Delivering a premium chilled-foods experience with intuitive UX
UI Design: Elias MwangiUX Research: Fatima AbdiProduct Manager: James Kariuki
1. Overview
Crystal Frozen is a Kenyan e-commerce platform specializing in frozen and chilled foods. The goal of this redesign was to enhance usability, improve trust signals, and optimize the mobile experience for a seamless B2C ordering process.
Key Focus Areas:
Simplified navigation
Highlighted promotions ("Today's Deal")
Improved mobile responsiveness
Trust-building elements (secure payments, free shipping)
Original Homepage - Lacked clear promotions and fixed cart button
Design audit by Elias Mwangi
Redesigned Homepage - Clear value propositions and deals with a fixed cart button in place.
Final UI by Elias Mwangi
2. Problem Statement
Through user research and analytics, we identified several key pain points in the original experience:
Confusing navigation: Users struggled to find specific frozen food categories
Lack of trust signals: No clear indicators of secure payments or reliable delivery
Mobile frustrations: 62% of users abandoned carts on mobile due to form issues
Checkout anxiety: Users hesitated at payment options (especially M-Pesa integration)
"I love frozen foods but I never know what's fresh or on sale. The site feels outdated compared to other grocery apps I use." — User testing participant
Key pain points identified during research phase
Research led by Fatima Abdi
3. Goals & Metrics
We established clear success metrics aligned with business objectives and user needs:
Add-to-Cart Rate
+20%
Increase in products added to cart from category pages
Time-to-Find Product
-30%
Reduction in time spent locating specific frozen items
Mobile Conversion
+15%
Increase in completed purchases on mobile devices
Promo Engagement
+40%
More clicks on "Today's Deal" promotions
Key performance metrics dashboard
Analytics setup by James Kariuki
4. Research & UX Audit
We conducted a comprehensive UX audit combining multiple research methods:
Methods Used:
Heatmap analysis (Hotjar)
User testing sessions (5 participants)
Analytics review (Google Analytics)
Competitive benchmarking
Key Findings:
Heatmap showing low engagement with original navigation
Research analysis by team
User struggling with original category structure
Testing session moderated by Fatima
The audit revealed that 68% of users never scrolled past the first screen on mobile, and the average time to complete checkout was 4.2 minutes (compared to industry standard of 2.5 minutes).
5. Competitive Analysis
We analyzed both local and international frozen/grocery delivery services:
Feature
Crystal Frozen (Original)
Jumia Food
Glovo
Tusky's
Prominent Deals Section
❌ No
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
⚠️ Small
Mobile-Optimized Checkout
❌ Poor
✅ Excellent
✅ Excellent
⚠️ Average
M-Pesa Integration
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
✅ Yes
Trust Badges
❌ None
✅ 3+
✅ 4+
✅ 2
Key Takeaways:
All competitors highlight deals more effectively
Trust badges are standard in the industry
Our M-Pesa integration was competitive but UI needed improvement
Competitive analysis presentation
Research by Fatima & team
6. Wireframes & Flows
We developed low-fidelity wireframes to test new navigation patterns and information architecture:
Homepage wireframe with prominent deals section
Wireframes by Elias Mwangi
Streamlined category browsing with filters
Collaboration between UX/UI team
Simplified checkout flow with progress indicator
User flows by Fatima Abdi
Key Improvements:
Sticky "Add to Cart" button: Always visible on product pages
Category filters: Temperature (frozen vs chilled), dietary needs, price range
Progress indicators: Clear checkout steps with time estimates
7. UI Visuals & Branding
The final UI combines Crystal Frozen's existing brand elements with improved usability patterns:
Final homepage with hero carousel
UI Design by Elias Mwangi
Product page with sticky add-to-cart
Visual design by Elias Mwangi
Branding Elements:
Color palette: Chilled blues with green accents for calls-to-action
Original Homepage - Lacked clear promotions and fixed cart button
