McDonald’s Kuwait has always been at the heart of joyous family gatherings and unforgettable moments. With 71 restaurants scattered throughout the country, it has become the go-to destination for families seeking delightful experiences. The brand’s ability to turn birthdays into magical celebrations, especially for children, has made it a household favorite.
However, these cherished moments suddenly paused when the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the world. Fast forward to 2022, as life regained normalcy, McDonald’s Kuwait embarked on a mission to reimagine its birthday offerings and enhance its customer service.This inspired the creation of a dedicated birthday booking website, designed to revolutionize birthday celebrations. We had the privilege of collaborating on this project in partnership with Media Market Kuwait.
The website aimed to:
Simplify online birthday booking
Streamline birthday preparation
Ensure customer Satisfaction
Challenges
During the discovery phase, UX goals were established in collaboration with stakeholders. Engagement and customer satisfaction were of the utmost importance. However, this phase also presented a number of challenges:
Methodology
Unlocking user satisfaction required us to embark on a thrilling quest of unraveling their mental model, preferences, and pain points.
Clearly, our primary users are mothers of Kuwait, locals, and expatriates.
In this context, we started working on a user-centered approach that prioritized our users and helped to achieve empathy with them.
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Design
Empathize with users (Mothers)
In our journey as UX professionals, we have embraced empathy as a core principle of human-centered design. Recognizing the significance of understanding our #1 target audience, mothers, we delved beyond assumptions and crafted a customized physical workshop. The objective was to connect with representative users, unravel user types, and identify their distinct needs.
To dive deep into mothers’ needs, we adopted a beginner’s mindset. Engaging in insightful discussions, immersive games, and interactive exercises allowed us to gain valuable insights.
We firmly believe that by truly understanding our users, we can unlock the power of personalization. This will enable McDonald’s to enhance user engagement, boost retention, and cultivate a more meaningful connection with their cherished customers.
About the Workshop
- We have brought together a group of 7 mothers.
- Mothers participated in moderated discussions.
- A panel of three UX researchers moderated the discussion.
- Activities have been prepared for the group .
- In regard to their children’s birthdays, mothers shared their opinions, previous experiences, feelings, and concerns.
- Discussions were held about birthdays and online booking.
Define
For the team, the workshop was extremely insightful. Through close mothers’ engagement, we were able to focus on their needs, concerns, and priorities.
Among the most important findings we obtained from the different activities we conducted were the following:
Personas
To ensure a precise and tailored design approach, we created personas based on our extensive research that provide insights into the diverse types of moms in Kuwait who would likely use our website. Here is an example of one of these personas:
Ideate the solution
User flows
The research phase was a captivating journey that deepened our understanding of users’ needs and desires. It enabled us to uncover pivotal action points from their perspective. This paved the way for the creation of user flows that visually depict the holistic user journey within the solution.
Wireframes
With goals firmly set, a compelling Unique Selling Proposition (USP) determined, and priorities perfectly aligned, we developed wireframes that brought our vision to life. We sought as well feedback from our talented team, to uncover valuable insights, improvement opportunities, and areas of clarity.
Prototype
Building upon the wireframes, our next mission was to elevate the user flows and navigation, infusing a touch of captivating user interface (UI) design. This strategic move allowed us to breathe life into our vision, taking us one step closer to creating an exceptional user experience. We then created prototypes to test real-world journeys.
Usability Testing
Our relentless pursuit of excellence demanded that we put our prototype to the ultimate test—real users. We recognized the significance of unearthing pain points from the existing website and ensuring our crafted solutions resonated authentically with our target audience.
Our compass for validating our assumptions was usability testing, a proven method. Eight mothers from different age groups, professions, and nationalities were invited to use the website to book their children’s birthdays online. Sample of the follow-up questions we asked during the sessions:
As the exercise reached its conclusion, we meticulously compiled the results, illuminating our path forward.
Testing results: Main findings
Design brought to Life
The culmination of our meticulous research journey paved the way for profound UX enhancements in both the overall website and, more specifically, the booking journey.
A comprehensive feature set emerged based on the collective insights of the initial mothers' workshops, extensive research, and conclusive usability testing - merging best practices and trends.
We understand that the following points should be prioritized within this transformative vision:
- Transparency in price, offer, and process
- Detail-rich information to empower mothers with comprehensive insights
- Streamlined simplicity through one action per screen
- Clear demarcation of parts and sections, minimizing confusion and optimizing user flow
- Delectable visuals showcasing the culinary offerings
- Real photos that resonate with users, forging an emotional connection
Our final screens incorporated fun, dynamism, and the latest website trends while respecting McDonald’s international and local guidelines.
Here are some mobile screens for your viewing pleasure.
Takeaway
This transformative journey allowed us to prioritize customer needs, resulting in a remarkable website that delivers an exceptional experience. By immersing ourselves in their world, we created a seamless and delightful booking process, making every moment a celebration. Our commitment to understanding and exceeding customer expectations has paved the way for unforgettable experiences and lasting connections.
"Mindflares breathed life into our vision and exceeded all expectations!
They blend creativity and science to deliver a delightful experience on all levels. Unsurprisingly, we continue to collaborate with them on numerous projects."
Joseph Abou Jawdeh
IT and Web Manager at Al Joumhouria
"An excellent team to work with, extremely creative and professional. Through their deep understanding of our business and client needs, they have offered effective and high-quality UX design services. They offer the right level of support in every aspect of the project."
Carole Alsharabati
Founding Partner of Siren Analytics and Siren Associates
"Mindflares is one of those companies that makes magic happen for your products. It starts with a three-word request and ends up with a solidly grounded UX/UI design that conquers and charms the users. Their agility, commitment, and creativity are impressive. They are the kind of partner you need to ace your objectives and succeed in your business."
Wissam Youssef
Co-Founder and General Manager of CME Offshore
"Partnering with Mindflares has been an inspiring and fruitful journey and still is. Mindflares’ approach to business combines high ethics, transparency, and communication skills which were keys to our success."
