1 Research
See here my Research Plan
Project Background
Mehdi Reishi is an authentic mushroom luxury good, grown and harvested in China. It provides unusual mushroom products, organically grown. They currently have a website, but it is not responsive and communicating the wrong message. Therefore, they are looking for creating a responsive one to provide customers with better experiences on different ends and stay competitive on the market.
Research Goals
1. Understand the market and the product
2. Identify the target audience
3. Learn about how the main competitors of Mehdi Reishi are catering to customers’ needs, as well as their strengths and weaknesses
4. Get to know how people find and select a mushroom tea products
5. Uncover people’s experience with mushroom tea, both in-store and online
Research Questions
1. Who are the target audiences?
2. How does a Mushroom tea business operate?
3. Who are the main competitors of Mehdi Reishi, and how do they serve the customers?
4. How do people find mushroom tea products?
5. What factors affect people’s decision on the type of mushroom tea they would like to try out?
6. How do people decide what to order?
7. What are people’s ordering behavior on amazon?
8. What are people’s expectations on a tea product from Mehdi Reishi?
Assumptions
1. Mushroom tea products like Mehdi Reishi are adopting different operating strategies on a global market.
2. People’s ordering behaviors are different in different countries.
3. People who are in favor of mushroom teas are the main customers of mushroom teas
4. People are currently using amazon to understand this business and its services
5. The online presence will affect people’s selection of the mushroom tea they will buy.
6. People are expecting a similar ordering process among for mushroom teas.
Methodologies
A: Market Research: Understand the mushroom tea market both online and offline, as well as the target audience
B: Competitive Analysis: Learn about how the main competitors of Mehdi Reishi are catering to customers’ needs, as well as their strengths and weaknesses
C: Primary Research: User Interview (5 people, 10-15 minutes each): Understand people’s experience with the Japanese restaurant, and specifically Mehdi Reishi, including how they find and select one, what expectations they have, and how they order.
A: Market Research
It is important to get a big picture of the market by starting with market research - to get a sense of what we know and don't know yet, who the audience are, as well as what the recent trends or news are. The insights we gathered from market research will help frame provisional personas and ask meaningful questions in primary research.
Mushroom tea Market Trend
Overall: Demand for specialty mushrooms is rapidly rising, as consumers look to purchase more foods that are healthy, nutritious, and medicinal.
Mushroom tea can be connected to similair effects like mushroom supplements
As consumers become more educated about what is in their mushroom supplements, US mushroom farms will be able to tap into this market more heavily.
Mushroom connoisseurs recommend making tea from certain mushroom varieties like chaga and reishi. These varieties are best known for their potential immune-boosting benefits, guarding against harmful bacteria, toxins, and viruses that can make you sick
Mushrooms have been used in traditional medicine for centuries, particularly in Eastern cultures.
One of the most popular ways to consume mushrooms is through tea, a convenient and easy way to incorporate them
The study, which involved 100 participants, set out to investigate the potential benefits of consuming mushroom tea in the morning. into one's daily routine.Reishi is perhaps the most popular type of mushroom there is. It has a reddish-brown color and a varnished kidney-shaped for shape. This type of mushroom is known to be one of the most packed adaptogenic mushrooms that can enhance your body’s overall response to stress.
Demographics
Overall: Baby Boomers and Gen X enjoy the mushroom teas the most.Store made mushroom tea drinkers are primarily in the age range of 35 to 55, followed by those under 40 years of age, while those who are between the ages of 25 to 35 are on a 3rd spot but increasing in number. (Numerator)
The global mushroom market size was estimated at USD 50.3 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 54.9 billion in 2022.
China (9.4M tons) accounts for 74% of global consumption volume
Reishi mushroom is a type of mushroom that has been used in Chinese medicine for approximately 2000 years. It has a bright surface, a woody texture, and a deep red color. These mushrooms, are generally cultivated on oak trees and plum trees, and are commonly used in Chinese medicine, however now have expanded geographical presence.
Online Services: Trends and Considerations
Overall: Mobile ordering has been on the rise with a surge in first-time users of amazon mobile app.US Companies are now using the power of social media to promote their store and products.
Sign up for third-party online ordering services through a number of different apps can make the fees and other commission costs reach up to 30% per order.
Many Tea industries or gourmet industries have started to be creative, marketing tea-coffee blends with mushroom ingredients.
Some tea companies are working with sister companies to combine favorites from each other to a smaller, more manageable drink menu
Consumer's Behavior
Overall: Since Reishi Mushroom tea is regarded as a therapeutic product, the demand for reishi mushroom is anticipated to gain higher traction in the near future.There is especially an increase in younger people (age 25+), that start to be more interested in mushroom products
There is an increase on the US and also European market to experiment with new tea types
According to reishi mushroom market analysis, the market is segmented on the basis of form, end use, nature, and region. By form, the market is bifurcated into liquid and powder. By end use, the market is classified into food & beverages, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical & dietary supplements, and cosmetics & personal care.
