Brakes is one of Europe’s largest food wholesalers, delivering to over 50,000 catering businesses across various sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, education, and prisons. With a growing demand for online ordering, the company sought to overhaul its digital presence to improve user experience, enhance accessibility, and create a platform that could scale alongside future business growth.
The existing Brakes digital experience was fragmented and outdated, with separate platforms for order-taking, marketing, and brand-specific sites for Woodwards and Country Choice. These systems provided a disjointed experience for customers, impacting both usability and accessibility. The challenge was to create a unified, customer-centric digital platform that would offer a cohesive experience, improve accessibility, and be flexible enough to accommodate future digital initiatives.
Approach & key deliverables
The redesign of Brakes’ digital platform involved a collaborative, insight-driven approach to ensure we met both customer needs and business objectives. We worked closely with the Brakes team to understand user journeys, leveraging both existing research and new data to inform our design decisions. Our approach resulted in the following key deliverables:
Stakeholder Alignment & Research
We conducted stakeholder interviews and in-depth research to clarify business priorities and ensure alignment with user needs. This foundational work enabled us to develop a customer-centric approach to the redesign.
Data Analysis & UX Insights
We analysed existing customer data, results, and research to better understand user behaviour, pain points, and opportunities for improvement. This data-driven approach allowed us to define four measurable business objectives to guide the design process.
User-Centered Design & Usability Testing
Using insights gathered from research, we designed a minimalistic, user-friendly interface that adhered to accessibility standards. Wireframes and prototypes were tested in our usability lab, ensuring that the design met real-world needs and user expectations.
UI Design System & Accessibility
A comprehensive UI design system was developed to provide consistency across the site, including iconography and visual elements to support non-verbal communication and accessibility. This system ensures scalability for future updates and seamless integration with Brakes’ other digital platforms.
Collaboration & Iteration
Throughout the project, we maintained close collaboration with the UX, engineering, and content teams to ensure that the design was feasible and aligned with the functional requirements. Iterative design reviews allowed us to refine and validate the user experience.
Results
Unified Digital Presence: The redesign resulted in a cohesive digital platform that simplified the user journey, making it easier for customers to discover products, place orders, and access support. The clean, user-focused interface helped users complete tasks efficiently across both desktop and mobile devices.
Improved Accessibility: The new site meets WCAG AA standards, providing a more inclusive experience for users with disabilities, such as those with visual impairments or those requiring non-verbal communication tools, such as icons for dietary choices.
Future-Proof Design: The design system offers scalability, ensuring the platform can easily adapt to future needs, including the potential for expanding into direct-to-consumer services.
Operational Efficiency: By introducing personalised tools for account management and order tracking, Brakes reduced customer service costs while improving customer satisfaction.
Success metrics
Unified Digital Presence: The redesign resulted in a cohesive digital platform that simplified the user journey, making it easier for customers to discover products, place orders, and access support. The clean, user-focused interface helped users complete tasks efficiently across both desktop and mobile devices.
Improved Accessibility: The new site meets WCAG AA standards, providing a more inclusive experience for users with disabilities, such as those with visual impairments or those requiring non-verbal communication tools, such as icons for dietary choices.
Future-Proof Design: The design system offers scalability, ensuring the platform can easily adapt to future needs, including the potential for expanding into direct-to-consumer services.
Operational Efficiency: By introducing personalised tools for account management and order tracking, Brakes reduced customer service costs while improving customer satisfaction.
Client feedback "The work you have done for us, particularly on the mobile site, has been outstanding. The approach to eCommerce and user experience was entirely new to our business, and the quality and integrity of the work are greatly appreciated. Thank you for all your efforts." – Adam Collett, Group Marketing Director, Brakes
