Redesigning the Intelligentsia App

A Retrospective

Most of know, not all of us love, this Chicago coffee staple. For this case study, we will be uncovering our team’s app redesign for the Intelligentsia company.

Let’s begin with our user Klara.

“Intelli has the best coffee hands-down. It has a smooth, delicious taste to it.”

Klara is a current customer at Intelligentsia, her favorite coffee shop in Chicago. Our problem lies not with Klara, but with Intelligentsia’s desire to expand their business in the competitive Chicago coffee industry.

Target User

Our target users are the untapped genre of Klaras in Chicago. While their profiles mimic that of Klara’s, they are allegiant to other coffee shops and Intelligentsia needs a mechanism of changing this allegiance to their brand.

The Problem

Intelligentsia needs a way to retain current customers and gain new ones in the competitive Chicago coffee industry.

While Intelligentsia does have an app, its informational architecture is quite poor. We quickly recognized the app needed an architectural overhaul for this architectural overload, with 5 major issues:

1. Too many clicks/screens
2. Disorganization of information
3. Not clear pathway to find information
4. Too much scrolling
5. Not sure what the intention of the app is

Existing app walk through - fast.mov

Research Methods

We primarily utilized surveys and interviews to obtain information and develop insights on the problem at hand. We also visited 4 Intelligentsia locations throughout the city, including the Millennium Park, Monadnock, Lakeview, and Old Town Locations, in addition to competitor shops, such as Dollop Coffee.

Survey

We ultimately received 30 survey responses, whereby we asked respondents about their demographics, coffee preferences, and coffee shop experiences.

Through the survey, we learned 3 major points:

1. Most respondents to our survey are millennials.
2. Respondents would be most interested in coffee class events.
3. Most respondents go to coffee shops to socialize, do work, or both.

Interviews

Synthesizing

After receiving an overwhelming amount of data from our surveys, interviews, and shop visits, we began by affinity mapping the results.

Insights

After grouping the data into multiple themes, we generated our insights, with the following being the most prominent and significant:

1. Our target users are millennials & those aged 25–34.
2. Our target users would be interested in educational experiences related to coffee. This is because people who go to Intelligentsia are more passionate about coffee than the average user.
3. People go to coffee shops to socialize, work, or do both simultaneously.

Design Principles

This gave way to our design principles and after careful consideration, we developed the following 3:

1. Our design should provide an educational experience in order to increase customer interest and engagement.

This is a frame of the home screen, where customers can engage in the ‘Coffee Buzz’ news feed, where customers can post op-ed articles. However, this platform is not simply open to the public.

There is a verification process Intelli app users must go through in order to post on the feed. This incentivizes users to attend events and post on the blog, as with each Intelli-hosted event the user attends, they will earn points and with each consecutive level, the Intelli is allowed to post more frequently to the blog.

2. Our design should focus on the attention to detail and time put into making a quality cup of coffee to emphasize the art of coffee culture that Intelli customers so admire.

This is emphasized through the coffee guide feature, that hilights the extensive amount of information on coffee and tea that is on the current Intelli app.

3. Our design should simultaneously cater to individuals and groups of people because while some customers work alone, others work and/or socialize with others. This can be executed through a collaborative, flexible, and engaging design so that customers can participate in activities together.

This is emphasized through the ‘events’ feature discussed previously, as well as the ‘barista profile’ feature, by which the user can see which baristas are on duty and learn more information about them.

Iterations & User Testing

There were multiple iterations and included is the prototype we tested. Most significantly, we significantly altered the header and footer bars of the original app. Below is a video of our original wireframe during user testing.

Wireframe

During user testing, we received the following feedback:

“I don’t need to know this much information about coffee.” David

“I am confused about the label ‘Now brewing.’ Is that for the coffee bean or barista?” Petroula

“I really like the design of this app, I have already learned about coffee.” Guillermo

With this feedback, we made the following changes:

1. Removed Coffee news navigation bar button
2. Removed featured buttons from center of screen to make easy access navigation tabs at top of screen
3. Changed main body to be coffee news
4. Added a green dot indicating on staff and labeled more clearly

Solution Statement

After testing, we came to the following solution:

~The updated Intelligentsia app increases customers’ coffee knowledge and engagement through the addition of multiple features prioritizing community and education.

~Additionally, the updated app architecture allows the Intelligentsia customer to use the app in a more logical manner.

~ Through these solutions, Intelligentsia has the ability to simultaneously retain current customers and increase their consumer base.

Updated User Flow

1. Baristas on staff with clickable detailed information
2. Detailed information about coffee that is easily accessible.
3. Landing page mainly information about community coffee postings.
4. Events button quickly accessing all events within the Intelligentsia community.

Hi-Fi Prototype

Key Takeaways

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”

John Lydgate

Ultimately, we had to make many decisions related to determining who is the Intelli app target user. While many respondents described coffee shops to be a home base, where they want to feel comfortable and cozy, this is not Intelli’s brand. Intelli shops have a sterile ambiance, where they prioritize the quality and art of coffee making as opposed to focusing on the vibe they evoke. This is why we targeted the user who has a passion for coffee and coffee culture throughout the app.

Thanks for reading :)