THE PROBLEM
Mello{be} is a small artisanal meditation cushion company that I interned for in the summer of 2021. One of their biggest challenges was adapting almost entirely to online sales following COVID-19. They previously had great success when people could try the meditations themselves at events and order on the spot, but navigational inconsistencies and lack of unity throughout the site made it challenging to submit an order from home.
USER RESEARCH
I identified a few major issues with the original site.
First, customers had a difficult time understand which cushion was right for them. Second, poor information hierarchy made pages difficult to skim for specific information. Third, the core consumers (office workers and people who practice meditation regularly) customers had difficulty trusting a site that did not have a gentle, clean, and cohesive look.
REDESIGN
I solved these problems by redesigning the UI to have clear information hierarchy, consistent navigation patterns, and more white space. First, I made wire frames and mock ups in Figma, then built the site using Wordpress, WooCommerce, and Elementor.
I re-categorized the vertical drop-down menu navigation tabs to better group related pages. The menu options now change colors when hovered over and clicked on.
I organized customer testimonials, behind the scenes photos, and awards on the homepage into carousels, so users can choose to see more of them if they wished, without clogging up the home screen.
The touching story of how the founder started Mello{be} was originally buried deep within the about page. I made it more discoverable by linking it on the homepage, giving customers an emotional connection to the small business. To bring the story to life, I incorporated behind the scenes photos and video.
Finally, I increased the white space and simplified the color palette for a less overwhelming and more refined look.
See my wire frames in Figma below, or check out the full Mello{be} site!
My internship was completed with generous support from Students+Startups in San Antonio. Thanks to everyone there for making my summer great!
