The Kernel Brewery
Love at First Sip, Confusion at Checkout
Overview
Kernel Brewery is a South East London company with over 10 years of experience creating and selling its products.
This project began with my partner’s simple mission: order his favourite beer from Kernel Brewery wesbite. The beer? Exceptional. The online shopping experience? Not quite.
Task
Research
UX UI Design
Branding
Prototyping
Usability Testing
My Role
Product Designer
Timeline
5 Weeks
Problem
With an average of around 1,700 breweries in the UK in 2025 and approximately 90–130 in London alone, competition is high. Kernel’s checkout process, however, feels clunky and confusing, and is out of step with the quality of its product. This frustration sparked a key question: how could the digital experience better reflect the care, craft, and values that go into the beer?
The data speaks:
85% of customers will abandon a purchase if the checkout process is too complicated or time-consuming.
With 57% of users less likely to recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site, a non-responsive website can lead to significant customer loss.
Understanding user perspectives in the digital craft beer purchasing journey
My goal was to identify the main pain points users experience when purchasing craft beer. In this first research phase, I focused on understanding the challenges users encounter when buying craft beer.
"I usually come in knowing what I want, but it’s often sold out. I’d love to know when things are coming back instead of checking repeatedly."
"I’m trying to buy beer as a gift, but it’s hard to tell what’s a safe or popular choice. I also want clearer delivery timing so I know it’ll arrive when I need it."
"I don’t have much time to browse, and it takes too many clicks to find something available. I just want to filter quickly and check out without second-guessing shipping or stock."
"I’ve heard great things about Kernel, but I don’t really know where to start. A lot of beers look similar, and I’m not sure which ones are best for me. I wish the site guided me a bit more."
Research findings
I conducted research interviews to uncover any pain points with the existing user journey. The following is what I discovered:
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Of the 6 participants, 48% reported experiencing problems, such as missing confirmation messages.
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Over 60% rated the ease of checkout as 3 or below (on a 5-point scale), citing unclear steps and lack of guidance.
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Users found the checkout process confusing and unintuitive.
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Understanding the user perspective, we created the personas to help us move forward with our decision-making.
Considering the personas and research data, I aim to address the specific problem through a targeted question.
How might I make the checkout process feel fast, clear, and reassuring so users complete their purchase without hesitation?
Brainstorming and the solution
After exploring several potential solutions based on our personas’ pain points, I focused on improving checkout clarity. By surfacing delivery eligibility, costs and timelines earlier in the flow, I aimed to reduce friction, build user confidence, and make the purchasing process smoother and more transparent.
Highlight available products first in listings
Progress indicators during checkout
(“1. Address → 2. Delivery → 3. Payment”)
Option to save favourite beers or create a wishlist
Loyalty points or perks for frequent buyers
Quick “recommended packs” based on popularity or style
Highlight “limited edition” or “small batch” beers visually
FAQ or “How to choose your beer” guide integrated into the store
Sort by “new arrivals,” “most popular,” or “limited edition”
Advanced filters: style, ABV, flavour profile, availability
Show delivery eligibility, costs, and estimated timelines upfront
Quick-view modal for product details without leaving the listing page
Include tasting notes, brewing details, and ABV icons on collection pages
Wireframes
Early sketches on the various possible appearances of the interface.
Start shaping
I designed variations of key screens, from product listings to checkout flows, and tested them with users to see which designs reduced friction and increased purchase confidence.
Introducing
The Kernel Brewery
Kernel Brewery is more than an ordering site; it’s a reflection of craftsmanship and authenticity. The existing site didn’t fully capture the brand’s quiet confidence. By refining the visual direction, I aimed to bring The Kernel Brewery’s true spirit online, simple, authentic, and expertly crafted.
User purchase made easy: Simplified User Checkout Journey
Personalise User Experience:
Easily Access Your Favourite Items
During usability testing, I discovered that 40% of users had trouble remembering their favourite beer. To solve this, I focused on designing a personalised experience that made it easier for users to quickly access and remember their preferences.
To be continued
If I were to advance the project to the next step, here are the considerations I would like to explore:​​​
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Scaling the Business Model: Expand partnerships with restaurants and local businesses to strengthen user-business connections and drive brand growth.
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Optimising Payment & Delivery: Provide diverse payment options and refine delivery pricing with a location-based cost calculator to improve transparency and ease.
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Engagement with Animations: Integrate subtle animations to highlight key moments, such as adding items to the basket, completing purchases, or discovering new beers, simplifying the user experience.
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Community Features: Make profiles optional (considering that 40% of users skip the bio) while encouraging more reviews and user interactions to boost participation.
Key takeway
This project helped me gain a deeper understanding of the e-commerce design process. At first, I was focused on generating entirely new ideas to stand out in the industry. Over time, I realised that while innovation is important, it’s often the small process adjustments that make a bigger impact. Ultimately, improving the user experience, within familiar frameworks, proved to be more valuable than aiming for complete originality.
