Good Spirits
A community based learning platform providing live, expert classes, and corresponding supply boxes, to help students master drink making in a fun and interactive group setting.
Overview
Good Spirits is an e-commerce platform with a strong community aspect. The platform provides live classes taught in series, by experts, our Master Mixers. Each class is paired with a supply box of ingredients, including liquor and custom Good Spirits branded products.
For this study we built out both the user, or Mixer, purchase flow and the teacher, or Master Mixer, onboarding experience.
I worked as the lead designer on a team with three other graduate students for this project: a project manager, a UX researcher, and a generalist. While we all had our specialties, we also all contributed to each aspect of Good Spirits.
Role + Activities
Timeframe
8 week Project
June – July 2021
Process
define
Problem Statement
At home mixologists are in need of a place to develop a great skillset and community
Competitive Analysis
Market Opportunity
Few services combine both classes and products into one engaging experience.
Key Product Offerings
01
Expert Instruction
University-level instructional classes that connect amateurs with professional mixologists at the top of their field.
02
Subject Matter Mastery
A platform for our users to master drink making in a series of skill-level-based classes and an opportunity to earn industry-relevant certification.
03
Engaged Community
A space where learners and instructors can build a community of new friends interested in mixology.
Personas
We began by outlining proto personas which lead us to our initial user testing subjects. Over the course of our research with these subjects we realized that our user, or Mixer, persona target wasn’t accurate. We updated Gim Let, from a dedicated learner to a dabbler, to reflect the changes we discovered.
Amaretto Sour
master mixer | bartender
Identity
Professional Bartender
Enjoys teaching
Tech + social media Savvy
Pain points
Disposable Income is tight
No organized way to share skills
wants to give followers more
goals
grow connections
promote personal brand
additional income
flexible schedule
share mixology skills
Gim Let
mixer | dedicated learner
Identity
Career-oriented person
Travels often
Tech Savvy
Pain points
Price of ingredients + quality alcohol
size (commitment) of products
quality of self-education inconsistent
goals
Learn from home
create using fresh ingredients
mix with quality alcohol
meet other amateur mixologists
Gim Let 2.0
mixer | dabbler
Identity
retired empty nester
likes to try new hobbies
disposable income
Pain points
complicated websites
quality of instruction available
access to truly unique ingredients
goals
Learn from qualified experts
make new friends
create using unique ingredients
purchase quality supplies easily
How Might We…
create a mixology e-commerce business that encourages instruction and community?
map
Storyboarding
For this product, we built out two storyboards to help us understand a typical flow for our users. Everyone on the team contributed to the content of the stories and I illustrated them with feedback from the team.
MASTER MIXER STORYBOARD
First up we looked at a Master Mixer Bartender.
In our story, they are working in a big city. They love talking with patrons about mixology and would like to earn extra cash. We, Good Spirits, find them through their social media account where they have a strong following and content centered around mix drinks. We interview and ask them to join as a Master Mixer. Good Spirits sends them a supplies box and they prep for hosting classes. They give the class live on a video call, and, finally, use their extra income to take a dream vacation.
MIXER STORYBOARD
Next, we looked at the User, our Mixer. This was based on our first version of Gim Let, the Dedicated Learner.
Gim Let meets our bartender and hears her speak about mixology. The learner wants to learn more about mixology and finds Good Spirits online. They purchase a subscription box and take the class where they meet new friends. Later they meet up with the friends they made on Good Spirits in the real world.
User Flows
The storyboards we developed were then used as springboards for our user flows. We created two flows to outline a Master Mixer and a Mixer use flow.
MASTER MIXER FLOW
MIXER FLOW
sketch / prototype
Branding
QUICK CONCEPT BOARDS
I conceptualized and presented to my team three options for the look and feel of Good Spirits. Utilizing Pinterest, I took two of these looks, Good + Bold and Mystic + Moody, a step further with imagery from the web.
good + bold
mystic + moody
MOOD BOARD
Ultimately, our team preferred the Mystic + Moody look. I further developed the concept with a mood board and branding guide to direct our prototype build-out.
I created a warm, clean aesthetic with a hit of the occult to play on the Good Spirits name. The website should feel like walking into a hip and cozy neighborhood bar.
BRANDING GUIDE
Font selection is an important part of my design process. I used Ten Pound for the wordmark logo to recall a puff of smoke from a candle snuffed out or the swirl of a spoon a drink. I chose Georgia for the main body text because I wanted something that would feel classic but also light and flowing with a little bit mystic in italic.
Wireframe
Our team began the prototype process by discussing the user flows, reviewing example websites, and building out basic wireframes. I then took the wireframe and built out a full high fidelity prototype using the established branding look for user testing.
During the design process, I consulted with the team to help refine the copy and ensure that the site reflected our mutual vision for the flow and look of our product.
low fidelity wireframes
high fidelity wireframes
HOMEPAGE
PRODUCT PAGE + CHECKOUT
CLASS SCHEDULING
test
Testing Plan
Master Mixers
OBJECTIVES
Understanding platform concept
Sign Up / Teach / Review
Accept value proposition
TASK
01. Sign Up To Be An Instructor
02. Take Assessment
03. Set Class Schedule
04. Evaluate The Class
METHOD
30 – 60 min via Zoom call
over 2 weeks
5 participants
Mixers
OBJECTIVES
Understanding platform concept
Buy / Sign Up / Attend
Accept value proposition
TASK
01. Purchase A Class
02. Rate & Review Class
03. Leave A Tip
04. Identify Community Interaction Points
METHOD
30 – 60 min via Zoom call
over 2 weeks
9 participants
Feedback
“I love the breakdown of the class information. The icons for drinks and difficulty level are super helpful.”
mixer, dabbler
“This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!”
master mixer, bartender
iterate
BOX FIRST VS. CLASS FIRST
PRODUCT PAGE
version 01
PRODUCT PAGE
version 02
CLASS CODE PROMINENCE
HOMEPAGE
version 01
HOMEPAGE
version 02
PRODUCT PAGE
version 02
PRODUCT PAGE
version 02
HOW IT WORKS SECTION SIMPLIFIED
HOMEPAGE | HOW IT WORKS SECTION
version 01
HOMEPAGE | HOW IT WORKS SECTION
version 02
Final Prototype
This final prototype is straightforward while still allowing for user discovery. The Good Spirits brand is tightly knit into every screen of the user experiance.
Reflection + Next Steps
01
Continued Research
If we were to continue with this product, our next step would be to continue our research. One way to do that might be to offer local live classes at discount to further test and validate our value proposition.
02
Cost Analysis
Another important step would be to determine costs for supplies as well as pay rates for our Master Mixers. We might do that by growing our team to include bartenders and by reaching out and establishing partnerships with liquor distributors.
03
Platform Rollout
Finally, we might work on rolling out our platform with beta testing. To do this we would finalize our end-to-end prototype, building upon our gathered research and work with a development team. Our first set of classes would be exclusive to a set of testing students for additional market research. The final step would be synthesizing all of our findings and pitching our idea to potential investors.