Bridging brand storytelling, user psychology, and business needs into one cohesive digital experience

End-to end UX design / Desktop & Mobile / 75 hours / March 2025

THE BRAND

KimlyParc is a Korean instant coffee brand launched in 2023 in the U.S market. As customers quickly recognized its quality, the brand earned recognition as Amazon’s overall pick.

THE BUSINESS PROBLEM

Great coffee, weak website

The missing pieces

Winning
U.S. Shoppers

Despite strong products and credibility on Amazon, KimlyParc’s own website wasn’t converting. It lacked a compelling brand story, persuasive product pages, and the trust-building experience shoppers expect when buying directly from a brand.

  • A landing page with a clear hook

  • A brand story that felt unique

  • Product pages explaining benefits quickly

  • Marketing assets like a newsletter template

Beyond just design, the site needed to feel familiar to U.S. shoppers - intuitive, trustworthy, and aligned with Ecommerce standards - to actually convert visitors into customers.

How might we redesign KimlyParc’s website to capture attention, clearly tell the brand’s story, and guide U.S. customers through an engaging, market-standard shopping journey that drives sales?

  • Uncovered U.S. market best practices, defined KimlyParc’s unique strengths, and synthesized user insights on instant coffee, storytelling, and cultural heritage.

  • Defined user goals from research and crafted product storytelling through content strategy, information architecture, layouts, visuals, and infographics - ensuring the brand story was clear, engaging, and eay for users to follow.

  • Developed lo-fi to hi-fi wireframes, conducted usability testing, and iterated designs to ensure storytelling and purchase flows were intuitive, persuasive, and user-centered.

  • Built the final design in Shopify and launched a cohesive end-to-end experience that seamlessly connected brand story with the shopping journey.

SOLUTION

From a static storefront to a conversion-driven storytelling hub

I redesigned KimlyParc’s website as a storytelling hub that blends premium coffee, cultural roots, and a clean, intuitive shopping experience.

The new landing and an about pages highlight the brand’s strengths and Korean originality, while product pages use clear benefits, infographics to build trust and guide purchases. To keep the story consistent beyond the site, I also designed a branded email newsletter template - boosting clarity, credibility, and conversion.

Explore
Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER

Email newsletter
template design

The layout reflects the website’s visual language, with clearly organized sections for promotions, product highlights, and updates.

Process

RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

BRAND STORYTELLING

DESIGN & ITERATION

IMPLEMENTATION

RESEARCH

Objectives

  • What best practices and gaps emerge from competitor products and websites?

  • What user pain points, motivations, and expectations appear in the survey data?

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

What the competition gets right - and misses

The instant coffee market is crowded, but differentiated.

BLUE BOTTLE COFFEE

SWIFT

Specialty coffee

CHAMBERLAIN COFFEE

Vegan latte
and fun drinks

Each leans on either convenience, craftsmanship, or cultural storytelling - but rarely all three.

Premium instant products made with specialty coffee beans and freeze-drying methods.

Where KimlyParc stands out

KimyParc blends the strengths of these players while offering something unique:

A vegan latte in a single packet with plant-based cream.

➕

CAFELY

Heritage-inspired

A heritage experience rooted in Korean coffee culture.

A premium decaf option that matches the quality of its espresso.

USER SURVEY ANALYSIS

133 users answered

74%

cared about healthy food options

small business

➕

social media

A premium decaf option that matches the quality of its espresso.

Korean culture

Research

Research was key to uncovering why users weren’t converting—unclear messaging, buried product benefits, and a lack of cultural storytelling. These insights guided a redesign that clarified value, built trust, and improved the user journey.

Competitive Analysis

I analyzed leading competitors in the specialty and instant coffee space—such as Chamberlain, Blue Bottle, Swift, and heritage-inspired brands like Cafely—to identify trends, value propositions, and gaps in product storytelling, visual presentation, and user experience.

User Survey Analysis

I reviewed and synthesized survey data previously collected by the client from existing customers. The goal was to extract insights into user motivations, preferences, and pain points.

Key insights

  • Users wanted clearer visibility into ingredients, health benefits, and the product’s origin.

  • Convenience, portability, and premium taste were top decision drivers—yet these were not clearly highlighted on the website.

Supporting data points

  • 74% of users cared about healthy food options

  • 70% preferred supporting small brands

  • 81% discovered products through social media (especially Instagram)

  • 48% showed interest in Korean culture, opening an opportunity to emphasize the product’s cultural roots

Anecdote

A standout realization was how underutilized the Korean coffee heritage was on the website. Many users expressed fondness for the nostalgic “mix coffee” experience, which—when highlighted—helped build emotional trust in the brand.

