– Case Study –
1. OVERVIEW
Context
The idea for Vamarea came from my personal experience struggling to find greeting cards in Spanish sold in the U.S. to give to my Spanish-speaking family and friends. Many existing greeting cards in Spanish (that are on the market in stores and online) have (1) limited options, (2) outdated designs, (3) no high-quality materials option as seen in English greeting cards.
Product Goal
Create a wide selection of high-quality greeting cards in Spanish with modern and culturally relevant designs for people living in the U.S.
Phase 1 Incremental Deliverables
1. Minimum 6 greeting cards and 2 design collections to test with audience
2. E-commerce website
– Bilingual product descriptions
– Bilingual home page
– Bilingual about page
Scope
Branding: 4 weeks
Product Design: 4 months (for initial collections) for a soft launch
Team & Roles
Product & UX Design: Jasmine Reynoso
Tools
Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate, Shopify
*Special note
This is an ongoing passion project in its early stages, which makes it both special and filled with many biases. The inspiration for the project comes from my own experiences and those of my family and friends. While initial testing is conducted with this group of biased and wonderful people, the next step would be to test market fit with a wider audience of the general spanish/spanglish-speaking and hispanic public .
Case Study Menu
1. Overview
2. Learn
3. Define
4. Plan
5. Design
6. Test
7. Reflect
2. Learn
With an initial observation of the limited options for Spanish greeting cards in stores (Target), I went further to investigate the existing market and interview my target audience.
In-Store Research
It all started by taking note (and photos!) of the Spanish greeting card vs. English greeting card offerings in store.
Observations & Learnings
– Spanish greeting cards have their own limited (1/20th?) section at Target, some are mixed in with English cards (Barnes & Noble).
– Visually, Spanish greeting card designs look outdated compared to what’s available in English (90s graphics look)
– Spanish greeting cards appear to be wordier (more text) than English greeting cards
– Spanish greeting cards aren’t individually packaged with an envelope and sticker seal like many of the more expensive English greeting cards
Market Research & Competitive Analysis
To better understand what is available in the market for Spanish greeting cards and options for Spanish speakers, I researched “Spanish greeting cards”, “tarjetas de felicitaciones”, and “tarjetas de felicitaciones eeuu” online and examined the offerings of relevant search results.
Observations & Learnings
– The big retailers have lots of outdated designs for their Spanish greeting cards, even those that are in partnership with other big studios
– There are more modern options from small businesses online
– The small business offerings use a mix of Spanish, Spanglish, English, and illustrations with hispanic cultural meaning
– Papyrus feels unique within English and Spanish greeting cards because of their handmade and no-text offerings that comes with high-quality envelopes and sticker seal
– Cards hover mostly around a $5-$6 price point
Pulse on the Culture
Conversations and products around Hispanic and Latine identities in the U.S. have become more prevalent. Topics include those of representation, being “de aquí y de allá” (from here and from there), songs in spanish becoming hits in the U.S. (including regional-corridos from Mexico exclusively in Spanish), clothing brands featuring phrases in Spanglish, and memes about being a “no sabo kid”.
User Research
To better understand how Hispanic people give and receive greeting cards I conducted unstructured qualitative interviews with 8 participants ranging in ages 15-65 with varied fluency in Spanish/English and nationality.
This small sample size is biased in that (1) they are all people I know personally (family & friends) who may try to answer questions in a way that pleases me, (2) I may infer things from their answers based on what I know about them personally.
Interviews were conducted and documented in English and Spanish based on the preference of the participant.
Observations & Learnings
– Some people look for cards without any text when shopping for a Spanish speaker with or without limited English
– Cultural relevance is important in addition to text in Spanish
– Existing Spanish greeting card offerings are perceived as outdated, too religious, wordy, too sappy
– Older people may not know how to shop online and rely on greeting cards available in stores
– It is noted that there is a difference in quality between general greeting card offerings and those in Spanish
– It feels special and important to be able to give and receive a card that reflects who you are
research findings summary
There appears to be a gap in the market for a wide variety of high-quality greeting cards that not only reflect the language but also culture of Spanish speakers in the U.S. in a way that feels modern and special. Online and in-store access is also important so that any person regardless of technological aptitude can purchase cards.
3. Define
Based on what was learned, I began to define personas, journey maps, problem statements and opportunities.
Personas
Below are the personas that represent the people I am designing for, including their goals and frustrations.
Journey Maps
An outline of each persona’s experience when searching for greeting cards in Spanish.
Problem & If/then Statements
An outline of each persona’s experience when searching for greeting cards in Spanish.
Why?
To offer Spanish-speakers modern greeting cards that reflect their language and culture so they feel seen and special.
WhAT?
High-quality greeting cards in Spanish and Spanglish that reflect diverse and shared experiences of Hispanic culture in the U.S. with features like individually wrapped cards with dedicated envelopes and sticker seals.
How?
