Our team was asked by Lotus Foods to work on recommendations for a site redesign.

1. !
UX Recommendations for Lotus Foods
HCI/d, Indiana University
Rapid Design for Slow Change
Colson Rice, Corrie Colombero

2. We took the main messages LF wants to
express to the mainstream customers, and put
them in order by two criterion: First by the
“Effectiveness of messages expressed through
a website”, messages that can be expressed
through the interactivity (info graphics,
animation, video, etc.) of a website; second by
the “Effectiveness of connecting with
mainstream customers”. We organized the
results into a semantic differential graph to
show what messages we should prioritize on
the website.
!
We recommend emphasizing “Health/
Nutrition” and “Farmer Story” messages on
the homepage.
Prioritizing Messages

3. An effective website should excite people,
clarify doubts, and invite action. We carefully
examined Lotus Foods’ current website, and
recommend focused improvements on Site
Navigation, Homepage, Product Category
page, and Single Product page in the next
6-12 months, and improving Online Shopping
Experience, Physical In-Store Shopping
Experience, User Research informed Market
Strategy in the next 1-2 years.
!
Due to the constraint of time, we only made
detailed page mock up for the Homepage, a
brief mock for Product Category and Single
Product page, and provided Market Strategy
recommendations.
Short, Mid, Long Term Goals

4. Site Navigation Redesign Recommendations

5. Research - Card Sorting
Card Sorting - Method used to help evaluate and
design the information architecture of a site.

6. Card Sorting - Findings
We used card sorting to get
an idea of how average users
would prefer to navigate the
site.
Based off of user feedback,
we changed some of the
navigation titles, and
combined others. The
redesigned navigation tabs
are easy to understand to
average customers.

8. Homepage Redesign Recommendations

9. - Place main products on the homepage.
- Add interactivity to convey more information in limited space (landing page view).
- Build personal connections and brand recognition through farmer stories.!
- Show nutritional values of main products.
- Utilize Pinterest images and recipes to show “Better Taste” of Lotus Food’s rice.
Lotus Foods helps me to continue growing
the same rice grown by my grandfather. !
! - Juan, China
PRODUCTS / ALL ABOUT RICE / BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE & PLANET / FARMER’S STORY Register Sign in
Copyright © 2014 Lotus Foods Contact UsFind A StoreFAQ
We recommend the following changes on the Homepage./ ABOUT US

10. Lotus Foods helps me to continue growing
the same rice grown by my grandfather. !
!
- Juan, China
Register Sign in
The new navigation bar with
easy-to-understand language
and better organization of information.PRODUCTS / ALL ABOUT RICE BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE & PLANET FARMER’S STORY/ / ABOUT US/

11. Lotus Foods helps me to continue growing
the same rice grown by my grandfather. !
!
- Juan, China
PRODUCTS / ALL ABOUT RICE BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE & PLANET FARMER’S STORY/ /
Add Register and Sign in controls
to the top for easy log in and
purchase.
Add Shopping cart icon to show
purchased items.
!
These 3 controls are global so
customers can access these
information no matter which
page they are on.
ABOUT US/ Register Sign in

12. Lotus Foods helps me to continue growing
the same rice grown by my grandfather. !
!
- Juan, China
PRODUCTS / ALL ABOUT RICE BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE & PLANET FARMER’S STORY/ /
List the main products on
Homepage to send a clear
and strong message to
visitors: “We sell rice here.”
ABOUT US/ Register Sign in

13. Lotus Foods helps me to continue growing
the same rice grown by my grandfather. !
!
- Juan, China
PRODUCTS / ALL ABOUT RICE BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE & PLANET FARMER’S STORY/ / Register Sign in
Mouse over one product, the
image enlarges to show it is
currently selected. The
corresponding hero image
shows the landscape of the
origin country the rice was
grown, the farmer who received
help and benefited from working
with Lotus Foods, and a
line/quote from the farmer
expressing their feeling about
working with LF.
!
Clicking on the product image
leads to the corresponding single
product page.
Image source: http://wallpaper-download.net/wallpapers/nature-wallpapers-rice-field-wallpaper-wallpaper-33139.jpg
Image source: http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/KSchneider6_10_China.jpg

14. My family benefits from the Fair Trade program
with Lotus Foods.!
- Rangupati, Bhutan
PRODUCTS / ALL ABOUT RICE BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE & PLANET FARMER’S STORY/ / Register Sign in
Another example with Bhutan
Red Rice.
Image source: http://davidlazarphoto.com/amp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/32-David-Lazar-Temple-in-the-Rice-Fields.jpg
Image source: http://www.orth.ch/data/galleries/Bhutan_29_Karma_Lepcho_45_Farmer.jpg

15. Lotus Foods helps me to continue growing
the same rice grown by my grandfather. !
!
- Juan, China
PRODUCTS / ALL ABOUT RICE BENEFITS FOR PEOPLE & PLANET FARMER’S STORY/ / Register Sign in
A large “Shop Now!” call out button
right below the product images. This
button leads to the online store page.

