Delighters and conclusion

Delighters

Jason - Make your own Pizza game.

A flash and xml game that records the result. The pizza can then be ordered and collected/eaten on premises.
Best ones get posted on the website for rating of friends.
Jason may even want to start a Facebook group.

Heidi - Calorie counter and Ingredients list.

For both I have included the large photos of Venice. Different one for each page.
For most uses this will be ignored but for those who take the time and trouble they can scroll down and admire the image.


Conclusion

This is a first draft of the design comps.
Without client feedback the final designs could be not liked by our retire plumbers or users.

For this reason I have in the footer included a feedback opportunity for users.

I expect after user and client feedback I would be in a different design direction.





Bibliography

Sexy Web Design - EJS

design comps

wireframes - Hi Fi

wireframes low-fi

wireframe - six - unconventional layout

wireframe - early attempts

logos and colours

Mario & Luigi are not corporate, not a national chain and not a fast food outlet for the masses.
I will avoid brash logos, loud colours, and anything that says that they are more interested in corporate image over their customers.
I am favouring the hand written look, which is personal and special, like a hand written letter is over an email.

colour palette

The colour palette here looks as though I have gone for the obvious green and red but the sites I have seen that are conveying the finer things in life use alot of black and white and whitespace.

I will design a site that is mainly black and white with some some high light colours.

I looked a green first that would remind users of freshness. I found it on the Ainsley Harriet website.
Ainsley is one of the only celebrity chefs that has shares the same brand values that I want to put across, see earlier post on Site Objectives. He is in touch with the people, and it is for him as much about the relationships with the people he is cooking for/with as about the food.
This is the same for Mario & Luigi.
The green Ainsley has on his site is fresh against the black and it is the one that I was after.

Complementary to that is the reddish/pink. Used sparingly across a black/grey/ white backdrop I will be able to direct the users attention.

mood board - proper

Site Structure

Content Requirements

Main Navigation

Home
Reviews
Food
Booking
Events
Catering
Contact

Global items (appearing on all pages)
Always in the top half above fold
Text based logo
navigation
Panel for online booking
Panel for link to map

and on some pages
Details of offers or links to offers plus panel for joining to receive offers
Details of events or links to events plus Panel for receiving event details
Details of Lunch
Details of Dinner


Footer Navigation
links - about
legal
site map
Twitter - follow us link
social bookmarking
Postal Address


The pages in more detail

Outside of the global items

Home Page
Header and above the fold items
then
Panel - Whats on offer for lunch
Panel - Whats on offer for dinner
ambience pictures
footer

Review Page
Header and above the fold items
Then
reviews from press and magazines
Reviews customers
form for customers to add reveiws
ambience pictures
footer

Food
Header and above the fold items
Then
Info about food, pizza, drink, tradition, authenticity
Info on chefs working hard - Italian values
Link to pdf menu lunch
Link to pdf menu dinner
Link to pdf desert menu
Link to pdf drinks menu
make your own pizza
General info on ingredients then Info Link to ingredients list pdf
Link to calorie counter
footer

Booking
Header and above the fold items
Then
Booking form
contact details repeated
footer

Events
Header and above the fold items
Then
List of events, dates
form for booking attendence
footer

Catering
Header and above the fold items
Then
facilities/services
ambience pictures
Details corporate services and booking form
footer


Contact
Header and above the fold items
Then
map
Address details
contact form
footer


Auxillery/support pages
acknowlegment pages for forms
about
legal
site map
Twitter

Site Objectives

For Mario and Luigi the site need to demonstrate their values:-

Professionalism in a small, approachable way.
Personal care and attention
Warm welcome always
Attention to detail, passionate about food

With the objectives for them of:-

Getting customers into the restaurant
Customers being delighted and exceed their expectations so they recommend to others
Getting customers to their events held in the restaurant

