

OjaExpress
OjaExpress is an online grocery shopping and delivery platform that specializes in same-day delivery of grocery items that are intrinsic to various global ethnic communities such as African,Caribbean, Latin American, Middle Eastern, European and South Asian cuisine. At OjaExpress we aim to bring families, communities and generations together. We began our website redesigning process in early Jan 2021.
Project Overview
CHALLENGE
The main goal of the redesign process was “To design a platform that promotes cross-cultural experiences through food”
Post pandemic, the shopping habits of people had changed. As the primary product designer of OjaExpress, I had to make the website more culturally inclusive by incorporating design aspects from various cultures as we were getting new customers. I aimed to design a website for people who came from very different ethnic backgrounds, who were not tech-savvy and make them feel included.
Note: This is my second redesign of the OjaExpress Website.
GOALS
1. Implement a Design Process
2. Improve usability across the platform
3. Establish a standardized design kit
4. Establish a standardised Design System
ROLE
Product Designer
Product Strategy, Visual Design, Prototyping and Testing
TIME
Jan 2021 - Ongoing
TASK
Redesign a responsive website
TOOLS
Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD, Procreate
Design Process
EMPATHIZE
I already had a brief understanding of OjaExpress’ user based on a couple of projects that I’d done before. None the less I still felt the need to get an overall understanding of the online grocery shopping trend, before any brainstorming sessions.
MARKET RESEARCH
I started off with a thorough secondary research. I found many articles online done by Business Insiders, Forbes and Mercatus which gave me a deeper insight into the E-grocery shopping trend which had changed significantly following the pandemic.
EFFECT OF COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic had rapidly accelerated the widespread adoption of online grocery shopping.
Business Insider reported that more than 40% of Americans ordered groceries online during the week leading up to the pandemic and more than 90% reported that they’d like to continue shopping online. As covid-19 also brought new regulations and consumer concerns to light, many e-grocery retailers have made major changes to their business models.
MARKET TRENDS
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61% of ethnic or multicultural Americans are unable to find all the groceries they want at their main grocery store.
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51% of multicultural American consumers go to more than 2 grocery stores to get all their groceries.
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$42 B was spent on ethnic groceries by the ethnic grocery stores in the year 2020.
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Immigration population is expected to grow to 70 M by the year 2030
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

PERSONA
With an understanding of the user’s goals, needs, motivations and frustrations I set out to create a user persona based on the insights gained previously.

STORY BOARDING

USER JOURNEY
To get a deeper understanding of the user’s needs and frustration I worked closely with the product team to see their shopping trends. I also made use of google analytics to understand the users' trends.
With the data collected I created a storyboard to help myself and the product team to visualize the user’s experience.

Defining Problems
DEFINE
PROBLEM STATEMENT
People who shop for culturally diverse foods on OjaExpress need a trustworthy, white-glove experience to find and purchase groceries because they delight in discovering significant items and want to feel confident entrusting that responsibility to an online platform.
PROJECT GOALS
Based on all the research done previously, I began to identify and focus on the core problems that needed an immediate fix. Some were simple, others a little complicated.
To have a better sense of clarity, I created a Venn diagram that focuses on the different goals of the business, consumers and the developers.

SITE MAP
Based on the research findings I created a list of pages and add-ons our website would feature. Oja had a large assortment of pages that needed to be designed. I also had to map put the pages carefully, making sure the users would find it easy to navigate throughout the site.

Ideating Solutions
IDEATE
SKETCHES
After deciding on the user flow and the site architecture for OjaExpress, I started sketching out a rough design for the screens. The sketching was based on the design patterns I found while researching similar sites.

WIREFRAMES
Once basic sketching was done I had a fair idea about where each element of the screen would go. To present my idea to the stakeholders I developed some medium-fidelity wireframes. To make the layout responsive and fluid I worked on the different screens simultaneously.



STYLE GUIDE

I decided to use the same style guide that I had previously developed for the older version of the website. The warm orange sets OjaExpress apart from its competitive green. These tones also go hand in hand with the design goals which is to be more culturally inclusive, trustworthy and empathetic.
UI DESIGNS
Based on the research findings I created a list of pages and add-ons our website would feature. Oja had a large assortment of pages that needed to be designed. I also had to map put the pages carefully, making sure the users would find it easy to navigate throughout the site.



Prototype Development
PROTOTYPE
USER FLOW PROTOTYPE
Over the months I made several prototypes of different task flows that I use to present to team members , stakeholders and also during pitch meetings with the investors. I also use the prototype for user testing to get early validation from the users.
Usability Testing
TEST
USABILITY TESTING RESULTS
After a few times testing out the prototype, collaborating closely with other cross functional teams such as sales, marketing etc the following changes were recommended:
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The user flow was corrected to "Landing Page -> Community selection -> Zipcode.
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Users were still unclear about exactly what OjaExpress does and works.
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No easy way to navigate between stores or communities.
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Users aren't aware that they can switch communities
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Design new Landing Page.
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Redesigning the "How it works"
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Design a header
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Design a new community switching CTA
REDESIGNS
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Designed a new Landing Page

2. Cultural Community Homepage



3.Cultural Community Icons

The redesign of the consumer side website was an overwhelming process. There were constant discussions, interviews, analysis and iterations happening throughout. I especially loved working closely with the developer team and the marketing team. Taking in everyone's idea and using it in the design proved to be super helpful. 🤙
Since the designs are being constantly iterated there are chances that the version you see live are slightly different to the ones I have posted here. I will try my best to keep this site updated as well.