Mailin Lindved
UX/UI Designer
Personalizing Wine Choices: A UX Journey with Winefamly
In 2019, Winefamly aimed to expand its membership portfolio and reach a wider audience. They realized that offering quality wines at transparent prices wasn’t enough to stand out in a competitive market. Potential new customers often prioritized personal taste over ratings and medals. The challenge was to engage these curious wine newcomers, many of whom had limited knowledge about wine and were eager to explore new flavors.
"I often feel confused when choosing what to drink, as my decision usually depends on the food. I grew up with beer on the table, and I know wine is a completely different game."
To address this, I conducted a user research to understand the decision-making process of wine “newbies” during their purchasing journey.
The research revealed that customers were excited to share their wine experiences across multiple platforms. Although price and ratings influenced their decisions, most of the feedback emphasized the importance of wine taste and perfect food pairings.
This insight inspired us to consider a new approach: what if we allowed customers to express their flavor preferences and meal choices before making a wine purchase? In turn, we could offer personalized wine suggestions tailored to their individual selections.
This is a summary of a touchpoint analysis that led to the exploration of ‘Playground’—a journey to simplify decision-making for curious wine enthusiast by prioritizing their unique tastes and food choices.
The process
The development process was both iterative and exploratory, requiring me to deeply immerse myself in the art and science of wine and food pairing. I worked to understand the nuances of pairing rules—such as flavor profiles, textures, and complementary combinations—and translated these principles into a user-friendly digital quiz.
Collaborating closely with sommeliers, we transformed these principles into structured ‘if’ statements, carefully designing the sequence of questions to guide users toward three tailored wine selections.
Ultimatly, I enhanced warehouse asset management by improving the admin tool (Cellar), integrating features to collect and map customer orders, and enabling tailored wine suggestions based on purchase history.
Key improvements involved optimizing the order collection process and wine profiles enabling tailored wine suggestions based on purchase history. These enhancements streamlined operations while boosting customer satisfaction.
