Inter Rice Asia, The Art of Sake
Overview
Inter Rice Asia has been a distributor of premium Japanese alcohol in Singapore since 2008. The company imports high-quality Japanese sake from boutique breweries all over Japan. In addition to sales of alcohol, Inter Rice Asia also organises sake appreciation events for corporate, private, and public workshops to educate attendees on the fragrance, acidity level, presence, sweetness, and dryness of the wide range of sakes available in the market.
Role: UI/UX Design
Duration: 4 months
background
In early 2020, I began exploring UI designs as part of my daily work and became interested in UX principles. This led me to enroll in the Specialist Diploma in Integrated Digital Communication program by Temasek Polytechnic later that year. Eventually, I created my first capstone project in the field of UI/UX design, which involved reviewing a web platform where users engage in tasks or transactions.
For this project, I selected "Inter Rice Asia" as the subject matter as I wanted to explore a web platform that resonates with the lifestyles of many young adults who see social drinking and gifting as integral aspects of their lives.
the challenge
Problem: Users face issues with the amount of time and effort required for task such as searching and browsing due the overall poor information architecture indicated by the lack of structure and consistency of category naming, account and cart icons.
Hypothesis: Understanding these issues, I aim to develop, reconstruct and reorganise the overall information architecture with functionalities that simplifies the user process from before and after carting out. By doing so, users can quickly and easily find the desired product they wish to purchase.
Identifying strengths and weaknesses with competitor analysis
To identify potential areas for improvement, I conducted a competitor analysis of four prominent local and overseas sake websites before proceeding with the design phase. By taking notes on common features, interacting with the websites, and analysing the language used to target audiences, I was able to observe how competitors solved similar problems and evaluated potential areas for improvement.
Understanding the user through research analysis: personas to user Journey
Based on the insights gained from my competitor analysis, I conducted interviews with potential customers who are interested in purchasing alcohol online to better understand their different frustrations and goals when interacting with the website throughout their user journey. This allowed me to create well-defined user personas and journeys, ensuring that every feature and function I designed was done with the user in mind.
Revisiting the overall information architecture
With all the acquired user and competitive research in place, I began looking into current information architecture while working towards a proposed revised information architecture. Ensuring for a user-centric approach that validates the defined problems and hypotheses.
Creating a prototype design: wireframing process
Next, I started drafting a prototype design into wireframes across three different device sizes (Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile) using AdobeXD. This step allowed me to determine the necessary functionality and content, such as product features, collections, testimonials, and product sorting and filters, to be displayed across each device. Afterward, I developed high-fidelity (hi-fi) mockups for all relevant pages by adding content, photos, colors, and typography.
Putting together a cohesive style guide
As I worked on the prototype design, I also put together a consistent and cohesive style guide that users can easily recognise across all pages. This not only ensures consistency throughout the website but also improves the workflow during the development stage.