CoffeeBar

The idea behind this project came after the regular return from the Covid Pandemic where the coffee bars experienced a strong hit in terms of making money and forcing them to be shut down so they could barely survive. I decided to put an idea to the test: How would such a business fare if they had online presence where people can order a cup of online and drink on the go, at the shop or even home? And thus I began to work on this case study, calling it: CoffeeBar.

Initially I decided to hit Google as a starting point just so I could get some form of secondary research that would get me some starting information on the local shops. The data that I gathered showed a decrease of 90% profit and in some cases, even higher. On the other hand, the e-commerce association in Macedonia showed a major improvement of people whose shopping habbits online transformed dramatically. Going from people who were scepticals to the ones that embraced. How much was the question?

Initial research was needed to better understand the user needs related to coffee drinking and to better understand the coffee drinking culture within my city.I made a mini questionare of several questions and sent it out to several close people who were all between the target ages of 22-34 ages with the income and professions that would respond positively to this idea.

A series of in person interviews were then conducted on 6 participants to identify their pain points, frustrations, needs and desires within the existing coffee culture to determine how the CoffeeBar could improve this experience. Following, I went in the next phase which was to analyze the gathered data and to start out the design process based on that.

Finally after so long, I finally got to the design part. The focus was to design a clear web app with minimal and clean design focusing on simplicity combined with visual beauty. I showed some initial designs to the target audience which responded postively overall.

Ultimately the coffee drinking culture in Macedonia as well as the Balkans is unique. Its social importance is even greater than I realized as majority of the coffee drinkers enjoy a cup of coffee in a coffee bar for more reasons than just the coffee such as companionship, quality time with a loved one etc.

There were some signs of a potential investment, but that`d be at least a decade away if not more. One option would be to offer a way to book a table at a customer specific wanted time etc. Overall duo to unique coffee drinking culture, expensive distruction and just not enough interest, the Starbucks like business method is not profitable at the moment. Here are the designs that I came up with.