Project Pasta is a small business located in Rhode Island that creates artisanal pasta that caters to the vegan, gluten-free and allergen-free community.

Project Pasta wants to increase access to traditional pasta by navigating and addressing the variable health needs of the population. Their previous site was hard to navigate and seemed to display their pasta products as an afterthought. They needed assistance in creating a site that highlights not just their products, but their mission.

Understanding the “health conscious” demographic

While the customers I interviewed came from different walks of life and spanned various age ranges, 2 themes that I noticed was that they were all very health conscious and valued companies with an honorable mission. Based on this, I created a persona of the “average” site user.

An audit of the original site

As a designer, I saw major flaws in the original site but I knew my opinions were second to that of the customer. I interviewed current customers in order to gain an overall consensus on opinions. The overarching view was that while the site was supposed to be a vehicle to advertise and sell pasta, it was not highlighted enough. Additionally, they thought there was a disconnect between Project Pasta’s branding and the product.

Placing the focus on pasta

While I believe my UX skills exceed my UI, I was the sole designer for this site so the visual and branding design fell on my shoulders. The main selling point of the pasta was its universal accessibility for those with food restrictions. That needed to be clear upon entry to the site.

Implementing branding to the structure

With the structure of the site laid out, I then needed to implement the new brand. The client wanted the site to be cohesive and whimsical as she felt that her previous site did not have a clear personality.

Designing new packaging for the product

After designing the site, the client then asked if I could help with their packaging. I wasn’t well-versed in this process originally so I had to teach myself how to create product mockups on Photoshop. The client informed me that the inspiration was 70’s packaging. Based on this I made a mood board and presented numerous variations. With each variation, they gave feedback so as to direct me in the direction they were envisioning. This packaging was used in presentations to pitch to investors.

In the end…

The Challenge

This was the first project I had done that involved a real client. I had to learn how to balance my UX ideas with the ideas and goals of the client. It was a practice in understanding the client and trying to anticipate the designs/ideas they may or may not agree with and try to get them to see my perspective.

Potential Next Steps

Ideally I would have liked to work with a developer to build out the site. I constructed the site through Squarespace so there were some constraints on what I could produce. I would also like to interview some new customers to the site to gain opinions on the redesign.