Capturing the Kensington Market Experience
The Opportunity
For our second project at RED Academy’s UX Design course, we were given two weeks to create an online e-commerce solution for Toronto’s Kensington Market. I worked to develop a website that would help shoppers connect to the Kensington Market experience online, increase the number of visitors, facilitate in-store and web-based sales where available and provide a forum for community engagement.
Step 1: Research, and more Research
In order to create a web-based tool for Kensington Market I needed to understand the current Kensington Market brand.
What makes Kensington? Kensington.
My research included web-based research pertaining to local and online shopping patterns, Kensington Market history, branding, on-line presence and Toronto tourism, interviewing six people (mix of shoppers and vendors), analyzing nine responses to an online survey, an affinity diagram, and competitive/comparative analysis.
Current Kensington Brand
Currently there are two Kensington Market websites Kensington BIA and Kensington Market — A Community Site (http://www.kensington-market.ca/) depending on your search method you’ll come across one of these first, neither has a complete approach, there is no way to customize your search or save a listing to make your own curated list. Both do provide information about shops and where available links to individual websites, social media links and e-commerce sites like Etsy as well as vendor specific options.
What and Where is Kensington Market?
Kensington Market is a constantly evolving group of independent vendors with a wide variety of products, business approaches, and customers located in downtown Toronto, situated near Chinatown. Historically an enclave of Jewish emigrants, over time it has absorbed waves of immigrants from the Ukraine, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, and the Caribbean. Hispanics are the most recent immigrant group to added to the Kensington’s mix.
Kensington Market is a sensory experience full of compelling aromas, sights, sounds and textures. The Kensington Market experience is not a straightforward commercial transaction; it’s messy, quirky and unexpected.
Who shops at Kensington market?
Through my vendor and customer interviews and surveys I discovered that shoppers come from all over, a mix of locals from the surrounding area, tourists both overnight visitors and day trip visitors. Kensington Market is also a favoured designation for Torontonians from across the city to come, hang out and grab some of Kensington Market’s vibe. On holiday weekends you’ll find people from the GTA returning to Kensington to purchase for ethnic specialty items and as well as bringing family and friends so they too, can have the Kensington experience.
Vendors I interviewed often find themselves acting as tour guides and providing access to local experiences making recommendations for restaurants, shopping and community events. One proactive vendor was so weary of providing directions they created a map of Kensington Market to give away.
My research showed that the Kensington Market shopper wants a unique experience. Age, cultural background, and the socio-economic group don’t matter, but attitude and sensibility do.
Visualizing Data with an Affinity Diagram
The diagrams helped organize data and see patterns/themes. Using the data from the in-person interviews and online surveys I created this Affinity Diagram. I looked for information to guide my Kensington website solution. I needed to know: Who shops there? Why they shop there? What they shop for? and How they shop?.
Research Highlights
- Food Shopping and Restaurants were number one reason people go to Kensington Market
- Market vendors a variety of approaches towards e-commerce and social media from full e-commerce websites to landing page only
to no website at all - Instagram was the most common social media channel used by vendors
- Shoppers are a mix of locals and tourists
Competitive/Comparative Analysis
Kensington Market is an unique place. I choose to compare it to two international markets which are similar, London’s Camden Market and Amsterdam’s NineStreets. These markets face similar challenges with a broad range of vendors and business styles and approaches to e-commerce and social media.
Camden Market was a more successful site it allowed vendors to keep their personality but created a consistent, user-friendly website. I used this approach to help guide my Kensington Market solution.
Planning
User Personas
I created one primary persona and two secondary ones using information from the interviews and surveys.
My primary persona was Clara Hilhorst, a Rotterdam-based architect visiting Toronto with her family. She’s an experienced traveler who’s tech savvy and looks for unique, curated experiences. Clara’s a foodie who likes to use social media and websites to inform her eating and travel plans.
User Story
Clara is a Rotterdam-based architect is married, and the mother of 2 children, a 14-year old boy, and 12-year-old girl. She and her family are visiting Toronto for the first time. A colleague has recommended visiting Kensington Market. She prefers unique, curated experiences and searches using social media and websites to help plan.
Clara wants plan where to eat when she and her family visit Kensington Market. Referrals would help her make decisions. She wants a Kensington website to browse and help plan their visit.
User Goal for Persona
As a user, I want to browse online to see what kind of restaurants are in Kensington Market so I can discuss options with my family.
User Flow
The user flow shows how the user navigates through the site. It took several revisions before settling on the final flow.
The sitemap was a challenge
Kensington Market vendors are an eclectic bunch and have a wide range of business styles and approaches to social media accounts and e-commerce solutions. I needed to find a way to allow for a range of approaches while presenting all vendors equally.
Based on my research I decided to organize the website into the following sections:
- Shops complete listing followed by individual vendor page with external links to their site (if they have one), e-commerce site (if they have one) and links to vendor’s social media accounts (depending on the vendor could include Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter).
- Food/Drink complete listing followed by individual vendor page with external links to their website (if they have one), e-commerce site (if they have one) and links to vendor’s social media accounts (depending on the vendor could include Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter).
- Events would contain upcoming events and information about them with links to social media accounts when applicable.
- Market Favs (Favourites) this was created from my research. Vendors often found themselves acting as tour guides making recommendations for restaurants, events, like-minded locations. This sections would allow vendors to provide a curated list for users to browse and explore.
- About would include information that you don’t need every time you visit the site. It’s the nice to know stuff including History, Community information, and General information.
- Login, here is another feature created in response to my research. The user should be able to save selections and recommendations into a curated list to help guide their Kensington Market visit.
Design
Sketches
I sketched out the main screens trying to work out all the elements before moving onto the mid-fidelity screens.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
This was my first attempt at using Sketch the program. I should have allowed more time for this part of the process. I had some difficulty using the program and understanding the correct proportions for screen design.
I made a pretty big error, my layout was too long, and some of my main features weren’t visible, you had to scroll down to find them. Definitely not a smooth user experience having to hunt for content.
Prototype
Using Invision I created a clickable prototype.
Summary
The Kensington Market website focused on sharing the Kensington Market experience online. The website didn’t force the eclectic, independent Kensington Market vendors into a one-size-fits-all approach. I provided the framework and based on the type of business and the owner’s preference they could use as much or as little as they wanted.
Clara, a tourist who was visiting Toronto with her family, would be able to check out Kensington Market online, view Market Fav’s, a curated list of Kensington Market vendors and plan her visit accordingly. The links to Kensington Market vendor’s social networks would also provide a sense of the Kensington Market community as well as a source for recommended products and experiences.
