Responsive E-commerce Web Design
Sip is a new sustainable and eco-friendly brand that is changing the way people sip. They offer biodegradable single use straws that are made from all-natural grain ingredients, just rice and corn. They are so safe to use that they are edible! Sip is passionate about their impact on the planet and raising awareness within their community about sustainability. Their goal is to eliminate plastic waste and change the way people sip one straw at a time.
Sip is a new Sydney-based small business, planning to launch in early 2022. They need a responsive website in order to educate consumers about their mission and sell their product.
How might we design a website for a new sustainable small business that will resonate with consumers and optimize their digital presence?
A responsive e-commerce website that is fun, colorful, and engaging, while clearly conveying their brand mission and message, and giving consumers the sustainability information that they need.
I sent the client a questionnaire to better understand the Sip brand, and their design goals and needs. This is what they said:
For my research, I will be focusing on Sip’s primary target audience of millennial females, who lead active lifestyles, follow current trends, and are environmentally conscious. They are existing users of straws who may be looking for an alternative, or are interested in sustainable products.
I finalized a list of competitors in the space who we could learn from with the client’s suggestions as well as my own research.
I focused on similar brands to Sip, mainly small local businesses in Australia with the same positioning and goals, and only sell straw products that are single use and biodegradable.
I conducted user interviews to get more qualitative data about our users, their behaviors, and specific experiences with drinking straws. I also wanted to discover how they resonated with Sip’s working brand messaging and marketing copy.
Process: I recruited participants from my personal network and Designlab community within the Australia region who use or have used drinking straws, and have an interest in sustainability.
Method: Remote Zoom interviews.
Participants: 7 participants between the ages of 21 and 35.
Timeline: 4 days to complete interviews, and 1 day to synthesize findings.
Interview Questions:
Key Insights:
Brand Messaging:
Next, I organized my research findings and user insights to make the research more tangible and the users more relatable.
Meet Olivia. She leads a healthy and active lifestyle, and tries her best to do what she believes is right. She is passionate about sustainability, but is still constantly learning about how to best do her part. She’s interested in innovative products that are useful and that helps minimize her environmental impact.
An in-depth analysis of Sip’s competitors’ showed a lot of similarities in the way the websites are designed. The majority of competitors utilize Shopify to host their e-commerce website, and therefore have very similar styles and features. They also use earth tone color palettes such as blues, greens, and browns to emphasize their commitment to sustainability and environmental well-being. Also specific to this industry is having the ability to sell to wholesale, and working with other businesses.
Taking into consideration the client’s needs, the user’s needs, and industry standards, I made a matrix to prioritize Sip’s must-have features.
Suggestions:
Sip did not have any images or product photography available for the website yet, so I used stock images and icons as placeholders. The final images on the website will be original Sip photography and assets. Sip also asked me to write the copy for parts of their website that they will incorporate with their final product details and brand messaging.
My final prototype shows Olivia’s purchase journey on the Sip website after learning more about the brand’s sustainability practices.
I have shipped the MVP to the client at Sip and have received positive feedback on the design and copy. As they are still pre-launch, I will continue to assist where needed as they implement the design within the scope of Squarespace. I also hope to collaborate on the should-have and could-have features as Sip continues to grow in the future, and continue with evaluative research and reiterations as needed.
Setting expectations and communication guidelines with the client first really helped us manage expectations and responsibilities, and stay on track of our goals throughout the project.
