Modus Notes was a third-year design project where, as part of a team, I collaborated with Modus Coffee to craft a thoughtful design solution addressing a key problem identified through UX research. The project was meant to develop my skills as a UX researcher and involved conducting ethnographic research.
Over the course of a semester, our team partnered with Modus Coffee to address challenges in customer engagement through a UX-focused design process. We conducted extensive research to uncover key insights into the customer journey and identified a need for deeper interaction and connection with the brand.
The result was Modus Notes, a solution designed to foster engagement by blending analog and digital touchpoints. Modus Notes were cards we designed which aimed to enhance user experience and encourage exploration of the Modus menu. This project combined research, participatory workshops, prototyping, and branding to deliver an innovative and customer-centric design solution.
UX Research
Visual Design
Figma
Google Docs
Adobe Illustrator
Baseer Joya
Therese Wong
Minh Tran
Jenny Xu
Angela Chan
Masum Billah
Modus Coffee is a specialty coffee brand based in Vancouver and was founded by the owner, Sharif, in 2015. What separates Modus from other coffee shops is their commitment to ethical sourcing, working only with local businesses to gather their ingredients. Additionally, they have a seasonal menu in which many items on the menu are rotated throughout the year. Together with Sharif, my team and I worked tirelessly to research the customer base for Modus and identify any problems and potential design solutions to help Sharif and his team grow their business.
To identify and address a user-centered problem, I conducted key aspects of ethnographic research throughout the semester, focusing on analyzing user behaviors, synthesizing insights, and identifying critical challenges. I played a pivotal role in crafting a solution tailored to user needs by designing and iterating on prototypes that reflected user feedback and aligned with project goals. Additionally, I worked on designing visually engaging posters to present key findings and proposed solutions, ensuring clarity and impact. Through a process of continuous refinement and collaboration, I contributed to a thoughtful and effective final outcome that demonstrates my design thinking, research skills, and ability to create user-centered solutions.
Our research uncovered key issues, concerns, and pain points experienced by Modus' customers, providing valuable insights that guided us toward crafting an effective and user-centered solution.
To effectively showcase our progress, I helped design a series of posters that highlighted key findings and summarized our research. These posters served as valuable communication tools, both for our internal team and for presenting insights to our client. Featured here are examples such as our introduction of Modus, an ethnographic research poster, and a comprehensive user journey map, all designed to visually convey our process and findings. Week to week presentations were delivered to our client using posters like these to comminucate results and ideas.
Throughout the process, several personas were developed of Modus customers. The persona that had the strongest foundation and seemed to represent most coffee drinkers from the research was the one trick pony. The project was pushed forward with this persona in mind and design solutions were catered the one trick pony.
This customer orders the same drink every time no matter where they go. They don't feel comfortable branching out with new orders and prefer to stick with what they know. They find comfort in familiarity. Simplicity and convenience is the name of the game for the one trick pony. Below is a poster developed highlighting our persona's journey and potential design opportunities throughout.
How might we refine the Modus Menu to guide customers in discovering new coffee options and encourage frequent visits by presenting choices in a way that is easy to navigate and aligned with a relaxed and peaceful environment?
In the final phases of the research, to hammer down a refined user-centric solution, I executed multiple design workshops with users. The first was a sticky notes activity in which customers were asked a series of questions and had to write their answers down on sticky notes. The second was a moodboard activity where participants were given 3 prompts and were tasked with creating a moodboard for all 3 prompts. These workshops were held on Figma.
The findings were insightful. Among some of the predictable results like users having a change of mood or associating coffee with relaxed/peaceful settings, we did find one key pattern across our users that drove us towards a final design solution. Customers enjoyed familiarity, comfort, and convenience. There was risk with trying new coffee and therefore many users chose to stick with the same order.
After a thorough research process and numerous iterations on potential design solutions, I played an integral role in the development of Modus Notes: a creative and engaging approach to enhance the coffee experience. These playing card-style notes are designed to bridge the gap for non-specialty coffee drinkers by introducing a sense of playfulness and curiosity. Tailored specifically for the One Trick Pony persona, Modus Notes encourage exploration of the Modus menu, making it easier and less intimidating to step away from familiar choices while reducing the perceived risk of trying something new.
Modus Notes were carefully designed to bridge the gap for the One Trick Pony and reduce the risk factor. This is done by providing a playful breakdown on each note to help customers make a choice and feel more comfortable with exploring the menu. The front cover is a fun invitation to flip the card over and read the back cover. Modus Notes achieves the desired effect in numerous ways. Ultimately, Modus Notes was approved by the client and is in the process of implementation across all stores.
Over the course of the semester, I learned invaluable skills in ethnographic research As part of the research and visual design team, I was able to hone my skills as a designer. Learning how to empathize with my user group, our team was able to craft a user-centric solution that was ultimately approved by our client as well and is in the next stages of being implemented in the Modus cafe.
This project was the largest I’ve participated in regarding team size, involving a group of six individuals. While coordinating and maintaining effective communication was challenging at times, it was an invaluable learning experience. It enhanced my collaboration and soft skills, allowing me to effectively exchange ideas, appreciate diverse perspectives, and work cohesively toward a shared goal.