Heineken: Designing for Tomorrow
“We are 150 years old this year. How about you?”
As I open Heineken’s website, my eyes were swimming in a full screen of emerald colored background, three large Heineken beer cans, and a large Heineken logo. As my eyes pull away from the vibrant green and reds of Heineken’s brand colors, I notice the critical question.
Ah, here we go! The questioning of my age was expected from any liquor company in this day and age. After debating whether to enter my real birthday or an arbitrary one, I remember that I am actually twenty-two now. I am legal.
All went seamlessly and smoothly. I proceed to the home page of Heineken’s website — the startled face of a man in historical costume.
My curiosity was immediately evoked. I wanted to find out more. The cinematic header image dimension, the film-quality color grading, the foreground blur — everything about this image added to the suspense.
Before I knew it, I was clicking on the “Discover More” button, which took me to an embedded Youtube video link to their Heineken Silver campaign.
Designing for the User
Heineken’s website UX is truly a masterpiece in the alcoholic beverage industry. From its design, simplicity of use, to its responsiveness, everything on their website flows seamlessly.
Heineken’s website is designed with the target audience in mind. Everything is easy to navigate, with intuitive menus and clear calls-to-action, enabling users to find the information they need quickly. The website also features a visually appealing design with a focus on the brand’s signature green color and iconic logo. Heineken also only uses high-quality images and engaging visuals to evoke a sense of sophistication and enjoyment associated with the Heineken brand.
Less is More
Everything about their website screams SIMPLICITY — only what is needed is shown.
The menu bar is clear with five distinct titles: Buy Heineken, Our Story, Sponsorships, Our Beers, and Enjoy Responsibly. Each title leads to a new page that is engaging, straightforward, and easy-to-navigate.
For example, look at this “Our Story” page.
The visual hierarchy is clear with headings being bold and in Heineken’s signature green and brand font. Body texts are in medium grey and a smaller san-serif font that does not distract the viewer from its main content.
The company’s positioning statement “becoming the world’s leading premium lager” is also clearly defined in bold green text, allowing the user to have a solid understanding of the company’s vision and brand identity.
More so, the page is sectioned by full horizontal bands that divide the content into bite-sized sections, enabling the user a effortless reading experience.
Brand-Centered
Heineken’s UX design is revolved around their brand identity and message. Heineken did not try use a whole spectrum of colors to catch the user’s attention, instead, they stayed true to their brand identity and color scheme of red, white and green to portray an overall coherent brand image.
Heineken’s bold, sophisticated and confident brand personality is also conveyed effective through their combination of black-and-white historical photographs and contemporary cinematic reels. By doing so, Heineken is able to convey their heritage and at the same time reach a new generation of younger audiences who value simplicity and high-quality visual content.
The Mobile Experience
The UX of Heineken’s website on mobile phones is also impeccable. The simplicity, content quality, and ease of use did not get compromised at all on a smaller screen.
Comparing the desktop and mobile versions of the website, Heineken was able to transfer every element of the their desktop site to the mobile version seamlessly. The header widths and font sizes are adjusted perfectly to fit my iPhone screen and animations are also optimised to fit a vertical dimension.
Final Thoughts
I was truly wow-ed by Heineken’s UX on their digital platforms as I was not expecting such meticulous and visually satisfying designs from a beer company. As a graphic designer and visual artist myself, I couldn’t help but learn a few things myself from analysing their UIUX.
Everyday is a learning experience, and Heineken has truly shown us what it means to be designing for the future generations.
