GroundsUp
GroundsUp is a B2C Social Enterprise who collect spent coffee grounds from local coffee shops in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada and use it to make unique handcrafted & upcycled home products.
End-to-end Product Design
Design Systems
User Research
Usability Testing
Additional Touches
Coding & E-commerce
Customized a contact form for collaboration and customer communication.
Client Guidance
Managed the technical aspects, guiding the client through the design process for a functional e-commerce website.
Created a comprehensive presentation outlining pros and cons for each platform (Webflow and Shopify), recognizing the challenge in making this choice.
SEO Optimization:
Optimized SEO settings using Etsy keywords for organic user search.
Prior to this redesign, GroundsUp conducted sales through Etsy and a limited number of in-person markets, lacking a dedicated e-commerce website and missing information.
95%
met sustainability expectations.
84.2%
received top marks in navigation.
90%
of users said the brand identity aligns with business goals.
22%
increased sales after launching the product.
Thanks to Miray's exceptional illustration skills, she brought our product vision to life right from the initial interview stage.
Her artistic talent not only enhanced our product's visual appeal but also played a pivotal role in boosting our sales by an impressive 22%. Miray's contribution exemplifies the power of effective design in driving business success.
Katrina Carlton
Founder | GroundsUp
UX Research
Understanding User Needs
Addressed the client's initial confusion about goals and the decision to sell their product.
Applied insights from Etsy to enhance meta descriptions, alt texts, and keywords for Google Search Results, improving the overall e-commerce strategy.
Information Architecture
Organized GroundsUp's story and products with a well-structured information layout.
Aligned the products on the landing page in accordance with the selling strategy.
Competitor Analysis
Researched potential competitors in the market selling handcrafted products on Shopify, focusing on local small businesses in different countries and fields.
Analyzed competitors for aesthetic and organizational aspects, particularly examining landing pages.
Tone & Voice
Aligned design elements and UX writing with business objectives and tailored designs to resonate with target audience.
Decision Process
Strategic Planning:
Conducted two initial meetings and stakeholder interviews to comprehend business goals and the owner's vision for the redesign.
Identified key priorities, emphasizing the quantifiable impact of upcycling coffee grounds and promoting coffee table sales to coffee stores.
User-Centric Website Design:
Recognized the significance of these objectives, strategically featuring them on the home page.
Developed an intuitive and well-organized layout to make primary goals easily accessible and highly visible to visitors.
Ensured the website effectively communicated the company's core objectives from the moment users landed on the home page.
Wireframes & Iterations
Introduced the idea of featuring coffee grounds' beauty as a hero image. ☕️
Quick look — How did GroundsUp appear before this design?
Challenges
Changing Brand Identity Post-Prototype
Client expressed a desire to shift from a fresh-modern aesthetic to a vibrant-vintage look after the first prototype, carefully selected the new assets for a transformative redesign.
Limited Pages
GroundsUp faced a unique challenge with Shopify, primarily focused on product sales and limited to a single page template.
Budget Constraints with Free Template:
Constrained by the client's limited budget, had to work with a free Shopify template, imposing limitations on the project.
💡 How did I surpass challenges? — Employed coding techniques and edited JSON pages to achieve desired customization within budget constraints. Demonstrated patience and adaptability, resulting in a final design that captured the desired aesthetic.
Learnings
Unique Branding Insights
Gained a different perspective on color branding, steering away from common sustainability associations.
Coding for User Experience:
Prioritized user experience by coding enhancements, such as adding a dropdown menu to the contact form for better user understanding.
AI Integrations For …
A Better UX Writing
Revamped UX writing, maintaining a keen focus on SEO settings by strategically incorporating keywords and utilizing appropriate headings.
Crafted fresh descriptions and visual presentations for all GroundsUp products, ensuring a seamless transition without compromising original meaning.
Research & Testing:
Used Notion AI to refine and optimize research questions, leveraging its valuable insights and suggestions.
Applied AI for meaningful organization of search engine result descriptions, optimizing the testing approach.