— PROJECT NAME
Krog Street
Mobile site
— ROLE
Illustration/
Visual design
Prototype
— Team
Kurt Jacobson
Greta Luna Priego
Milica Tucakovic
BRIEF
Redesign Krog Street Market Mobile site to improve branding,
solve for persona pain points, and make Navigation easy to use. Make better digital exprience for users.
Our team has all been to Krog Street Market several times but before we began our redesign project we wanted to became familiar with the rich history and mission of Krog Street Market. Originally KSM was used as a manufacturing facility for pot-belly stoves made from red clay and cast iron, as time passed the remained empty for years. Now where a once empty warehouse stood; a trendy, modern, yet industrial food hall that houses numerous vendors in dining and retail. However, Krog Street Market ultimate goal is to celebrate the cultures that live within Atlanta: by brining people together with food.
Krog Street Market began as a simple idea “turn the 1889 Stove work factory into place where intown residents can go to buy products, meet with friends and enjoy some great food.” Krog Street Market preserves the rich history of Inman Park along the recently developed Atlanta BeltLine. “Travel+Leisure” named it one of the “World 's Best Food Halls” and the Travel Channel featured it in its
“Food Hall of fame” episode.
Comparative Analysis
The C&C analysis was the starting point of our research, which gave shape to our design and inform major decisions throughout our development. Our competitive analysis began on Krog Street’s own mobile website, understanding what they were promoting and where they were trying to highlight the value of KSM. Then we focused on the only real competitor to Krog Street in Atlanta – Ponce City Market.
A single point of comparison just wouldn’t prove any real results through our research so we decided to expand our competitive market to other Southern cities with a similar demographic and urban vibe. The South is booming with Urban Food Halls, and from many , we narrowed our competitors to Transfer Co. Food Hall in Raleigh, NC. & The Pizitz Food Hall in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Atlanta Food Hall Market seems to be a bit behind the other Southern Cities. The Krog Street Market and the Ponce City Market mobile site was overfilled with listed information. Their websites lacked an overall intuitiveness that seemed clunky and hard to follow along. The designs do not follow conventional design metrics to encourage a visitor to return.
Transfer Co Food Hall and Pizitz Food Hall on the other hand showed great examples of conventional design. Their websites were instructive with clear calls to action. The navigation was easy to use even when you weren’t sure what you were looking for. They were able to create a User Friendly experience that did encourage us to come back to their sites over and over again.
Knowing what we were up against and things we enjoyed and things we found bothersome set us in the direction of our overall design.
Surveys & Interview
We sent Surveys and conducted Interviews to determine what the participants meant from their survey feedback.
What we Found
- 1. Most respondents are in their 20’s
- 2. Less willing to download a mobile app, but more likely to use a mobile site when finding food options.
- 3. Most travel to KSM by car
- 4. Most respondents visit KSM for the dining experience over other reasons
Affinity Mapping: Interview
In order to determine what the participants meant from what they said, we used the affinity mapping.
Minimum Viable Product
Key Insights
Here are some key insights that we found. A few that I want to highlight are that people fully expect that parking to be bad when they go to Krog Street, but it does not stop them from going. They also do not want to be bothered downloading unnecessary mobile apps.
Persona
Based on our data, our ideal user would look something like this. Because he is very social, he loves to plan and is usually on the go. He’s an Atlanta local and has visited Krog Street on several occasions. He’s also active on social media, especially Instagram.
Josh is a big-time planner who enjoys having full control of all social gatherings. This weekend, he is planning a dinner with a group of his six friends. He suggests Krog Street Market, even though some of them have never been. Although they each have their own food preferences and price points, they’re looking forward to having a good time in a fun, trendy place.
Current Site Map
Problem Statment
Josh has been frustrated trying to plan his weekend because he’s unable to easily locate useful vendors and parking information to share with his friends. Unfortunately, the current mobile site for Krog Street Market does not allow him to solve for these problems.
This is the digital experience currently. By just glancing at the options on the homepage, we see that it would be difficult for Josh to find Food vendors that he can learn more about. This could lead to potential for frustration for Josh.
Solution
Krog Street Market’s improved mobile site will provide clear and detailed vendors information which includes menu options, pricing, and direct access to a vendor’s website, along with the ability to share this information with friends and family. Live parking updates and an easy-to-read parking lot map will keep Krog Street Market’s visitors, like Josh, stress-free so they can focus on having a good time.
Design Process
Everything began with a rough sketch. With a couple of variations to chose from, our team was able to select a layout that we were all comfortable with.
Low Fidelity Prototype
From our paper sketch, we focused on our low fidelity prototype. The low fidelity prototype allowed our team to test the results of our planned layout.
Based on results from usability testing, we consolidated the lengthy history , adding a clean timeline with popup capability. We redesigned the parking experience with improved mapping information, real-time parking updates, and transparent pricing.
Site Map
Site Map
We wanted a space for the Vendors to be highlighted.
User Flow
This is the User Flow showing the ideal path through the new digital experience.
High Fidelity Prototype
We were finally ready to add some design with high definition photos, lively color, and a clean UI. We were were able to develop our achieved look at feel through our high fidelity testing.
Key Features
We leveraged our key insights from our research phase to focus the layout for our updated design. With a goal to address the direct responses from our target audience, our next step was to highlight their interests throughout our possible key features. While highlighting the Parking, Dining Options, and the ability to share socially a key design element was making sure the aesthetic looked clean and inviting.
Color
For a color pallet, we wanted to appeal to the historic feel that Krog Street Market offers. Built in an old industrial park, the area is filled with rustic grays and browns. To match the aesthetic we chose to match with softer tone colors.
Krog Street Market
Mobile Site
Conclusion
The project was a lot of fun working together. Throughout the process, I was able to learn about different perspectives of my team members and how four different perspectives fit into building a unified design. The research phase was surprisingly a much larger undertaking than I originally expected. Sorting through the details of all of the surveys and interviews took much more time than I was originally anticipating.
The most challenging aspect of this project was time management. Having a tight timeline of two weeks and scheduling around four different schedules was a continued struggle. It was obvious from the beginning that working as a group was going to cause the biggest challenge as it meant working with different personalities, different approaches to design, different skillsets, and different schedules. However, I foresee that this will always be an issue that any sized team will have to work through.
In the end, we were very pleased with the turnout of this our Krog Street Market re-design when compared to the original Krog Street Market mobile site. By providing the ability to sort through retail options, food options, and a clear call to action for parking and directions we redesigned the user experience for the mobile site. The layout and design were much more intuitive and useful which created an effective user experience versus the original.
Next Step :
1. Add vendor rating on menu page.
- 2. Develop new parking pages specific to vendor locations.
- 3. Perform final Minimum Viable Product usability testing.
- 4. Create design specification.
- 5. Send off to developer.