Background
I was asked to redesign a local, family owned restaurant, Locanda Perinella. Established in 1992 in Brogliano, Italy. Locanda Perinella is a typical local hotel and restaurant located in the beautiful valleys of Northern Italy.
The challenge
The client needed a complete overhaul of the design to attract more customers and keep up with the competition. This project had a 8 weeks time deadline.
TL;DR
Jump to different sections of this case study
Strategy & Research
Competitor Analysis
After asking a few questions to understand what goals needed to be accomplished, I did a Competitive Analysis. Perinella has a typical rural and elegant feel, so the research was limited to similar restaurants in the area. The outstanding questions were the following:
- Do our competitors have a website?
- Do they have an online booking feature on their website?
- Do they have a menu that could be seen online?
Research Findings
From the Competitive Analysis I could see that many of the competitors had outdated and difficult to use websites.
- 50% of the competitors in the area didn’t have a website, none of the ones that had were easy to use or understand.
- None of the competitors had an online booking system.
- All of the competitors with a website had a menu.
For budget reasons we (the client and I) decided to leave the online booking feature for a later time. In the discovery process I found out that the Locanda has a variety of dishes that change daily, so I implemented a function where the owners can change the menu in full autonomy.
Exploration & Prototyping
Site Architecture
Once I defined all the requirements for the redesign, I created a site map, which helped me focusing on the key design screens and overall architecture of the website.
Wireframes
With the Sitemap at hand, I started doing some rough sketches of the main pages of the website and then proceeded in making a digital version in Photoshop.
Design Production
Branding
One of the main goals of this project was for the brand message to be conveyed as elegant, yet rustic. I kept that in mind when I created the logo and style tile for the website redesign.
Mockups
Instashop needed a fresh and clean look for the new website. I was assigned the task to create a new branding for the company and I did so by creating a new logo and a brand style tile. See the final mockups here:
Conclusions
If I had more time and budget to work on this project I would’ve focused on adding an “online booking” feature so customers could book a table or a room directly from the website. I would’ve also dedicated a few more hours to usability testing to quality assure the overall user experience.
