Beer Crew
Redesigned a web app to simplify brew scheduling for home and micro brewers.
RESPONSIBILITIES
UI/UX Design, Research
TOOLS
Figma
TIMELINE
January 2023 - March 2023
overview
ABOUT
Scheduling a brew can be a hassle
Brewing beer is a multi-step process that involves several stages, each of which can take a different lengths of time to complete. This variability makes scheduling and re-scheduling a brew a challenging task.
THE CHALLENGE
Making scheduling intuitive and easy
I was tasked with improving the user-friendliness, intuitiveness, and UI design of an existing web application without adding any extra features beyond those already present.
research
USER TESTING
Meeting the brewers
Given my limited knowledge of brewing, I opted to talk to potential users of the web app. I had the opportunity to conduct interviews and usability tests with 3 micro-brewers and 1 home brewer about their brew scheduling practices and pain points.
THE FINDINGS
Discovering themes…
1. VARIABLE STAGES
Cellaring stages can have unpredictable and changing timing.
• 3/4 brewers said rescheduling is problematic when cellar stages exceed expected duration
• Although cellar stages varying is rare, it is a big pain point for brewers.
2. FOH COMMUNICATION
Schedule changes cause mis-communications with Front of House.
• 2/4 brewers often run into miscommunications with FOH staff.
• Changing timings are the cause of these misunderstandings.
3. TIME CONSUMING METHODS
Small scale brewers rely on inefficient scheduling methods.
• 2/4 brewers uses whiteboard and paper, and 2/4 uses Google Calendar.
• All said scheduling is time-consuming with their current method.
USABILITY ISSUES
Some usability test findings…
1. INFLEXIBLE CELLARING STAGE ENTRY
2. CONFUSING SCHEDULING FLOW
3. GENERAL UI & RESPONSIVENESS ISSUES
SETTING GOALS
How might we . . .
∙Make the process of scheduling and rescheduling a brew easy and efficient?
∙Keep friends and/or front of house staff updated on brew schedules?
∙Allow straightforward editing of recipes?
design
USER FLOW
Mapping out a new flow
After discovering that the flow was a key problem in the usability testing, my first step in the redesign process was to simplify it.
WIREFRAMING
Bringing the ideas to life
To facilitate communication and feedback with the client, I first sketched out my designs on paper and then digitized them using Figma.
the results
Simple and easy scheduling
A streamlined brew scheduling flow that is more efficient, intuitive, and customizable.
Your recipe vault
Access and schedule your saved recipes anytime. Edit seamlessly to experiment.
Effortless rescheduling
Quick, hassle-free, and automated rescheduling for any unexpected hiccups.