B: Competitive Research
It is equally important to research other mushroom tea companies on the online market, as their products will help gather insights about their strengths and weaknesses. These insights also help identify any gaps in features that MehdiReishi might address. I analyzed 3 direct competitors as shown below, who are providing Reishi mushroom tea products.
Provisional Personas
With the data gathered from market research, I started to generate provisional personas using the statistical knowledge I gained to represent a certain type of user that are potential audience of Komegashi Too. These personas will help me screen appropriate people to interview.
C: Primary Research
User Interview
Building on a general understanding of the market and the audience, it is time to dive deeper and build real connection with our user and gain direct insights on them by primary research.I created an Interview Guide to facilitate the user interview process, with 10 open-ended questions listed to invite the participants to share their experiences and stories. In total, 5 participants (3 males and 2 females) were interviewed about their experience with Mehdi Reishi and in general Mushroom teas. See here my Interview Guide
Assumptions Validated
Mushroom tea products like Mehdi Reishi are adopting different operating strategies on a global market. Validated
People’s ordering behaviors are different in different countries. Validated
People who are in favor of mushroom teas are the main customers of mushroom teas. Validated#
People are currently using amazon to understand this business and its services. Validated
The online presence will affect people’s selection of the mushroom tea they will buy. Validated
People are expecting a similar ordering process among for mushroom teas. Validated
Research Synthesis
Empathy Map
To synthesize the qualitative data gathered from user interview, I created an empathy map to identify patterns across users, uncover insights, and generate needs.
User Persona
Since I have gathered a bunch of knowledge of the audience, as well as their goals and needs, I use the user persona to represent key audience segments. It helps focus on tackling the most important problems – to address the major needs of the most important user groups. It is both fictional and realistic.
Here is Weng, a 45-year-old Photographer from Schandong, China. He lives a healthy lifestyle, and is very fond of Chinese Medicine traditions. He especially loves all sorts of tea, especially Green tea and Mushroom tea cause it’s benefitial to his health.
2 Strategy
Product Goals
With HMW questions and brainstormed solutions, I decided to list project goals that will both serve as a guide for the future development of the product and a rubrics for determining what features to include in the website.
I summarized user goals from my user persona and empathy map, and established business goals based on published coverages of Mehdi Reishi.
3 Design
Sitemap
After setting up the product goals and deciding what features to include, I want to continue building up the structure of the mobile app using the sitemap.
A sitemap helps me to visualize the relationship between the content and examine the hierarchy.
As Mehdi Reishi is a small business, I tried to keep the sitemap simple and straightforward, which will make the future maintenence easier.
Responsive Wireframe
Once I had a visual direction of the layout, I started to add more details and precisions to the sketches by turning them into mid-fidelity wireframes. Creating mid-fidelity wireframes helps me focus on the visual consistency and hierarchy before applying styles. In these wireframes, I tried to incorporate common design patterns that have been tested on our competitors' website, or included elements that directly address users' goals, needs, frustrations, and motivations.
Furthermore, to ensure users have a consistent experience across different devices, responsive wireframes are created for desktop, tablet, and mobile ends.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes and Prototype
After I finished designing pages that are necessary for users to finish tasks, I linked those pages using Figma Prototyping and created a mid-fidelity prototype for usability testing. Conducting usability testing using a mid-fidelity prototype is useful for detecting issues in information architecture and flows before spending too much time designing details.
4 Prototype & Test
Usability Testing
Prepare for the Usability Testing
Before usability testing, it is important to set up test objectives, subject, methodology, tasks, and rubrics for measuring the result of the testing before conducting a test. Therefore, I wrote a usability testing plan to define what and why I want to test and get prepared for the test.
For all the tests, I expect a 100% completion rate since all tasks are normal steps for a restaurant website. I also expect a 90% error-free rate because the prototype is not fully functioning, and users might take alternatives that have not been built up for completing the tasks.
Conduct Usability Testing
I then conducted both in-person and remote usability testing with 5 participants, and created transcripts for each participant based on my observation of their interaction with the prototype. I jot down their mistakes, slips, and confusions they expressed in the process. This transcript is a perfect raw material for summarizing the patterns of user’s interaction with the prototype.
Updates to wireframes
As the time and other resources we have are limited, I made revisions based on the priority level of the recommendations summarized in the affinity map.
Branding
New graphic line of the brand towards elegant and exclusive.
Relevant and easy-to-consume information accompanied by icons or referential images.
Responsive UI Design
Final Thoughts + Next Steps
Final Website: https://www.mehdireishi.com/
Final Thoughts
With the final prototype created, I believe I have met the goals that were outlined in the beginning of the design process. We designed a responsive website for MehdiReishi that provides the customers with a smooth online ordering experience. We also rebranded the business to better articulate its current service and values.
Next Steps
Design Implementation & Handoff
Since the design has been tested and revised, it is ready to enter the development phase with Shopify. In order to effectively communicate the design to developers, we redlined and organized the design deliverables using Zeplin for handoff, and prepared to assist with any follow-up questions.
Maintenance
Updates and revisions will continue to exist in the future, and I will address them based on the priority levels.