BE SWEET CAFÉ

UX DESIGN | OPERATIONS | MARKETING

The Be Sweet Café project extends beyond product design and ventures into omni-channel experience not only for customers but also for staff. It takes under consideration the entire small business ecosystem of a brick-and-mortar coffee shop: its physical location and space, digital presence, e-commerce, operations, and marketing. 

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• Business plan 

• Customer & staff experience analysis

• Operational & financial analysis

• Sales trend analysis

• Interior design 

• Digital presence design 

• Marketing plan 

The Problem

The adorable coffee shop and bakery in Grand Junction, Colorado has a six-year presence in the community. It offers coffee, baked goods, breakfast and lunch. When I first acquired the business, I noticed a number of problems and opportunities. I spent a month sitting at the café observing customers, gathering feedback, and interviewing the staff. 

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The findings indicated that the restaurant's operations were not optimized for efficiency, cost-effectiveness, employee utilization, and health safety.

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Customers were confused about their menu options: When customers walked in, they often didn't know where to look for the menus. There were four cluttered menu boards with small lettering on the opposite walls. It resulted in customers pacing from one end of the café to the other to make their selections. Also, the "café & bakeshop" designation of the establishment was confusing as it seemed to be more of a diner. 

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Staff was overwhelmed: The extensive menu, poorly designed kitchen, and lack of operational optimization caused the staff to run from one station to another--working the register, making beverages, making sandwiches, and cooking to-order menu items. Since breakfast and lunch were served all day, the order variety was overwhelming the staff. Training of the staff took a long time and the turn-over was high. 

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Customers had trouble finding the café: There was not enough outdoor and curb recognition that the location was a café and bakeshop. The store front blend into the other shops on the block and the signage was inadequate to portray the shoppe's presence. 

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Customers found outdoor furniture uncomfortable: The adirondack chairs were uncomfortable to sit on: customers were leaning forward in order to drink their beverages as the chair design was more conducive to lounging than dining. 

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Interior design was overwhelming, cluttered, and not well utilized: The bright colors in the café and the inspirational wall art were intended to provide a happy atmosphere but instead induced stress. The main part of the café had a large, unutilized space in the middle causing customers to fill it ad-hoc instead of forming an orderly cue. The crowds caused stress to the staff as they did not know who to take orders from first. 

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Baked goods were not fresh: Partly because the menu was so extensive and focused operationally on breakfast and lunch, the bakery operations were neglected with baked good often going stale. The acrylic display case was not designed for baked goods: it allowed them to dry out too quickly. It also made it difficult for customers to view them: they often crouched to be able to see the items on display. 

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The cost of goods and expenses were high: Some of the ingredients in menu items were very expensive and unique to a particular dish. It resulted in spoilage and waste as they were not used fast enough. 

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The branding was dated and inconsistent and there was very little marketing: The café logo was difficult to read: the lettering was yellow and the bee's shading made it nearly impossible to reproduce in black & white. The printed materials, including the menus, were cluttered and inconsistent. The café's main marketing channel was Facebook, which was not optimized for the local market. 

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The restaurant lacked proper health safety compliance: Last safety inspection conducted in the spring of 2024 showed a PASS score of 49 points. “Pass” means the establishment meets fundamental food safety standards. The risk index range is 0-49 total points. When the risk index is above 50 points, reinspection is required. This means that the restaurant was 1 point away from mandatory reinspection. Moreover, based on a reinspection notice found at the shop, the restaurant had a higher number of violations in previous inspections that were never addressed. A review of the last inspection showred violations due to improper food temperatures, sanitation practices, food storage, and lack of equipment for body fluid clean-up of biohazardous contaminants. ​​​

The Solution

The solution was to phase out the app development into two: one (Version 1.2) that would update the functionality and a second one (Version 2.0) that would add further functional improvements and a facelift to match the e-commerce platform's redesign effort. The functional requirements have undergone numerous changes, and there were many iterations, wireframes, and prototypes I created before we reached a desirable potential product.