Only Village International
A digital platform that will encourage customers to shop and retailers to connect for overseas provision of an e-commerce medium for effortless purchase of home-grown organic products of interest in desired quantity from Only Village Inc, an organic farm produce e-commerce start-up dedicated to deliver authentic and healthy traditional products from Farm-To-Table.
With increasing health awareness and inclination toward organic food culture among masses worldwide, Indian native food produces have gained global recognition and constant demand. But, their availability and authenticity has been of greatest concern for consumption and desirability of these products.
Design Goals
Figure out user requirements with respect to the products, their current purchase and consumption trends, struggles and resentments
Understand the motivating factors that would encourage the overseas consumers to buy 'Only Village' products online
Design an appropriate platform to connect users to the business
Create a design solution for the business to grow and sustain in selected countries
Responsive Web Design for home grown organic farm products e-commerce website to serve global customers
User Research Insights
Determination of user requirements with respect to the products, their current purchase and consumption trends, struggles and resentments
Understand the motivating factors that would encourage the overseas consumers to buy 'Only Village' products online
Provision of a platform for availability and effortless purchase of home-grown organic products of interest in desired quantity internationally
Key highlights of the stakeholder's interview
The organization wishes to kickoff their business initially in three countries- United States, UK and Australia, based on their market research and acquaintances and resources availability.
The organization wants to start with selling of limited items based on public demands and purchase trends.
The business looks forward to target Indians and Asians abroad who are acquainted with Indian food produces, as their primary consumers.
They are also open to collaborations with local businesses to make their products visible to more and more consumers.
Defining Business goals for 'Only Village International'
Motivate overseas users to purchase 'Only Village' products directly online
Establish business promotion locally
Understand user requirements to select products for initial launch
Increase user conversion rates through hassle-free shopping
Defining User Goals
To understand user goals and their aspirations from the business, I chose to interview a set of individuals who resided in the countries of interest, belonged to the Indian-South-Asian communities, querying them how they meet their current requirements and dissatisfactions associated with their purchases. In addition, I also conducted field enquiry from customers visiting local Indian grocery stores in the DFW Metropolitan area as a local case study.
Major insights from the user interviews
Users are doubtful about the authenticity of Indian organic products available locally in their countries
The brands of organic products available are mostly unrecognized
Their choice of products is limited to the availability at local 'Indian grocery stores,' which varies from area to area. Users often find discontinuity of available brands and are indecisive to switch to new brands
Users asserted that the taste and texture lacks native feel of the product
The most desired organic grocery products among consumers were Ghee, Oils, Jaggery, Grains and Tea
Consumption of Indian produces have significantly increased even among non-asians who frequent Indian grocery stores due to acknowledgement of benefits pertaining to Indian traditional food culture
Defining Target Users: User Persona
Affinity Diagram
Only Village International Web Design
Setting up the User Flow
Based on the users needs and goals, I composed the user flow for the platform, a website, that would spectacle the entire process that the users will uncover from onboarding to the final task of product purchase. The user flow shows all diverse actions the user might take to engage with the business that would successfully meet both the users and business' requirements.
User flow for Onboarding and product purchase
Once the entire users' interaction is chronicled through user flow, it was time to shape my design solutions through low-fidelity wireframes for each user 'action-to-task' scenario.
Product Development
The Landing Page
'Hero section copy' focuses on 'authentic Indian' Branding
The company chose to launch with two featured products i.e, Ghee and Jaggery, based on consumer demands and effortless sourcing
Emphasis on organization's process for users' assurance
Clear notification of shipping facilities to select countries and option to change country 'of choice'
The Product Page
Descriptive product details
Option to change/select country of choice that displays country currency for the product's cost
Choices in 'product quantity' to be purchased
'Certification' reference for users' acknowledgement
'Franchise' option for interested businesses to partner with the company
Feature to find 'Only Village' availability at the nearest location
Connection for Franchise
A comprehensive form to be filled by interested local businesses in the selected countries
Acknowledgement of interest received and assurance to connect by the company
Checkout
Editable cart choices
Option for standard/expedite shipping
Clear shipping charges mentioned for delivery in the selected country
Order summary indicates final price based on delivery location with system calculated tax rate and shipping charges
Multiple payment options for convenience
Notification for 'Order confirmation' and tracking reference
Check Product Availability In Your Area
Option to manually search/connect through 'Google Maps' to find 'Only Village' products near the users
User Acceptance/Validation
The high-fidelity prototype of the product was tested to validate all incorporated solutions and check its impact on the overall experience the user has, whether or not it leads to successful user tasks and enhance the conversion rates.
For the testing session, I chose a set of users comprising of 5 users from the United States for a remote moderated testing session using zoom to observe the users in action. This we are perceiving as Phase 1 of our product testing which is to be extended to the users in other countries as consecutive phases. The users were asked to perform a set of tasks in a given scenario, followed by a post-task interview.
Summary of User Testing Session
The user testing results significantly pointed out issues unrecognized in the 'mock-up' product. The user interaction with the prototype led to detection of major drawbacks in user experience with regard to 'contacting the business for franchise' and user anticipation with number of products the business has to offer for shopping. The visibility and assessment of the shipping charges also needs to be redefined.
Post-testing session interview with the users also pointed towards additional users' concerns such as
“Has anyone used these products before?”
“How do I track my order?”
Take-aways for Design iterations
I have added a 'Review' section on the product details page to increase user's assurance regarding the product, to further motivate users' action towards 'Adding product to the cart'
Order history is successfully incorporated under 'My account' in the top navigation, encouraging users to 'Sign in.' This has to be apparently 'on-display' in the 'order confirmation' page for prominent visibility by the users.
The stakeholders need to be enlightened regarding inclusion of additional products available for shopping or 'upcoming soon' to inspire user engagement on the website
The prototype was tweaked to accommodate all discovered drawbacks of the initial product-user interaction for design iteration, presented for consecutive user testing with the identified target users in the United states, and also to expand user-testing sessions with the users in other countries.
Platform: Responsive Web, Desktop, Mobile
Tools: Figma, Principle, Zeplin, Miro, MS Word, Github
Methods: User research- Contextual Enquiry, Interviews, SWOT Analysis
Prototype Build- User Flows, Card Sorting, Wireframes, Hi-fidelity prototypes, Motion, Screen flows
User Testing- Moderated testing, Feedback, Concept Testing, Post-testing Questionnaire