16. Copyright © 2014 Lotus Foods Contact UsFind A StoreFAQ
Add a “Nutrition Values” block
to lead to the current “Health &
Nutrition” page. The content changed
to “Eat a healthy family dinner”. We
believe this message builds personal
connection and informs customers
the occasions they can cook rice.

17. Copyright © 2014 Lotus Foods Contact UsFind A StoreFAQ
Re-order the blocks according
to the importance of messages
based on our evaluation on
“Prioritizing Messages” slide.

18. Copyright © 2014 Lotus Foods Contact UsFind A StoreFAQ
We removed the company news
and social media section to
“ABOUT US” tab on the global
navigation bar at the top of the
page.
!
We added a footer for the page
with simple functions.

19. Product Category Redesign Recommendations

20. Customers can edit the
amount of items, type of items,
and purchase directly on this
page. The “Buy Now” button
is set as selected by default,
people can also click “Learn
more” for rice info.
Remove the “Shop Now” button,
as people can purchase directly
on this page.
Remove this duplicate title, as
a larger title already exists.

21. Single Product Redesign Recommendations

22. Add the purchase options on
on this page as well.
Use a table to list the important
messages, such as the soil, taste,
nutrition, etc.

23. User Research Informed Market Strategy

24. Field research:!
!
Bloomingfoods (local co-op with 3 locations in Bloomington)!
Martha - Buying manager (Kirkwood Ave)!
Matt - Buying manager (2nd & Fess)

25. !
This co-op is one of 3 Bloomingfoods locations sells one kind of rice,
it currently only sells Forbidden Rice 15 oz package.
We interviewed the store manager Matt, who gladly answered our
questions on the ordering process of the Lotus Foods. He pointed out
that in terms of the pricing and brand recognition, Lundberg is the
best selling brand.

26. We interviewed the buying manager. He pointed
out that the ordering the product is difficult. There
are too many extra steps involved in ordering Lotus
products at sale price from vendors. Speed to
Market is not currently a successful solution.
!

27. Field research:!
!
Kroger - Mainstream vendor!
Gary - Buying Manager

28. This location just started selling Oberweis Milk and
it is selling well. Oberweis distinguishes
themselves from competition with the use of glass
bottles and a delivery to door service.
!
Manager had not heard of Lotus Foods. They
currently sell one type of black rice (HINODE), but
it doesn’t sell well. The new single serving
microwave rice bowls are growing in popularity
and could potentially be a future interest. This
location just started selling Oberweis Milk and it is
selling well. Oberweis distinguishes themselves
from competition with the use of glass bottles and
a delivery to door service.

29. User Research Insights and Market Strategies
!
Rice is a difficult item to “demo” to consumers. !
!
Providing demo support to retailers yourself or through 3rd party companies would help initiate
exposure and generate interest in the product.
!
Packaging is the face of your brand.!
!
Lotus Foods packaging should stand out among the rest. Use the packaging to tell a Farmer’s
story reaching consumers on a personal level.
!

30. User Research Insights and Market Strategies
!
Utilize what resources already exist!
!
1. College students could be hired to work booths at Farmer’s Markets across the country to
educate, sample, and sell rice to consumers.
!
2. Lotus Foods rice could be served in lunchrooms of schools or campuses to help eliminate
apprehension of new/different products, thereby already occurring to consumers in their daily
lives.
!
3. Crowdsourcing/Crowdfunding options such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo are ways to get your
name and mission known by educating and raising money simultaneously.
(This could be used to help fund new Mills).
!
4. Marketing and Advertising through other shows, similar to Dr. Oz, and networks would raise
awareness. Cooking channel, Food Network, The Chew.
!
5. A documentary describing the methods and benefits of SRI farming accessible through online
streaming video outlets such as Netflix and Amazon would increase knowledge.

31. Every dinner table should have rice.
!
Thank you for your contribution to the world!