Leveraging Edge Case: Pandemic Wine Search
Pain Points
Label-Scanning for Wine Search: From Popular Feature to Pandemic Obstacle
Vivino has long been my go-to app for anything wine-related. Its label-scanning feature, which quickly provides details like price, tasting notes, and reviews, has helped me make countless wine-buying decisions. However, during the pandemic lockdowns, this handy tool became inaccessible for users like me seeking wine advice when in-store shopping was not an option.
“So... is it possible to find a wine that fits my needs through other ways on Vivino?"
The project aims to enhance Vivino's other discovery features, ensuring users can effectively find the right wine even when the label-scanning feature is ineffective in certain occasions.
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Independent Redesign Project
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64hrs
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User Research, Wireframing, and UI design
About This Project
Vivino is a mobile app that helps users discover, rate, and review wines. It provides personalized recommendations based on user preferences and a vast database of wine information.
What's Vivino
Vivino's label-scanning feature, crucial for wine discovery, faced reduced usage due to restrictions on in-store shopping during the pandemic lockdowns.
Challenge
I enhanced Vivino's wine search with personalized recommendations, flavor tags, customizable wish lists, and a comparison table, cutting search time by 8%.
Impact
User Interview
Unveiling User Feedback: How Wine Know-How Impacts App Interaction
At the start of my research, I gathered valuable feedback from the App Store and Google Play. By scrutinizing both positive and negative reviews, I was able to set aside my own biases and quickly pinpoint some common issues. What caught my eye was how users’ interactions with Vivino shifted depending on their level of wine expertise. This discovery inspired me to conduct usability testing and interviews with five participants, each with varying levels of wine knowledge. During this phase, I uncovered their wine preferences and the factors driving their purchase decisions.
The script I created for user interview
Strategy (Part 1)
Evaluating the Competitive Landscape: Vivino’s Opportunities and Gaps
I identified three of Vivino’s competitors—Wine-Searcher, Wine Express, and Minibar—that are known for their online services for wine and other alcoholic beverages. I dove into their wine search experiences to see how they could address the goals and frustrations of the taste explorer Audrey and the social sipper Sean. Here are the points I focused on:
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The limitations that prevent Vivino from implementing features that competitors offer
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The gaps where Vivino could improve to better support the personas’ needs
Strategy (Part 2)
Sympathizing with Customer Experience Maps: Vivino’s Opportunities and Gaps
Previously, I zoomed in on the business side of feature ideation with a competitive analysis. In this step, I shifted focus to the users' perspective with customer experience mapping, which helped clarified:
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The steps that lead to dissatisfaction for the personas
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The opportunities within these dissatisfaction points to enhance the overall wine search experience
At this stage of the design process, I began crafting strategies to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of wine searches. I broke it down into two main areas:
Quick Searches
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Tracking wine journey
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Personalized saved lists
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Visualize wine info
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Easy access to wine recommendations
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Sharing wine info on social platforms or via messages
Accurate Searches
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Comprehensive flavor keywords
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Wine comparison charts
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Wine preference quizzes
To make sure I was on track, I set up a four quadrant model that looked at what was achievable beyond Vivino and how helpful each strategy was for our personas. This helped me prioritize without letting personal bias sneak in, keeping my focus sharp and the decisions spot-on.
Solutions
Designing an Enhanced Wine Search Journey
I transformed the strategies into practical solutions that enhance four key steps of the wine search experience:
Optimizing Wine Recommendation
I added recommendation sections to give users a smooth start with their wine search, catering to both taste explorers and social sippers. By focusing on the factors that influence purchase decisions, I refined the recommendations to better align with user preferences. Here’s how:
For taste explorers
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What’s new
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List based on tastes
All users
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Price range options
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List based on purchase history
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Thematic lists (holidays, special occasions, and more)
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List based on search history
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Promotion wines
Revamping Search Accuracy with Flavor Tags
Vivino's sliders for taste profiles can be a bit abstract, especially if users are not well-versed in terms like “tannic,” “soft,” or “bold.” These descriptors can be hard to connect with the actual taste of wine, making it tough to find exactly what they’re looking for. To simplify this, I swapped out the sliders for flavor tags organized by common wine flavor categories. This change makes it much easier for users to search and pinpoint their ideal wine more quickly and accurately.
