Developing an accurate understanding of eco-conscious restaurateurs

To form meaningful connections with Civic Green’s target customers, the eco-conscious restaurateurs, we need to understand their priorities and what speaks to them. With this objective in mind, we constructed the research questions below to help uncover their unique motivations, needs, and pain points in achieving their goals.

• What’s the relationship between food packaging and their businesses?
• How well did the current or last supplier satisfy customers’ needs, if applicable?
• What are the customers’ understanding and attitudes towards environmental food packaging products?
• What’s the current process for searching for a supplier?
• What’s the current process for choosing a supplier?

After an in-depth kick-off meeting with Civic Green, as well as ten one-on-one interviews with its past, current, and ideal customers, we developed a deeper understanding of the business’s target audience. This in turn led to the creation of customer journeys from the awareness stage to the loyalty stage, connotated with human aspirations and pain points of these customers.

A strategy grounded in user needs

We observed that the target persona needs an easier way to select the proper packaging confidently. Perceiving this distinct need as an opportunity to connect with potential customers and mobilize them to action, we developed a strategy that seeks to not only simplify the selection process through an information architecture that’s based on customer goals, but also provide easy-to-access information on the products through a bite, snack, and meal-sized content approach. With this strategy, we hope to instill the confidence needed to take action, while meeting the customers where they are based on their available time and interest.

Translating strategy into design

01 Directing users to the right options via a short quiz

We identified two key barriers eco-conscious restaurateurs face in the process of selecting the right products: 1) the complex set of criteria for the needed packaging, and 2) a lack of knowledge about the different environmentally friendly materials and options. To provide relevant recommendations that direct users to the best options that meet their complex needs, and expedite the awareness and evaluation stages of their shopping experience, we created a 6-question quiz that leverages the customers’ familiarity with the foods and beverages they provide.

02 Grounding the site’s information infrastructure in user goals

To ensure the search and selection process is hassle-free, relevant, and engaging for customers, we created a product filter and categorization system using nomenclatures reflective of user goals. For example, one filter category lists out the different levels of environmentally friendliness that customers may look to achieve through packaging products, while another reflects the performance criteria required based on the foods and beverages the customers provide. By allowing customers the flexibility to mix and match their environmental goals with performance goals, we not only address the key consideration factors in their selection process, leaving no room for uncertainty, but also directly lead the customers to the right product that helps them achieve both of their goals.

03 Instilling user confidence by providing detailed and transparent information about the product

One of the major concerns of eco-conscious restaurateurs is the uncertainty around how the product would perform in real-life. As a supplier and an expert in the industry, Civic Green represents a point of leverage in addressing this concern. Tapping into the business’s extensive experience and knowledge, we can empower customers with the confidence to make decisions by providing detailed and transparent information about the product, as well as its material – from key features and properties to ideal use cases.

Visualizing a welcoming, yet professional and reliable brand

Based on our deep understanding of the needs of eco-conscious restaurateurs, we created a brand guideline that helps visualize a welcoming environment with a splash of professionalism and a deep sense of commitment to sustainability. We leveraged two key visual elements in creating a calming, spacious, and welcoming environment for the customers: 1) a color system with pastel shades; and 2) an illustration style that mirrors hand-drawn images. The selected typography for headings helps convey a sense of genuine care to both the environment and the customers, while the main content adds a touch of reliability and professionalism through a type family characterized by properties that makes it appear more structured. Combined with staged photographs that help customers visualize the packaging products in action, the brand guideline represents Civic Green’s commitment to sustainability, product quality, and promise to its users.