And for their customers:-
To find the place
To order and buy with confidence
To buy something nutritious that doesn' t cost too much
To be made to feel looked after as in individual

moodboard inpirational - websites

Carluccio's - Is not overtly Italian, it has the major items that people want to know direct from the page such as book a table, find your nearest restaurant, and information about the food. Plus details of events, how to sign up for offers, blog and a charity plug which I guess to soften the guilt you might feel as you pay his prices and enjoy his food.
Carluccio's uses a simple scripted typeface for his logo. Just name is enough in a manly dark blue. And this dictates the colours of the rest of the site, with use of complementary orange for important parts but not overly done and on a backdrop of a creamy beige which is a good colour for the back ground of the food.
The H2s are san serif font, to make them different from the scripted logo and serif font navbar but this has meant (because design convention says so) that the main text is a serif font which gives the content, ie what it's trying to communicate a serious feel.
BUT serifs at this size at 72 pixels per inch do not, I feel, appear very clear. Would be fine in print but here I find the text annoying to read.
Something that will effect my font choice since Heidi is over 50 years old and may require spectacles for her work and computer.
The website also provides extras delighters which is a tour of Italy map that tells you a bit about each region. Strangely they haven't used and image map for this because it would have been nice to roll over a region and get the information about that region. You are given a list of regions and therefore expected to know where they are on the map. Odd.


The Living Room - Is a a fine dining experience. There is no hint of catering for children. There are mirrors, and art on the walls, a mixture of seating with an emphasis on relaxing, take in the atmosphere and we will take care of you.
http://www.thelivingroom.co.uk/
It is a more classy version of another very similar chain of Lounges which looks more relaxed and informal. The lounges group were started Bristol and now there are about 12 spread throughout the country.
Their website shows single people reading papers and on their laptops during the day and in the evening candles on the tables. http://www.thelounges.co.uk/website/
There is a mixture of seating to cater for mixed sizes of groups and singles.
The overall feel is harking back to days gone by and old values. Those days never existed but the values are what you expect in the food and service.
I think that for Heidi and Jason these two establishments are the sort of places they would like. The emphasis in not but they are authentic looking, and convey the ambiance that they are looking for.


Sandersons and Bluebird Cafe - These extablishments are selling ambiance.
This is ahead of usability especially with Sandersons.

Jason's scenario - Ideal Experience

Heidi's Scenarios - Ideal experience

Scenario

Next I need to write out what the ideal experience would be for each persona. Charting thier route through their ideal content until they get what they want and possibly more.

Persona Heidi

click to enlarge

Persona Jason

click to enlarge

The Plan

1. Analyse the personas to get a clear idea of the potential users needs
2. To get a clearer idea of thier needs write at least one scenario for each that tracks the person's ideal experience.
3. Based on their needs and the business needs of the owners write the sites objectives.
4. Write content requirements (no detail, just a list)and list the functional specification
5. Site structure and grouping of content and look at customer journey through the site
6. Interactivity, delighters
7. Wireframes
8. Inspirations, look and feel, moodboard
9. Visual comps + delighters

The Brief

More specific objectives - about

First off I will need to help the Mario and Luigi to develop a more detailed brief than the one that they've provided.
The successful web site will a balance between what they would like, what's feasible and what is viable in the long term.

1. Looking at their own objectives for their business
What do they want thier customers/potential customers to do when they see the website Or rather what action do they want them to take?
In the area of 'look and feel' what sort of impression do they want the customers to get, initially and afterwards?

2. What a customer will want from a website and restaurant?
Mario and Luigi have provided 2 personas for 2 potential customers. Analysis of these may provide answers.

Mood board - research photos

Click link for the photos I took around Bristol town centre.
picasa album

I felt it necessary to take these photos for 2 reasons:-

1. To define what is "Fine" as in a "fine dining" experience. By looking at the logos, fonts and colour schemes used.

Cafe Gusto - Is like coffee in a hurry. Only snacks available and is for people on the move. It is cheapenedd by the bad photos and spelling on the signage. None of this would impress Heidi or Jason.

The Living Room - Is a a fine dining experience. There is no hint of catering for children. There are mirrors, and art on the walls, a mixture of seating with an emphasis on relaxing, take in the atmosphere and we will take care of you.
But it doesn't look like somewhere you can get a fast lunch.




