WineKey
Drink What You Love
A wine discovery app that enables users to fin​d wines that align with their personal taste preferences.​
Concept
This was a personal project spurring from my curiosity and love of wine. Over the past few years I have gotten really into wine, but found it difficult to 1) explore new wines other than by trial an error and 2) understand why I liked the wines I liked so that I could be a more informed consumer. I'd often rely on the recommendations of friends or the in-store experts, only to be disappointed because their taste preferences were clearly different from my own.
Objective
Create an engaging experience that makes exploring and discovering new wines more accessible, more informative, and ultimately more enjoyable for wine drinkers.
Initial Assumptions
I essentially started with a brain dump, mapping out any initial assumptions that I had regarding what I thought could be potential barriers that were making it difficult for people to explore new wines as well as how I thought they might go about finding wines that they like.
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People are intimidated by wine - too many choices and not sure how to differentiate between them
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Many people lack the basic education necessary to determine what wines they will actually like before trying them
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People tend to stick to what they know and are hesitant to branch out and try new things
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Many people explore wines through trial and error, which is not very cost effective and may become a barrier of entry for novice wine drinkers
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People rely on the recommendations of others, which can be problematic if those making the recommendations have different taste preferences
DISCOVER
Preliminary Problem
Based on these initial assumptions I developed a preliminary problem statement, which I would go on to try and validate by conducting some initial user research, beginning with a series of user interviews.
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The problem, I suspect, is that most wine drinkers don’t really know where to begin, and don’t have the time, motivation, or financial resources to dedicate towards exploring the vast world of wine in order to determine what their personal taste preferences are.
DISCOVER
Competitive
Analysis
The "Pluses & Deltas" method was used to identify what each competitor did well and where they fell short
To determine whether or not there was an actual market need for a product like WineKey, I researched both direct and indirect competitors. I used the "pluses and deltas" method to identify what each did well, and where there appeared to be opportunities for improvement.
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Direct Competitors:
Vivino, Delectable
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Indirect Competitors:
Vinebox, Winc, Tasting Room, Glassful, Verve Wine
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Based on my evaluation of the competition currently existing in the market, there appeared to be a sufficient gap in the market to justify pursuing the concept. The "Deltas" discovered during the process also revealed a great deal of design opportunities to further explore as I moved on to the User Research stage of the project.
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Key Takeaways
Direct Competitors - Wines are rated based on other user's input rather than the user's own personal taste preferences
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Indirect Competitors - Recommendations are based on an initial taste profile quiz, but no transparency or "user empowerment" that would enable the user to understand why those specific wines were recommended
DISCOVER
User Research
A series of 6 interviews, a dinner party, multiple bottles of wine, and plenty of good conversation
A series of user interviews were performed to gain insight into the process by which people explore and discover new wines, and to get a better sense of the frustrations that wine drinkers are currently facing.
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The questions were relatively simple and straight forward, exploring topics like...
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“How do you determine what kind of wine you like to drink?”
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“On what occasions or in what environments do you drink wine?”
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“How do you currently get recommendations for new wines to try?”
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Goal:
Validate that the perceived problem was actually a problem that users were experiencing and to pin-point areas within the overall wine drinking experience that need improvement.
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Affinity mapping revealed patterns in the process by which people explore and discover new wines, as well as any outlying elements, and provided a better sense of the frustrations that wine drinkers were actually facing when trying to find wines that they would like.
Making Sense of It All
Pain Points
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Overwhelming selection of wines to choose from
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Wine descriptions are not easy to understand and are not helpful
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World of wine is a bit intimidating and inaccessible
Opportunities & Insights
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Most wine drinkers rely on expert recommendations
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Many wine drinkers would like to learn more about wine
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Many wine drinkers determine what they like through trial & error - risk of not liking what they try
Surprises
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Many users say that the wine label design impacts choice
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Most drinkers are eager to explore and try new things
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Many wine drinkers tend to only drink in social environments
​Key Takeaways
Most people discover new wines through trial and error or recommendations from an expert or trusted source
Many wine drinkers are eager to branch out and try new things, but are overwhelmed by the vast selection
Many wine drinkers have a general idea of what they like, but are not able to explain why or what it is about that particular wine that they like
DEFINE
So What's The Problem?
From the results of both the series of interviews and informal conversations with users, it was clear that users were indeed struggling with the wine selection process and were often left feeling overwhelmed and unsure about their choices. This cognitive overload was resulting from the vast selection of wines from which the user could choose from (Hick's Law) and also the fact that most users don't have the wealth of knowledge needed to really understand their inherent taste palate and why it results in them liking certain wines and not others. These key research takeaways helped me to more narrowly define the problem:
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Wine drinkers need an efficient, cost-effective, and engaging way to explore and discover new wines that align with their inherent taste preferences.
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DEFINE
User Personas
Two main users were identified based on the results of my user research and subsequent affinity mapping. The key differentiators were the user's experience level and knowledge about wine. I created a persona for each user to help outline the Goals, Needs, and Frustrations that I would be designing for. I find personas to be a helpful tool to guide the design process moving forward, and serve as a reference to keep the design on track.
The first user identified is a less experienced novice wine drinker - the casual wine drinker with a passion for exploration....but on a budget.
