Goal: To help move the product from mostly paper into a digital or mixed solution with a simple and clear user journey

Problem: People loved the idea of Coffee Stories but found it very difficult to participate in the storytelling

Solution: Create an end to end experience that makes it easy to gift a coffee and write a story

Prototype:

click here

We met with the client to prioritize goals

The results helped us to define the business goals so we were all on the same page as we moved forward

We looked at other sites for inspiration

We found many user frustrations:

It was asking a lot for the user to print and cut out a piece of paper from the website
It was asking a lot from the barista to remember to give the piece of paper to the recipient of the free coffee
The website was unclear as to how to write a story
The questions for writing the story were too long

We came up with a better user flow that we tested at several coffee shops

We developed a way to eliminate the need for the user to print out the card from the website thereby eliminating some of the barista's responsibility. We created a countercard that had self-explanatory instructions that made coffee gifting and sharing a story easier.

There were also some issues with this solution:

One of the coffee shops did not allow any signage that didn't match their brand
One shop said someone higher up in the company needed to approve it
Another enthusiastically put it next to the register

we went back to the drawing board

synthesis and scope:

All the results from the research and testing helped us define the problem
Which identifies the users needs and gave us our scope
We began brainstorming other ideas

MArketing tools

We came up with a solution that addressed the issues we kept coming up against:

Eliminate the card, replace it with a sleeve that the barista can put on the cup for the receiver
Put all the social sharing information on the cup so the receiver can easily post a story
Sign up the coffee shops in advance and supply them with the tool necessary to make Coffee Stories a success

now we were ready to tackle the website

Using all the knowledge we had gathered thus far we began to look at how best to translate these to improve the website

We created a strong visual message with the company mission front and center along with a strong call to action to "Gift a Coffee"

We developed an easy way for users to find a participating location