Pizza Express - has an interesting font for their signage and logos. But I feel that that they are one step higher than regular fast food outlets and do not convey the specialness that both the personas are looking for. Pizza Express does try to be authentic but this is on a big, national franchise scale and I feel that both the Personas will want to feel that Mario and Luigi's restaurant is something that they have discovered and not part of the mass market.

Bella Italia - uses a old fashioned serif font for it's logo. It uses allot of cliched material with it's flags, mini, and vespa scooters on it's website. http://www.bellaitalia.co.uk/index.php.
I reminds me of a stereotyped Italy from the 60's. The sort that would have been ridiculed by comedians.
Our personas, I feel would avoid it.

Reiss, Kurt Geiger, The White Company, Harvey Nichols, Azendi all have logos using type, very simple, tall, san serif to emphasis elegance and sophistication.
This will effect my font choice later.

Carluccio's - is clearly a man, with his navy blue signage. No fancy logos, just his name in a scripted font. Fine cafe culture, with an expectation that a man of considerable experience will know what he's doing when it come to food.
He could have alot in common in age and experience to our 2 retired plumbers.
A small deli attached to the café selling products that you can rush in a grab something freshly prepared in a hurry.
Pizza aside our Personas would enjoy a visit to Carluccio's but Jason may feel the prices are too much for his pocket.

Zizzi Ristorante - Looks young, happening and hip. Looks as though they are going for the young people, and young families. I do like the white vinyl of the italian foods listed on the bottom of the glass, which makes the restaurant semi private and draws your eye to read it.

Frankie & Benny's - large chain, american, brash, families, standardised food. Our personas would avoid.

Hotel Chocolate - understated signage, huge use of white space. Simple text based logo.
Says posh. We do posh chocolates, be in no doubt.


Philpotts - A sandwich, snack bar but with old fashioned look and feel. The emphesis is on freshness and prepared just for you. Reasonable prices and if it was just a sandwich they wanted then our personas would feel comfetable here. Although the outside of this branch is ugly and is a bad choice for them.

Starbucks - All about the coffee, what I gain from this is that italians like coffee, so Mario & Luigi should have the best italian brands, and machine for producing it.
I'm also intrigued by the goddess logo which seems to have a hidden meaning.


I have included some of my holiday photos that I feel are of interest.

Local Milan Pizza restaurant - My kids and me were made to feel involved the the cooking process, the atmosphere was welcoming. Smiles abounded and when we came in a second night made feel like long lost relatives.
Since Mario and Luigi are a single restaurant warm, friendly atmosphere, in a gregarious italian way is something that they should do. Short, hand written menus, with the emphesis on they are busy preparing delicous food rather than trying to look corporate.


Chateaux De La Messardiere - Service, food, decor it was just perfect and beyond expectations.
Mario and Luigi's attention to detail and exceeding customer expectations will keep them coming back for more.
They had to drag me out of Chateaux De La Messardiere.
http://www.messardiere.com/

Dolce & Gabbana - Included because the world looks to Milan fashion house for the very latest in design.
Again the need for looking you best goes right back and it's no wonder that there are the fashion labels in Italy. It's because they have been dressing smartly for a very long time.

Italian will work 3 jobs just so that they can afford to wear the latest fashions and afford the best
cars.

Pizza box - Work of art on the pizza box lid, assumes that the buyer has more going on in their head than one who buys from Dominos or Pizza hut.

Savini Bistro - The cakes in the window of Savini's show an exquisite attention to detail that show the Italian need for show. The passion for beautiful things and displaying it is nearly genetic and goes back to the Romans. This place looks unchanged since it opened in 1867.


Mario and Luigis have to stay away from brash logos of fast food outlets and assume that their customers are more intelligent and enjoy finer things.


Professionalism in a small, approachable way.
Personal care and attention - Like Philpotts
Warm welcome always - Local italian pizza restaurant in milan
Attention to detail, passionate about food - Carluccios, Savini




2. Location -

The Square is part of the new developement behind Temple Meads stations. There are a huge number of offices being build around that area and a potentially huge number of Jason's and Heidis.