By having cards that (1) can be read by Spanish-speakers, (2) are culturally relevant, (3) are made of high-quality materials, and (4) are offered online and in stores, the Hispanic community would have a greeting card offering that is accessible and would make recipients feel special and seen.
4. Plan
The world of paper and printing for greeting cards was a new endeavor and a lot of research was involved in selecting the desired papers, printers, envelopes, packaging, designs, and e-commerce website.
The timeline was 4 weeks for branding and 4 months for the first collection of cards to be ready to ship.
5. Design
Ideating, prototyping, and setting up the first collection of Spanish greeting cards.
Ideation
The card design ideation process included 2 paths
(1) Text + (2) Visual Design
In sketching through possible designs I found that I wanted to test 2 style of cards at the start
(a) text-focused cards
(b) no text with culturally relevant illustration
Learning as I go
Spanish: test having a mix of Spanish and Spanglish cards and Spanglish website
Access: to start, I would sell the cards online and consider flea markets since getting into retail is a longer term plan
High Quality & Special: original idea of embossing he paper proved to be trickier than expected so that was scrapped in favor of speed. Originally considered having square shaped cards because they are more rare, but finding high quality envelopes proved difficult so instead opted for high quality sustainably sourced double thick cover paper in a 5.5″ x 4.125″.
Prototypes
With the first prototypes made to test both the materials and design with my user testing group, the idea for the first collection, “Notitas”, emerged.
Branding
I wanted the name of the brand to be in Spanish and something that expressed the beauty of being “de aquí y de allá”. After a lot of research with considerations for a trademark, I landed on “vamarea”, a word with no literal meaning that alludes to being in the tides, swaying between sea and shore, harmoniously existing in two places at once. Visually, I chose to represent the tides with a sunset and moonrise to represent the cycle of generations that shape us.
– The Product –
Vamarea Greeting Cards
1st Collection: Notitas
With the first prototypes made to test both the materials and design with my user testing group, the idea for the first collection, “Notitas”, emerged.
2nd Collection: Nostalgia
The no-text culturally relevant collection to be tested is called “Nostalgia” and features illustrations common to the shared experience of growing up in a culturally Hispanic household.
the website: vamarea.com
The website is meant to evoke the nostalgic feeling of sharing a sunset evening with loved ones. The first version follows findings from our user research that showed that younger bilingual generations more fluent in English are comfortable purchasing online, whereas older Spanish-speaking generations with limited fluency in English don’t shop online due to limited experience using technology and therefore shop in stores. The website is a combination of English, Spanish, and Spanglish.
Individual Product Descriptions
To start, the product descriptions will be bilingual, leaning more towards English as seen in other websites aimed at spanish-speaking populations in the U.S. (Hija De Tu Madre).
CARD Sorting & Website Navigation
The first collection of cards was presented to the user group and they were asked to sort them into categories and collections that made the most sense to them based on the occasion. Participants were asked to suggest category names.
Content design
The about section of the website is a personal ode to my parents who inspired the creation of Vamarea. That being the case, I wrote “Nuestra Historia” in Spanish, made content revisions followed by grammar checks (I struggle with accents!), and then translated it to English.
Social Media
To bring the world of Vamarea alive, I paired marketing images of greeting cards with contemporary and classic songs in Spanish. Captions are written in Spanish, Spanglish, and English.
6. Test
It is both amusing and difficult as a professional designer to do user testing on something so personal with my family and friends for a soft launch. To be honest, the most insightful findings will come from a marketing launch to the public given that the level of bias from my friends is extremely high!
Iterative testing & Agile
I did receive very useful feedback regarding…
(1) testing materials with users to find what felt most high-quality and luxurious.
(2) adjustments to text on greeting cards. For example “te quiero güey” started off as “te amo güey” but an overwhelming majority preferred something more casual in a card meant for friends.
(3) color tests when printing cards. Print variations were presented to users who were asked to choose their preferred prints.
(4) preference for illustrated cards over text cards. Illustrated cards had the most sales in the user group, with statements along the lines of “I used to do that with my family too!” and “these are just so cute!”. However, there was only one card that was both, an illustrated card with text that sold really well.
(5) appreciation of personal and nostalgic descriptions on product pages. People pointed out how the descriptions of the illustrated cards, like Naranjas with the “dad” picking oranges, felt really special and resonated.
7. Reflect
This project is still in motion and a lot has been learned from the soft launch!
Highlights:
1. People seem to have a preference for illustrated cards with no text, but more options are needed to ensure data is valuable.
2. Nostalgia appears to be a big component of inspiring delight in people.
Opportunities:
1. Create and test combo options of illustrated cards with text.
2. Expand the “Nostalgia” collection as a response to people really liking cards with cultural relevance that reminds them of their childhood.
Next Steps:
1. Get a larger user testing group by marketing to the public.
2. Test more designs outside of the existing occasions currently represented.
3. Gather more data around website visits and how the Spanish/Spanglish/English balance performs in A/B testing.