Connecting Brands
with Customers Through Personalized Energy Drinks
Overview
Project
INTRODUCTION
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Challenge
Goals
PERSONALIZED BRANDING
CUSTOMIZED DRINK FORMULA
HEALTH AND WELLNESS FOCUS
Project Scope
Exploration
Personas
User Interviews
Surveys
Benchmarking
Ideation
Mind Mapping
User Journey Mapping
Design
Wireframes
Prototyping
UI Design
Design System
Testing
Usability Testing
Heuristic Evaluation
Iterations
UX Research
Personas Design
The exploratory research phase will focus on understanding user needs, the market landscape, and the potential for customization. To guide the design process, we identified two key personas that represent our target audience. These personas will help shape the research methodologies and ensure the platform addresses their specific needs.
Emily Carter
SENIOR EVENT COORDINATOR - AGE: 35
Emily is a creative event planner focused on delivering memorable corporate experiences. Always seeking innovative ways to elevate her brand, she thrives on fresh, modern solutions that make each event stand out. Her attention to detail ensures every occasion leaves a lasting impact on attendees.
GOAL
Consistently deliver innovative, branded experiences that leave a lasting impact.
PAIN POINT
Limited options for creating truly unique, branded
event merchandise.
WHAT SHE SAID
“I’m always looking for fresh ideas that elevate our events and make the brand unforgettable.”
Marco Ricci
FOOTBALL CLUB MARKETING MANAGER - AGE: 48
Marco is a dynamic marketing professional focused on growing the club's brand and enhancing fan loyalty through innovative branding strategies. He seeks unique products that deepen the connection with supporters, making the club’s identity both iconic and engaging.
GOAL
Develop club-branded products that create a sense of pride and connection among fans.
PAIN POINT
Limited options for exclusive, high-quality products that fans will cherish.
WHAT HE SAID
“Our supporters are our strongest asset, and everything we do is about strengthening that connection.”
Interviews & Surveys
“What are the biggest challenges you face when creating branded products?”
“Would you prefer to design the packaging and formula yourself or get support from an expert?”
“What impact do you think a healthy, sporty drink would have on your brand image?”
Benchmark Analysis
User Journey Mapping
UI Proposal
Wireframes
I began the design process with a low-fidelity wireframe to establish a foundational overview of layout and user flow. This initial structure focused on basic placement without detailed design elements, allowing me to prioritize content organization and outline essential user actions and pathways.
Building on this foundation, I developed a high-fidelity wireframe, which introduced detailed components, visual cues, and branding elements. This advanced version closely resembled a prototype, providing a clearer visualization of the interface, complete with specific call-to-action buttons, interactive elements, and refined design features. This approach brought the design closer to a finished product and laid the groundwork for the final interactive prototype.
Interative Prototype
In the final design phase of the Custom Drink project, I created an interactive prototype on Figma. This prototype included the polished, final design, allowing for usability testing to validate user flows, interactions, and overall experience. By simulating a real-life interface, the prototype helped identify areas for improvement, ensuring an intuitive and engaging journey for users.
Additionally, I developed a comprehensive design system within Figma, outlining essential guidelines such as typography, color palettes, button styles, and component behavior. This design system serves as a blueprint for the development team, ensuring consistency across the interface and streamlining the build process. With these tools, the project is well-prepared for a seamless transition from design to development, aligning with the initial user-centered goals and brand vision.
Visual & Interaction Design
UI DESIGN CONCEPT
The UI design reflects the premium and modern branding of Celsius, emphasizing simplicity, performance, and wellness. The drag-and-drop functionality allows users to easily integrate logos, adjust colors, and modify packaging designs. With 3D visualization tools, users can preview the final product in real-time, providing an immersive design experience.
BRAND INTEGRATION
The platform allows full customization, offering predefined templates that simplify the design process by aligning with brand colors, logos, and other elements. For more control, clients can also upload their own assets to personalize the design fully. This combination of template-driven efficiency and custom asset uploads ensures businesses can easily create branded products that reflect their unique identity while maintaining the premium quality associated with Celsius.
SMART GUIDANCE
I aimed to incorporate guidance and reduce cognitive load ( Hick’s Law ) in the interface by applying structuring the customization process into simple steps and limiting choices at each stage, users can make decisions quickly without feeling overwhelmed. Predefined options, smart suggestions, and real-time visual feedback support this approach, making the experience smooth and intuitive.
Evaluation & Iteration
Testing & Insights
USABILITY TESTING
The usability testing phase focuses on assessing how intuitive the customization process is for marketing teams from football clubs and corporate businesses. The goal is to determine whether the self-service design tool meets user expectations or if additional personalized support is needed, similar to the way sports teams collaborate with manufacturers for uniforms and merchandise. Feedback from this phase directly informs enhancements to the platform, ensuring a smoother, more user-friendly experience.
KEY INSIGHTS
Initial findings show that users value the platform's flexibility and ease of use for basic customization tasks. However, larger organizations, especially sports teams, prefer more personalized guidance to ensure the final product meets their brand standards. After completing the maquette phase and reviewing the 3D preview, users can collaborate with a branding expert to fine-tune the design and move forward with production. This ensures that the final product aligns perfectly with the brand's high standards before entering the next stages.
Results & Future Developments
PROJECT IMPACT
The platform effectively enables businesses and sports teams to design custom, healthy energy drinks that reflect their unique brand identity. This combination of visual branding and product customization enhances engagement with fans, customers, and partners, providing a unique branding opportunity that blends wellness and innovation.
NEXT STEPS
The next stages involve enhancing the platform’s customization features, such as offering additional premium design options like metallic finishes and textural elements. Another planned improvement is the integration of augmented reality, allowing users to visualize their customized drinks in real-world settings, further personalizing the experience and offering a more immersive design process.