Website Audit

As part of the research, I conducted a detailed audit of the existing landing page and product detail pages to identify usability issues and alignment gaps between the site and the brand’s value proposition.

Website Audit on Figma

Key findings

  • Readability & Visual Hierarchy
    Text size, color, and placement needed refinement to improve scanability. Infographics were lacking, and content was not grouped logically, making it harder to guide users through the site.

  • Content Clarity
    Product descriptions used terms that were unclear or undefined. The brand story and product strengths—such as health benefits, preparation ease, and ingredient quality—were buried or missing.

  • User Flow & Navigation
    The layout and order of content didn’t support a natural user journey. The landing page lacked strong engagement points, and product pages weren’t tailored to highlight specific benefits per item. CTAs needed to be more visible and action-driven.

  • Additional Functionalities
    Basic features like newsletter signup forms were missing, limiting user retention opportunities.

These combined research methods informed a design direction that prioritized clear storytelling, improved information flow, stronger branding, and better alignment with user motivations—setting the foundation for the redesign.

Define

Personas

I developed user personas based on survey data and customer insights to represent key audience segments. These helped keep the design user-centered by aligning features and messaging with real user needs, behaviors, and motivations.

Project Goals

I defined clear business and user goals to ensure the redesign addressed both stakeholder objectives (e.g., increased conversion) and user expectations (e.g., clarity, ease of use, trust). These goals guided every design decision.

User Flows

Sitemap

I created a revised sitemap to organize content logically and support clear navigation. It includes the landing page with product overview and individual product pages (Latte, Espresso, Decaf).

I mapped user flows for key tasks like discovering products, understanding benefits, and completing purchases. This helped streamline navigation and create a frictionless, goal-oriented user journey.

Design

Translating Brand Story into a Seamless, Responsive Experience

I transformed research insights into a clean, mobile-friendly design that communicates KimlyParc’s premium quality and cultural identity—through clear storytelling, thoughtful hierarchy, and cohesive branding across web and email.

I began with low-fidelity wireframes to explore content hierarchy and layout for the landing page and product pages (Latte, Espresso, and Decaf). These early versions were iterated based on usability goals and feedback. Once the structure was validated, I moved into high-fidelity mockups, applying the brand’s visual identity to create a polished, user-friendly experience. I also created product infographic to visually communicate features like ingredients, preparation, and benefits.

Iterated hi-fi wireframes on Figma

Responsive Design

With most users accessing the site via mobile (according to analytics), I designed fully responsive layouts for both desktop and mobile. The layouts were optimized for readability, ease of navigation, and strong visual impact across devices, ensuring users could explore and shop comfortably anytime, anywhere.

Testing & Iteration

Some users noted excessive scrolling, particularly on mobile, and mentioned that the content flow felt disjointed in places. There were also instances of redundant or overly detailed information, along with minor image sizing issues on smaller screens. These insights guided improvements to content structure, visual hierarchy, and mobile responsiveness.

To ensure the site was intuitive and conversion-focused, I conducted moderated usability testing using a clickable prototype of the landing and product pages. Testing focused on how easily users could find product details, understand preparation steps, and navigate toward purchase.

Conclusion

Summary

This project was more than just a website redesign—it was about communicating KimlyParc’s premium value and cultural story in a way that feels clear, engaging, and trustworthy. Through research-driven design, I created a responsive website and branded content that highlight the brand’s strengths and guide users toward confident purchasing decisions.

What I Learned

I learned how to translate complex product details (like freeze-drying, decaffeination, and ingredient quality) into digestible, user-friendly content. I also deepened my understanding of how to align visual storytelling with user motivations—especially when designing for both clarity and conversion.

Key Takeaways

  • I use UX as a strategic tool, not just for aesthetics but to drive business outcomes.

  • I bring together research, branding, and usability to create experiences that feel effortless and meaningful.

  • I’m comfortable working end-to-end, from research synthesis and storytelling to responsive UI design and testing.

Next Step

To continue improving the KimlyParc experience, I would:

  • Track post-launch performance using analytics (e.g., conversions, bounce rate).

  • Iterate based on real user behavior.

  • Expand the design system for future product lines or subscription models.

  • Explore A/B testing and personalization strategies to further enhance engagement.