El Carmen Estate
Client
El Carmen Estate
Timeline
Apr - Jun 2023
Scope of Work
UX/UI Design, Research, Branding, Photography
Type
Website Redesign
The El Carmen Estate, situated in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range of El Salvador, is one of Central America’s prime specialty coffee-producing areas. In recent years, they have expanded their services to include tourism offerings such as coffee tours and overnight accommodations. Still, the user experience falls short when users have no way of accessing detailed information or booking tours directly through the estate's website, leading to broken links and resorting instead to phone calls and direct messaging for bookings.
Problem
Users encounter issues when selecting dates for tours or activities, consistently seeing a message indicating unavailability, despite the variety of options available. Contacting the resort is limited to email or phone, and the non-responsive website poses challenges for mobile users, impacting readability.
Solution
The aim was to create an intuitive and responsive online experience. This redesign aimed to eliminate the persistent issue of unavailable dates by implementing a booking system that shows available dates in real-time.
Process
Discover
To start, I researched the hospitality industry and coffee tourism to gain a deeper understanding into market trends. This helped validate any initial assumptions I may have had, such as assuming that there is a high demand for coffee tours and hospitality services in the area.
Coffee Tourism
In 2022, 2.5 million visitors entered El Salvador, which represented 96% recovery [from 2019].
Research shows a significant interest in people experiencing and learning about different cultures in other corners of the world. A popular way for tourists to experience local traditions is by learning more about food and beverages from a particular place.
El Salvadoran coffee production developed without the technical and financial assistance used by their nearby competitors, such as Guatemala and Costa Rica. Nonetheless, El Salvador has become one of the most competent coffee producers in the world.
As internet access gets better in El Salvador and more people become interested in visiting coffee farms, having a well-operating website becomes essential for broadening the estate's reach and attracting visitors.
Hospitality Trends
Innova Market Insights, a food and beverage market research firm, found that 56% of global consumers say a brand’s story influences their decision to buy.
According to research from Stanford, 75% of users will judge a company’s credibility based on their site’s design.
The second step was to conduct a competitive analysis and familiarize myself with other coffee farms. I analyzed competitors that are in El Salvador and in surrounding countries that also operate as a hotel offering similar services.
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Guests value a booking process that is straightforward, efficient, and transparent
To understand coffee-loving travelers, I conducted user interviews and surveys, using open-ended questions to uncover insights into their travel motivations, needs, and booking habits. Additionally, interviews with hotel staff were carried out to pinpoint any challenges or difficulties they encountered.
Findings
Location: Participants favor booking near main attractions
Visual Appeal: Guests assess comfort through photos
Transparency: Participants value quality and clear pricing
Direct Booking: To secure deals, guests prefer booking directly on the hotel's website
Real-time Availability: Requested room types via email may encounter delays if unavailable
Define
An Enriching Coffee Adventure
The focus is on facilitating effortless navigation, ensuring each visitor seamlessly explores accommodations, dining, tours, and events.
Meet the users
Conducting user interviews and surveys led to the creation of two distinct personas: the busy tourist and the blushing bride. Identifying common attributes among this group revealed shared characteristics such as time constraints, a preference for convenience, and a desire for enjoyable and educational experiences.
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A map to a better coffee farm experience
Through conducting competitive analysis and user research, an understanding of the user's mental model regarding navigation was achieved. Upon reviewing the existing website, it became apparent that multiple pages led to identical content, resulting in redundancy. To resolve this issue, a new sitemap was developed to allow customers direct access to the information they seek
Design
A Harmonious Blend of Aesthetics
At this point, I gathered enough information to begin sketching low-fidelity ideas for a potential homepage layout and including key features that enhance the travel booking experience for users.
Crafting the Identity of a New Blend
When crafting the brand identity, I found inspiration in the natural beauty of El Salvador. The moody lush green of coffee leaves and the rich volcanic soil that defines the region drew my attention. Opting for a deep green color palette, I aimed to evoke the verdant foliage of coffee plants. Additionally, I introduced a touch of bright green, infusing an element of playfulness as well as earthy tones to represent the volcanic soil, contributing to a grounded and inviting aesthetic.
To create a memorable logo, I wanted something instantly recognizable. After brainstorming several ideas, I settled on a simple elegant design featuring a stylized coffee plant to further emphasize the brand’s connection to nature and the hotel's name in bold lettering.
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Test and Iterate
Refining the Prototype
After analyzing user feedback, the next phase involved addressing problem areas and implementing revisions to enhance the prototype. Several specific improvements have been identified:
Menu icon placement: Relocating the menu icon to the left can result in better visibility and accessibility for users
Quantity option for added activities: This addition allows users to easily select the desired number of participants, eliminating any confusion or unnecessary steps
Switching the tab label from 'Coffee Tour' to 'Activity' in the booking platform allows users to book a variety of farm activities beyond just the coffee tour
From the home screen, users move to the targeted album playlist, activate multi-select with a long press, and swiftly choose multiple songs. Actions for an album playlist include "Add to Playlist," "Hide Songs," "Add to Queue," and "Share."
From the home screen, users navigate to their personal playlist, activate the multi-select mode through a long press, and choose multiple songs. Options include, "Add to Playlist," "Remove from Playlist," "Add to Queue," "Share," "Move to Top," and "Move to Bottom."
Lessons in adaptability
The prior website's booking process faced usability challenges, leading to confusion and abandoned bookings. In response, I redesigned the process, simplifying steps and emphasizing responsive design. This aimed to provide a seamless, constraint-free experience for users exploring the resort's offerings. Despite unexpected challenges during the redesign, including unresponsiveness from the hotel midway through the project, I remained committed to delivering optimal design solutions. This experience highlighted potential obstacles and reinforced the importance of adapting to real-world constraints in the UX design process.
