Connect the Dots
Reimaging St. Lawrence Market in the digital space.
Role
UX Strategist
UX Research
Team
UI/UX Designer
Content Strategist
Project Manager
Tools
Figma
Miro
Timeline
4 weeks
Built in 1803, St. Lawrence Market is a major public market in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and a cornerstone of Toronto's cultural and culinary heritage.
In this fictional scenario, our team of consultants was brought on board to help St. Lawrence Market revitalize its digital presence. The market, a hub of culture and community, wanted to extend its vibrant atmosphere to an online platform. Our mission was to create an engaging digital experience that would capture the heart of the market and connect with both loyal shoppers and curious visitors alike.
An outdated and cluttered digital website is making it difficult for users to explore the market, discover vendors, and stay engaged with upcoming events.
"HOW MIGHT WE, as interactive media professionals, redesign the St. Lawrence Market website to enable visitors to quickly access the information they need and better plan their visit, given the current website’s inefficient layout and lack of interactive features?"
"To redesign the website and create a user-friendly, engaging digital platform that reflects the vibrancy of St. Lawrence Market."
"A dynamic digital gateway offering users an effortless planning, foster deeper connection with vendors and seamless market immersion."
Our team approached the design thinking from a user narrative perspective to illustrate the user experience of St. Lawrence Market in a reimagined digital space.
CURRENT STATE ANALYSIS
"Conduct a thorough evaluation of the current digital landscape, including any existing platforms or features related to the project."
Our team started with the current state analysis of the St. Lawrence Market's website with a detailed heuristics review to understand what's working, what can be improved and what has to change. We further did a comprehensive competitive analysis to understand get deeper insights into the strengths and weakness of the current website.
Heuristics Review
Competitive Analysis
St. Lawrence Market was compared against the Kensington Market and Stackt Market on various criteria.
DEFINING USER NEEDS AND PERSONA
"Create detailed personas that accurately reflect the target audience's needs, challenges, and behaviors."
We conducted an interview with a regular market visitor to support our persona development.
Persona
IDEATING UX THEME
"The Harmonious Weekend Market Getaway"
CREATING USER NARRATIVE
"Crafting the Story: Bringing the Market Journey to Life"
By mapping key interactions and touchpoints, we created a seamless story that guides users from planning Jennifer's visit to engaging with vendors and exploring new experiences.
DESIGNING USER CASE
"Create a mid fidelity prototype to bring the UX design to life and test the feasibility of the ideas."
The following user flow outlines Jennifer's journey from exploring the St. Lawrence Market digitally to arriving and exploring the market well-planned.
Link to Prototype: Connect_The_Dots
"Lessons Learned: Designing with Purpose, Growing with Insight"
This project emphasized the importance of thorough research and continuous iteration. As a UX Strategist and Researcher, I learned the value of grounding design decisions in user insights and competitive analysis. The project reinforced the out-of-the-box thinking in design and balancing it in depth user insights to provide an engaging and informational experience to users.