“There’s always money in the banana stand...”
Role: UX Designer | Timeline: 2 weeks | Platform: Desktop Website
Challenge: Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand has been a Newport Beach institution for over 60 years. Established in 1953, this iconic frozen banana provider has become a household name within the community. However, they have failed to adjust with the changing times and market. Having recently opened 2 new locations, Bluth’s Frozen Bananas wants to have an online presence allowing new and existing customers to learn more about them.
Solution: Create an online platform to increase sales and drive awareness to their values as well as services. This system should serve as a place to explore Bluth’s Frozen Banana’s products but also learn about their community service and philanthropy. In addition, the website will showcase the company’s new moves towards online ordering and catering services.
Product: Bluth's Original Frozen Banana [not the stand]
An e-commerce desktop/mobile responsive site to showcase Bluth’s Frozen Banana’s products and services. Promote and educate about their brand and values.
DESIGN PROCESS
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
A deep exploration into the history of the Bluth family and their associated ventures showed a pattern of mismanagement and business strategies. The employee turnover rate was unusually high across the border and company morale showed extreme fluctuations. Overall, the results showed many scattered and failed attempts at creative enterprises, but one thing was consistent—the revenue from the banana stand.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
BUSINESS STRATEGY
They know what they are doing right-- the frozen banana dessert. Next steps were to showcase the cornerstone product with new creative flavors and promotional ventures. With the launch of the new website, Bluth's Original Frozen Banana stand will unveil 6 brand new original recipe menu items. These recipes were developed with top banana chef consultants as well as local and seasonal Newport Beach trends. This move is targeted to re-excite loyal patrons as well as attract new business.
Online ordering was a priority to customers. The new website includes a 2-step user friendly ordering system which allows customers to read the menu and quickly add/adjust items in their virtual shopping cart. They can choose to complete their purchase online via credit card or by cash/check on-site for carry out orders. They also offer personal delivery via Segway in a selected radius from each banana stand location.
Bluth's Original Frozen Banana will also now be offering corporate catering. This is a brand new venture for the Bluth company and it intends to serve in entire greater-Newport Beach area. Promotional codes will be showcased seasonally on the website for bulk orders as well.
USER FLOW
The User Journey was the most important feature of the R&D behind Bluth's Frozen Bananas' new online unveiling. It was crucial that customers experienced a pleasant and seamless journey while perusing their website; the end goal being to place an online order.
The Bluth's brand prides themselves on being the "best." They want to focus their audience to the flavor of their product rather than confuse them with nutritional facts. Although they understand the west coast fad of "healthy eating," and developed a placeholder page within the site promising future updates that will never occur. Instead they took the opportunity to use their construction company's stair-car to plug their other enterprises in the time being.
Both the Bluth brand itself as well as the family, have suffered many undeserving stabs in the recent media. They had previously unsuccessfully collaborated with private PR consultants, but are now taking an internal initiative. The Bluth Frozen Banana recently launched a email and social media campaign to direct customers towards their new online presence and surveys. This allowed the UX team to conduct targeted testing for their development.
USER TESTING
Jesse Bowers, former public relations liaison for Bluth Co.
Testing was conducted among targeted users from the PR blitz resulting in surprizing data. It seems, Bluth sales generally remain stagnant throughout the year with only a minimal spike during spring break. The regular patrons of BFB were limited to local high schoolers and a cycle of tourists in the Balboa Bay community. The UX team developed the strategy to design a website using vibrate images to lure in the user's attention as well as keep the product and ordering page clean and clear.
We found that 80% of our tested audience reacted positively to the new features.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Beyond PR promotions pushed through the site itself, Bluth's launched their very first social media pages. This allowed the company to reach customers beyond the locals.
In today's day and age, Bluth's wanted to deliver the best presence for their audience. After all, if you don’t know what’s being said, how can you effectively manage your brand reputation online? And how can you ensure that your key messages are being heard by the people you most want to talk to?
FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
Bluth's Frozen Bananas hopes to establish themselves enough to launch a national chain and open 25 new locations in the next 3 years. They are confident that this new website will help them reach their goals through awareness among their targeted customers.
BFB plans to launch a mobile app in the coming months to accompany their brand new desktop website.