Goals:
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Improve her knowledge of wine
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To not waste money on wine she might not like
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Enjoy the social aspect of wine drinking
Needs:
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A way to relate new wines to those she is already familiar with
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Advice on wine pairings
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Recommendations from experts or trusted sources
Frustrations:
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Wine tasting can be expensive
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Too many choices and hard to differentiate
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Most wine descriptions don't make much sense
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Browsing the aisles can be time consuming
Goals:
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Explore wines from other regions
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To keep track of wines he likes, and why he likes them
Needs:
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A way to remember the wines he likes
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Basic background info about wine and where it came from
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Recommendations that take into account established personal preferences and palate
Frustrations:
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If price is high, hard to justify trying new wine without knowing if you will like it
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Recommendations based on someone else’s tastes
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Recommendations given because the person is trying to sell that specific wine
Kaitlin Lee
Novice wine drinker
Jeff Bryant
Experienced wine drinker
The second user identified is a more experienced wine drinker searching for something new
While each of the two users had differing levels of experience and knowledge about wine, I discovered the each could benefit from a more holistic approach to wine discovery and selection that accommodates the varying degree of user knowledge and understanding of wine in addition to their personal taste preferences will provide a better experience for the user, and equip them with the proper tools to be a more informed consumer.
DESIGN
User Flow
An annotated user flow diagram was created to map out the ideal "happy path" (in yellow) to accomplish the goal of exploring new wines and purchasing wine that aligns with their personal taste preferences. This visual flow was helpful to ensure that all necessary elements were included when it came time to designing the initial wireframes for each page.
DESIGN
Feature Prioritization
Features were organized by Now , Next, Later to establish a product roadmap prevent against featuritis
Based on my findings from both the competitive analysis of direct and indirect competitors, and the insights gained from the user interviews, I developed a list of features aimed at helping the user achieve their goals. I then organized them in order of priority - "Now" being necessary for MVP, and "Next" & "Later" outlining ideas for potential expansion of the product once it was up and running.
Now
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Taste preference surveys
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Personalized taste profile
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Curated recommendations
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Filters - Search by region, type, varietal, food pairing, price
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Wine background info
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Flavor profiles for all wines
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“Compare my profile” toggle
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Pairing recommendations
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Ability to rate wines purchased
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Order history
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Wine scanner
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Casual and fun brand
Next
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Survey follow-ups
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Wines from around the world
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Follow Friends
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Create Group
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“Top Somm” tasting game
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Alerts / Reminders
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“Favorites” list
Later
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Starting sample kit
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Single glass portions
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Infographics
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Wine Events
DEVELOP
Low-Fi Wireframes
A series of hand drawn sketches were created to quickly explore different layout options and to help organize the initial structure of the app's content. This rapid iteration process was an efficient way to identify what layouts might work and eliminate those that very clearly would not work.
DEVELOP
User Testing
Quickly identify any friction points that the user might be experiencing with a given task
Tasks
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Discover your personal taste profile and find a wine that aligns with your personal taste preference.
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Find a wine that will pair nicely with the chicken that you will be serving at your upcoming dinner party
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Results
Users struggled with navigation because of naming conventions (i.e.. "My Wines") which was intended to be a history of past order. When asked to complete the first task, most users clicked "My Wines" thinking that those were wines curated to their preference, rather than clicking "Wines" in the main navigation. Users also struggled a bit with filter selections and were unsure how to move through the "Wines" page.
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Takeaways
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Use terminology that the user is already familiar with
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Redesign layout and flow of "Wines" page
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Adjust navigation
DEVELOP
A wireframe screen flow map developed based on the initial MVP user flow.
Edits were made to account for friction points identified during user testing.
Ai
DELIVER
Visual Design
The high-fidelity wireframes under went another round of user testing to ensure that the user flow worked as intended and the user could navigate successfully through the process of exploring the wines and making a purchase. Then the UI was designed for a series of screens to give a more accurate representation of the app's look and feel.
Ps
Design Decisions
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Designed for IOS environment.
The selected color scheme (Burgundy and Gold) representing the typical choice of Red or White
Wanted a clean/contemporary interface that would be up to Millennial standards because…
“A recent study from the wine industry nonprofit, Wine Market Council, says millennials drank 42 percent of all wine in the United States in 2015, more than any other age group — an average of three glasses per sitting to be exact. Additionally, overall, women consumed 57 percent of all wine in the U.S. during the same time period.”
Also, because some users commented about feeling intimidated when it came to wine, I wanted the UI to be friendly and inviting. The fact that users also mentioned buying wine because of what the label looked like implied that visuals were important, so I utilized icons and colors as much as possible to display information to the user.
Serif font was use for the page titles, vintage and wine name, for a couple reasons…
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Visual hierarchy - call out import elements on the page
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Pay homage to Tradition and Elegance, which are a big part of the wine industry
DELIVER
Prototype
I created a digital prototype using InVision to simulate
the app's functionality and ideal user flow. (Icons sourced from Flaticon)
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Things I Learned
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When it comes to naming conventions, it is more effective to use simple vernacular that is straight forward and familiar to the user
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Asking the right open-ended questions in a user interview plays a crucial role in uncovering necessary insights to advance the user experience
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​Low-fidelity wireframes provide a good opportunity for initial testing that will save time in the future when producing more high-fidelity deliverables
Possible Next Steps
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Add initial on boarding screen to provide users with the value proposition of using WineKey
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Enable users to explore WineKey without creating an account, and integrate the account sing-up later in the process once the user has a better feel for the benefit of the app
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Refine and optimize the checkout process by exploring current card scanning technology and Apple Pay integration
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Explore ways to improve the social aspect of the app so that people are better able to connect and share the experience with those in their social circles. Specifically, how can users benefit from being able to access their friends' taste profiles?​