notes experience).  Create a “thoughts” section so he can share his excitement and enthusiasim about new craft-experiences.

2. Prominently list partners on website along with the profile information and new sortable filters.

3. Create a curated place on both app and website for the maker of month program to be featured.  It could be a splash page on opening the app and a content block at the top of the partners page on website.

Add helpful new features to the app.

1. Add search function to the app explore page.

2. Add filter options to the app explore page and allow sorting by filters (i.e. gluten-free food, pet-friendly, outdoor seating, etc.).

3. Add a client favs feature within app.  If a customer is visiting 25 bars, they should be able to heart the ones they like best within the app.

Cultivate and engage the Craft Notes community.

1. Create member cultivation events.

2. Create maker of the month program.

Research

Who is the Craft Note User?

We met with the business owner who spoke at length about Craft Notes and how he would like it to evolve going forward to achieve his business goals and personal mission.

We invented a user persona who is a trendy individual who lives in North East Minneapolis. User is passionate about food & drinks and wants to feel engaged and informed by being a part of the craft community so that they are able to explore and support local artisanal businesses with confidence.

How do they become members?

The business owner described the most typical user flow: people discover Craft Notes through various means and purchase (or are gifted) a passport booklet, become engaged by using the booklet and trying the membership (through the free 45-day trial offer inside the booklet), read more about membership perks and the craft community online, and ultimately decide whether or not to join.

Who is the Competition?

I examined various companies who offer similar passport and/or membership deals. I found companies that had better deals than Craft Notes. I discovered that all of Craft Note’s competitors offer a curated list of partners and while Craft Notes claimed to have the best, most carefully curated list of partners, Craft Notes was the only one that didn’t display their list on the website. Furthermore, there was no mention of who was curating the list and why a customer should try their selection. I knew from meeting the business owner that he is an industry expert and he curates the list himself, but the website doesn’t communicate that anywhere.

How do customers connect with Craft Notes?

We evaluated the website, membership app, social media, and events. We studied and organized the pain points and opportunities for improvement. I focused on the website.

At first glance the website seems to have many good assets, but is organized in a way that makes it very difficult to navigate. The site functions without a traditional hierarchical navigation, instead relying on a “feed” of tiles (similar in look to a rebelmouse social feed). The home page alone has 55 tiles. The site does have a navigation bar, but each menu option takes the user to a different page with a short nav-related statement at the top, and tiles from the home page repeated.

■ Site does not communicate brand through typography or logo.

■ Site navigation does not assist the user in finding information.

■ The feed-of-tiles contributes positively to the overall aesthetic goal of the site, but is also a barrier to finding information easily and quickly.

Next Steps for Craft Notes