Project One Research
The Tasting Kitchen
So what is something that many Angelenos enjoy on sundays? Church? Farmers Markets? The answer is Brunch. I scoured the web in search of a restaurant known for it’s brunch and to my surprise, almost all of them had very updated and modern websites. Until I found The Tasting Kitchen. I was mostly trying to stay on the westside of Los Angeles because it’s closer to the beach and the surrounding restaurants tend have that beachy, california vibe.
Three competitors:
Catch LA,
Blue Daisy Cafe,
Lunetta Santa Monica
Design Issues based on Competitor analysis:
- The Tasting Kitchen’s website upon first impression is very drab. Black and white them throughout, with a typewriter typeface for any copy on the page including the navigation bar.
- There is a single, static, black and white picture that isn’t engaging in the slightest nor gives me a good impression of the establishment. Mind you the restaurant itself is very beautiful with modern styling, mixing industrial and natural elements that flow together very well. Which is more than I can say about the rest of the content of this page.
- There is a separate brunch and brunch drinks menu. Although this is ok, but when someone is looking for brunch it’s usually on a whim and you would like to see a lot of information in one place so you can make a reservation and drink libations with your pizza that has an egg on it.
- Upon further inspection of the page, I found that it is not responsive at all. When I move the size of the window, there is no resizing of the image, rearrangement of the navigation; whether it become stacked or into a “hamburger” expandable menu.
- The only call to action is a reservation widget powered by OpenTable that is at the bottom of the page under the drab, static image mentioned earlier, which is also the only picture throughout the website.
- Social Media connection is found under the contact page along with a email sub line but none are found anywhere else on the site.
Goals:
- Make the landing page much more vibrant and engaging possibly with the use of a carousel or full size responsive eye-catching image(s) that represent the establishment much better.
- The target audience are those that prefer modern dining but one not disconnected to the world outside and of course avid brunchers.
- Make the whole site responsive; images, navigation, call to action, etc.
- Single Scollers are simple, easy to make responsive, and easy to read where information flows smoothly in respects to good ux design.
- Would need time to gather useful images whether taken professionally or found online.
- Consolidate the navigation bar to contain fewer links for a cleaner finish as well as access to the reservations page at anytime for the visitors convenience.
- Change the hierarchy of information, esp. Social media connection which has become essential to conducting a modern business.