Drinks NG — An e-commerce store designed to cater to ordering and delivery of drinks.
Drinks NG is the largest online market of exotic wine, beer, and spirits in Nigeria — allowing users to remotely look up a vendor, order preferred drinks, and have the drinks delivered safely.
Drinks NG is uniquely designed to ensure the timely delivery of any drink while ensuring safety measures on payments, shipping, product verification, and vendors.
My Role
From the start of this project through its completion, I played the role of a Product Designer (UI/UX).
I was in charge of gathering information from stakeholders & potential users, researching, defining the information gathered, analysing data for design decisions, developing sketches, making designs, validating design decisions, prototyping, checking quality, etc.
The estimated period for this project's completion was 8 weeks.
The Challenge
The e-commerce industry is growing at a rapid pace. Businesses and consumer products can only take advantage of this growth. While having numerous products and services online, these stores still fail to deliver justifiably well when customers buy products ranging from wares, food items, and drinks online.
In Nigeria, consumption of drinks — notably wine, beer, and spirits is high. Whether on a large scale for occasions or just a few for homes and offices, consumers are increasingly looking for a good deal on drinks, timely delivery, and access to top-brand drinks. Consumers look out for trustworthiness and comfort when shopping online.
I am fascinated by the idea of building a platform where consumers who want to shop for drinks can do so comfortably and confidently. "Confidently and comfortably," because a user will only place orders when the platform is easy to navigate, detailed, visually appealing, and assertive that authentic products are delivered.
Research & Discovery
When a user needs to shop or purchase an item, they seek clarity, safety, and trustworthiness. Be it a mobile app or a website, a user only gets satisfied once their order goes through, happily awaits, and receives their purchase — exactly as expected.
Users are dynamic and could be disinterested during onboarding, when searching & filtering through a product list, placing an order, or just navigating the entire platform if unsatisfied. This results in high bounce-off rates — leaving the business scrabbling in no time.
Clarity and trustworthiness influence a consumer's purchase decision for a drink brand online.
User Pain Points
Based on my interactions, interviews, and research — I found that a consumer's buying actions for a drink brand online are triggered by answers to the below questions.
- Can I filter through available products?
- Is there a product description to further help my decision?
- Are there trustworthy retailers on the platform?
- Is the payment system transparent?
- Is there a choice of delivery schedule?
The Solution
While brainstorming the best approach for the project, I considered the user's problems and made conceptions based on research and available data upon which I implemented the designs.
Listed below are some major product requirements that I consider the most important to drive the overall user experience.
- Access to the Drinks NG platform across major mobile and web devices.
- Informative content description and layout for an enjoyable shopping experience.
- Users' ability to schedule their own convenient delivery time for their purchases.
- A review system to build credibility.
- Powerful search & filter query to help buyers access desired products conveniently.
- Ability to track and manage orders.
Information Architecture
A user needs to navigate the website quickly and easily, so I developed a structure to capture major points on placing an order and creating an account on the platform.
Wireframes
One of the crucial parts of the design process is coming up with a skeletal view of how the product should look based on research & findings. So, I created wireframes to conceptualize the overall user experience of the platform.
Design Guide
The colours used in this design represent and enhance the unique brand personality of Drinks NG. It breathes reassuring values and trustworthiness to buyers on the platform.
The preferred typeface was Poppins which gives a clean, clear, and bold look on different interfaces — making it a perfect choice for our Drinks NG website as it further enhances the brand personality.
High Fidelity Designs
With users in mind, the interface is built with aesthetics to appeal to the luxurious taste of buyers. The homepage highlights categories of drink brands that customers can view and filter through.
Not leaving the retailers out of the fun, I also made pleasing designs to help retailers manage their inventory and orders from both the online platform and offline point-of-sale.
Search & Filters
The search feature helps a buyer make quick searches on several drink brands. By inputting just a part of the drink's name, related results to that search get displayed. This search type is highly beneficial to consumers who don't know the full brand name.
Filters are also crucial while searching for products and brands — it helps set preferences to narrow users' search.
Products & Categories
The categorization and listing of products are structured for easy navigation. We factored in the product description, drink sizes, product options, reviews, delivery choices, vendor options, etc.
Basically, the storefront is presented in a simple and clear pattern.
Easy Onboarding
Account creation as a buyer on Drinks NG is pretty straightforward. A user can either use their phone number or email to signup. Afterward, an optional form is displayed to request little personal details for a more personalized experience.
The Shopping Experience
Account creation as a buyer on Drinks NG is pretty straightforward. A user can either use their phone number or email to signup. Afterward, an optional form is displayed to request little personal details for a more personalized experience.
At the point of checkout, a buyer confirms the delivery address, schedules a desired time for delivery, and reviews the order before proceeding to payment. Users can choose between "Pay Now" or "Pay on Delivery" for checkout — based on order sum.
Customer satisfaction isn't certain if an order hasn't reached the buyer. So, users need to know the state of their order and have a real-time view of the status.
Reflections
Drinks NG is live and is currently the largest online market to buy top-brand wines, beers, and spirits. It provides the easiest and safest way to purchase drinks on the buyer's schedule and have them on time.
The platform's success is due to its design, branding, and technology used to shape how drinks are shopped and delivered to buyers.
Drinks NG now has 40,000+ active customers in Nigeria and an overall visit of 130,000+ since its launch.
Conclusion
Drinks NG was designed to prioritize smooth user experience — whether on the web or mobile so that a buyer has safety, ease, and swiftness when purchasing their items.
The project was a success based on the joint effort of the clients, my team members at Effect Studios, and myself.
Many thanks!!!