Customizing Wish Lists for Any Occasion
Selecting the right wine for a dinner, a gift, or a celebration can be overwhelming. To simplify this, I’ve made it easy to create and name personalized wine lists for any occasion. Instead of just saving options on one page, users can now organize and group their choices, making it effortless to find the perfect bottle every time.
Streamlining Choices with Comparison Table
Deciding on the perfect wine can be challenging, whether you're familiar with wine or not. To simplify this process, I developed a comparison table that allows users to easily review and evaluate all their options at a glance. The table helps users quickly spot the best choices and make more informed decisions.
UI Design
UI Design: Why I Chose This Design Style
Vivino is renowned for its innovative approach to wine exploration, and I aimed to match this with a bold UI style that reflects their cutting-edge brand, incorporating elegant and subtle details reminiscent of a fine wine. At the time, Neumorphism Design was a popular trend, so I decided to experiment with it. However, my research revealed that this style had mixed reviews in the UX community. To balance aesthetics with usability, I applied the style to larger elements like card designs while using flat design for smaller components, ensuring both visual appeal and functionality.
User Personas
Carving Out Personas: Taste Explorer V.S. Social Sipper
I synthesized insights from the user interviews to create two personas– taste explorer and social sipper that merged the participants’ perspectives. These personas were central to my design process, helping me understand:
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What users prioritize during their wine search
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Why they find Vivino helpful or unhelpful for finding wine
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How they succeed or encounter difficulties in their wine search
Summary of Taste Explorer
A 28-year-old freelance graphic designer from California, Audrey uses Vivino to research wines before making purchases. She values wines based on specific flavor profiles and takes photos of labels to track her favorites.
Summary of Social Sipper
A 31-year-old back-end developer from London, Sean drinks wine for social gatherings and chooses based on price and ratings. He values recommendations and prefers an easy, quick selection process.
Testing
Measuring Impact: Search Times Decreased by 8%
In the first round of testing, I explored participants’ familiarity with wine and the factors influencing their purchase decisions. Using these insights, I crafted a set of redesign solutions and then launched a second round of usability testing. Participants tackled four tasks designed to assess both the original and new designs, and I timed their performance to measure efficiency.
How I Overcame the Testing Limitations
To ensure a fair and accurate comparison between the existing app and the prototype designs, I took several steps to address potential discrepancies:
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Explaining the prototype limitations to set expectations and reduce frustration
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Conducting testing in a controlled environment to minimize external variables
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Documenting any confusion, hesitation, or difficulties participants encountered
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Marking parts of the prototype that are incomplete or non-functional
The results showed a notable improvement with the new design: search times decreased by 8%. Participants also noted that the new design significantly enhanced their ability to discover, track, and select wines. Overall, the feedback confirmed that the new features were both more useful and intuitive, validating the effectiveness of the redesign.
The tasks for usability testing
Conclusion
Reflection: What I learned from the Project
Improving Usability for the Comparison Table
Reflecting on the comparison table, I see opportunities for refinement based on additional research. Here are some areas for improvement:
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Including item categories on the left side (e.g., wine name, price, graph, rating)
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Listing flavors in text instead of using tags
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Adding filter to help users focus on specific areas of comparison
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Designing landscape mode
Uncovering Blind Spots in User Testing
While the time to complete tasks decreased for the same group of participants with the new design, I discovered that some edge cases led to unusually short or long completion times. For example, a user with limited wine knowledge might select a random option, finishing the task quickly but not necessarily demonstrating the ease of using the discovery features. To enhance the accuracy and reliability of future user testing, I plan to anticipate these edge cases and include them in user interview scripts.
Other Idea: Assessing Wine Value
From the interview feedback, it became clear that all participants valued wine with reasonable prices. To address this, I would add a section for price/value ratio on the wine information page. This addition would allow users to rate and view the ratio, providing them with more transparent and fair references to assess whether a bottle is worth its price.