Sauce Lab
USER INTERFACE | USER EXPERIENCE
Sauce Lab is a service that allows users to create their own unique hot sauce directly to their door. They wanted to increase the completion rate of custom sauce orders, as well as promote community growth to introduce users to recipes and flavors they might not have thought to try themselves.
I mapped a series of user flows through the app’s various features and determined at which points we could introduce users to community interactions, upsell orders, and improve the experience through natural transition points at various stage.
The sauce building feature allows users to start with a base of 1-2 peppers, then choose a handful of secondary ingredients to change the acidity, viscosity, and flavor. Near the end of the builder process user can fine tune using a series of optional sliders. Throughout the entire process there’s an interface at the top showing the current recipe’s heat level, thickness, acidity, ingredients, and even a render showing the approximate color of their sauce.
To encourage community growth and interaction, I created a community browser page where users can share their creations and browse by a number of filters based on their flavor and spice preferences. I also added community events and awards like sauce of the month and new ingredients where users get to vote for the outcome and have a direct effect on the future of the app.
With the experience map done I created wireframes to get a feel for how the new features could come to life within the app.
The final interface design is minimal in style, saving color for what really matters - fresh ingredients and high priority CTAs. Sauce Lab is a robust and creative business and simplification of process and interface is key to not overwhelm a new user, and to keep the process streamlined for returning users.
