I often drink wines that disappoint me. I'm unsure if it's due to my amateur status or simply because they are not to my taste.
WIWANT
Launched: October 2021
An app to find your perfect wine.
WIWANT, an experienced wine accessories company, aims to shift from selling accessories to wine itself due to competitive pressures. To support this transition, they sought an app to track users' wine preferences, partnering with our Taiwan-based software consulting firm. In this project, I designed the app from the ground up and collaborated solely with a marketing manager and engineers.
Team
- Sole Product Designer (Me)
- 1 Marketing Manager
- 4 Engineers
Task Success Rate
100%
User Validation
4/4
Problem
All wine lovers have experienced buying a wine they didn't enjoy. Amateur wine lovers struggle to understand their tastes, while professionals struggle to connect with other enthusiasts.
Wine discovery is often driven by generic ratings that don't reflect personal taste. Amateur wine lovers struggle to understand what they like, while professional wine lovers have limited opportunities to connect and share their knowledge. For WIWANT, the goal is to drive wine accessory purchases while building toward a future as a wine retailer.
I am a restaurant owner who offers wine pairings and enjoys sharing my knowledge with others. I hope to make new friends.
An app could help us gather user preferences for wine purchases and promote our accessories in an $800 million market.
Competitor Research
Other Wine App Users' Main Complaint: Taste Doesn't Match Ratings or Reviews from Apps and Fellow Wine Lovers
Based on suggestions from forums and Apple stores, I selected four competitors popular among wine lovers for analysis. My aim is to understand their target users, business goals, features, user experience, and potential growth areas. The main complaint I found among users is dissatisfaction with recommended wines, such as their ratings and reviews.
Quantitative and Qualitative Research
All wine lovers experience drinking wine that does not meet their tastes, but 74% are still open to trying new wine. What makes them want to try?
To explore more about how wine lovers choose the wine they want to buy and the reasons that motivate wine lovers to try new wines despite potential disappointment, I joined wine lovers' groups, surveyed 27 participants, and conducted interviews with 6. The main themes are outlined below.
How long have you been drinking wine?
How often do you drink wine and on what occasions?
What made you decide to start drinking wine?
How do you decide which wine to buy? Any tools you use?
Have you ever chosen wine that didn't match your taste? How do you avoid this?
Have you ever use any other apps? Why do you use it and any pros and cons?
Theme 1: Wine
Wine lovers view wine as part of their quality of life.
Wine lovers unwind with a glass after work.
Theme 2: Taste
All wine lovers have experienced purchasing wine that does not meet their expectations.
Wine lovers embrace trying different wines as a learning curve to refine their taste.
Some wine lovers are unsure which wine pairs best with food at gatherings.
Theme 3: Sharing
Wine lovers rely on friends and forums for wine recommendations.
Wine lovers enjoy sharing their thoughts about the wines they have tasted with their friends.
Wine lovers would like to receive feedback on their sharing and learn from others.
Persona
Let's meet Alan the amateur wine lover, Paul the professional wine lover, and Wendy the WIWANT's founder.
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Alan
Amateur Wine Lover
I often drink wines that disappoint me. I'm unsure if it's due to my amateur status or simply because they are not to my taste.
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Paul
Professional Wine Lover
I am a restaurant owner who offers wine pairings and enjoys sharing my knowledge with others. I hope to share more with fellow enthusiasts and make new friends.
-
Wendy
WIWANT's Founder
Due to low sales of wine accessories, we aim to enter the $800 million wine market. An app could help us gather user preferences for wine purchases and promote our accessories.
Before
Feasibility Feedback - Various Prices
Before selling wine, WIWANT did not consider providing the price of wine, as wine prices vary by stores due to imported taxes.
After
User Feedback - Wine Pricing
Users want to get a sense of how much a wine costs. We'll start with USD from other retailers, then switch to the TWD average after collecting enough purchase prices from users.
Before
Design Choice - Setting Rates Apart
Originally, I decided to use percentages for the match rate to distinguish it from the market rate.
After
Feasibility Feedback - Calculation
However, we discovered that the calculation was complex, and found it challenging to users to navigate the wide range. Achieving a perfect score of 100 was difficult. Therefore, we opted to set the maximum score to 5 instead.
Before
Design Choice - Direct browsing
Originally, when designing my notes page, I only included tabs for users to select the information they were seeking.
After
User Feedback - Filter
After usability tests, users expressed a need to quickly find wines they've enjoyed before when socializing. Therefore, I added filter options for this purpose.
Reflection
Engage Your Stakeholders, Don't Just Tell Them
I often found myself acting as the intermediary between clients and engineers. In the first few projects, I struggled to convince clients of the value of UX due to a limited number of interviewees caused by budget constraints. However, after gaining some experience, I realized that engaging stakeholders at every stage of the project makes a significant difference. They become more receptive and are able to put themselves in the users' shoes, providing valuable feedback.
