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Project: Hutch Kitchen Web Design
My Roles: UI, art direction, competitor research, wireframing, prototyping, copy, photography
Tools Used: Photoshop, Figma, Markup, Miro, Shopify
The Team: Duston Olson, Lonan Jones, Gary Wong, Robyn Derdall, Brendan McNeill
Date: March 2022

Setting the stage

Hutch Kitchen is a direct to consumer brand located in Calgary, Alberta and ships all over north America. Selling products made in their own manufacturing facilities, Hutch Kitchen specializes in producing high quality kitchenware such as knives, pots, pans, cutting boards, cooking utensils, & baking tools at an affordable price.
Product design & functionality is inspired by European engineering. The company takes a minimalist material manufacturing approach, using only 18/10 high quality stainless steel, bamboo and silicon to make its products. The company has approximately 400 sku’s and growing.

Outlining the challenge

Whats the problem?

Hutch Kitchens digital storefront was lacking in clarification, articulation and on top of it all a consistent developer. The company’s ability to distinguish itself from key competitors in the saturated market was absent. This was creating barriers in building brand identity, expanding reach, generating brand loyalty as well as legitimacy for establishing new partnerships with other businesses & marketplaces

Whats the solution?

  • Hire a contract web developer to collaborate with to get the site built.

  • Create a compelling & engaging digital storefront. Establish the site as more than an e-commerce marketplace catalog by building & rebuilding pages that effectively communicate the brand’s values, emphasize material quality, design, showcase featured products, articulate the B2C model and how Hutch Kitchen’s products can be integrated into the consumers lifestyle in a meaningful way. Doing this successfully will increase client base, conversion rates and cultivate brand loyalty

  • Aesthetically speaking, design a responsive layout that is clean, harmonizes with the products, user friendly and intuitive, the layout must be malleable so it can accommodate future growth and content updates.

The design process in action

To start, we analyzed user research data, such as survey results, product testimonials and customer profiles on hand from the marketing team. Our persona profile was: young professionals-middle aged, mid/upper-class homeowners, based on this research data I constructed a user persona. Additionally, stakeholders gave us desired deliverables- product-specific pages that outlined a new product line & exclusive patented technology. These pages would showcase unique design & engineering that would distinguish us from our contemporaries.

User Persona

Information Architecture

First up, the homepage

The front-facing component of our digital storefront. Here we would showcase ongoing promotions, new partnerships, featured products, important product information (such as materials used) and quick, access to the entire catalogue organized categorically.

I did all professional product photography for this company, it was important to utilize these strong & alluring visuals to establish Hutch Kitchen as a sophisticated brand with a defined visual identity.

Showcasing brand defining cookware

My next focus was on product-specific pages, these were pages that went in-depth into particular product lines. The ALP cooking series was a standout product for Hutch, popular at trade shows, lots of positive fee and high in sales early on. An entire page dedicated to the safe, nonstick technology was important to establish these items as recognizable Hutch exclusives, the idea being that emphasis on quality & engineering in this product line would extend to the other itmes in the diverse catalogue.

Integrating new products

The second product page was a newer series of products the company wanted front and center. The Luxury series is a line of hotel-grade, chrome plated, 18/10 stainless steel coffee & tea accessories. These items are higher on the price scale, but still in line with their current consumer base. It was up to me to design a layout that elaborated on their finest qualities, and illustrate the lifestyle these products embodied. I had a detailed discussion with the stakeholders & marketing manager to discuss which specific qualities to focus on, and how best to highlight them.

above: a research board full of page-spread references

Early Iterations - The Luxury Series Layout

Luxury Series, final prodcut

Authentic & original photography

Elaboration on expertise

Finally highlighting, the 'about us' page, where we take the time to delineate Hutch Kitchen's promise of quality without compromise. Outlining the ownership's manufacturing experience to legitimize themselves as experts in the field, and how the products can be integrated into your everyday life.

Color, typography & iconography

Results & impact

  • The completion of the new pages, optimized for various screen sizes, integrated well with the rest of the eCommerce catalogue. We were proud of the updated digital storefront and felt empowered to approach new business opportunities with confidence.

  • Hutch secured partnerships with Hudson's Bay marketplace - which alone has accrued upwards of 250,000$ in revenue! Additionally with Loblaws marketplace, Best Buy marketplace & Neo Financial.

  • Site adjustments could be easily implemented to exact specifications from my established design system. Thanks to this and an excellent developer, we were able to save the company 50% per month on web maintenance costs! 

What did I learn?

  • This was the first project I had worked this closely with a web developer, in other contexts there had been a degree of separation. I found it at times to be challenging to communicate with clarity. We were approaching the project with expertise from two different perspectives. It was excellent practice in communication and especially patience, a virtue I can sometimes lack.

  • At times I noticed that my reach exceeded my grasp. My perfectionist eye would demand things like very specific sizes, colours or ratios that wouldn't necessarily be conducive to a responsive, online design. The art of compromise was key here and there was a lot of trial and error.

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