A streamlined website in alignment with user values. Vegan life is easy, simple, and beautiful, and so is the website we created.  

The concept

Vegan Times is a highly regarded directory offering information on the evolution of veganism, along with access to vegan products and services according geolocation segments. Its purpose is to facilitate a compassionate lifestyle that is respectful of the natural environment and avoids the exploitation of animals for any purpose. Vegan Times encourage and promote living in harmony with health, other people, and the planet and recognize non-human animals their right to life. To enhance their digital presence, they decided to streamline the educational character with the simple and respectful approach that veganism stands for as a way of life.   

Vegan Times assigned Linakis.digital the redesign of their digital presence to reflect their values and serve their purpose accurately. Our objective was to design an informational portal that  accommodates all aspects of Vegan Times and functions both as: 

- a networking business portal with all the functionalities of a high-performing digital directory. 

- a unique guide that helps users find the information they're looking for, while promoting veganism and educating them.  

    The new portal offers a constantly enriched authoritative directory (list) with products which have achieved vegan certification  and services that meet vegan specifications along with the location or place someone can find them. Furthermore, all the available content is scientifically documented and cross-referenced to ensure users access, valid and valuable information on entrepreneurship, environment, health, wellness, etc. 

Our Service Design Approach

Creating an intuitive user experience  

Aiming to provide a 360° service that considers all stakeholders, we employed our user-driven Service Design Approach. Implementing thorough UX research methods, we discovered that there are three groups of users: 

- prospective vegans

- vegans

- vegan companies 

To ensure an intuitive user experience, we analyzed the different needs of each user group and identified four pillars that represent the stages of a person entering the vegan way of life: 

Find. Users need to be able to navigate easily in order to explore new products, restaurants, or services. This led to the incorporation of different categories and filters tailored to their needs. Apart from brand categorization, filters also include features like certifications or allergens and the option to sort findings by popularity or date.
Learn. Both the users and Vegan Times as a business required an educational pillar that acts as a news portal and is organized into distinct categories.  
Discover. Dedicated on how to become vegan, the discovery pillar offers users the information they need. It includes a glossary of terms and a section for businesses providing advice on incorporating vegan values, goods, and services.  
Cook. We identified a need for vegans to explore cooking recipes. Most prefer to manage their diet closely, so this pillar offers significant value to Vegan Times users.   

Unique Design

A unique design reflecting the core values of Vegan Times  

The clean, fresh and minimal design is a reflection of the Vegan Times values and principles. The zero-waste philosophy meets editorial design, and the outcome is a cohesive and clear website that draws readers in. A limited color palette alongside artistic photography and functional typography makes the experience engaging and lets users focus on the content. Important features of the unique aesthetic quality include: 

  • - Minimal design and emotional photography. 
  • - An interactive map showing shops and products. 
  • - Contemporary and functional typography combined with a serif font for news. 
  • - Interconnected content, for example, recipe ingredients, are linked with product pages. 
  • - Appealing widgets informing the user about articles and recipes' details. 
  •  
Award-winning performance 

Vegan Times and Linakis.digital received a Gold award on Vegan Awards 2022, in the category of best Vegan Site /E-shop.

 

The technology

Umbraco CMS 

The new portal is implemented on Umbraco CMS, which offers flexibility and powerful content management capabilities. The platform meets Vegan Times requirements for a mobile-first portal with constantly enriched content and a fast and easy search engine for products and stores. VeganTimes.gr offers users an intuitive, seamless, and engaging discovery journey.  

A search & find directory that delivers value
The search functionality of Vegan Times was a special requirement as it needed to provide a valuable result for everything a vegan user would look for. We added many features to the design to help our client achieve its purpose in the most efficient way. 

 - Search box. The search function splits into two inputs: search term and location. Moreover, before users type any term, they are presented with the categories of items they can search for, popular searches, and their recent searches.
-Auto-suggest. As soon as the user starts typing, the search box is replaced with result suggestions, giving them instant feedback.
Categorization. On the results page, every result is categorized, so it’s easier for the user to scan and locate what they are looking for. 

Bottom Line Value

Bottom Line Value 

The new VeganTimes.gr fully achieves the strategic goal of Vegan Times to become the go-to search engine for vegan products and services and help consumers in their smooth transition to this lifestyle. The four pillars of the information structure ensure users find information, learn about veganism, discover a new way of life, and cook the food that reflects their values. Thorough technical SEO ensures it is a mobile-first website that reaches users and consistently ranks highly in searches.  

Benefits Gained 

At Linakis.digital, we are committed to building high-impact assets that help our clients achieve their business objectives and build stronger relationships with their customers. In the case of Vegan Times, the benefits gained are: 

  • - A sharp, modern, and appealing design.  
  • - An optimized user experience with a streamlined structure and four pillars of content that create an easy flow. 
  • - Increased user engagement through the Wishlist functionality that enables visitors to create personalized product collections for future reference.  
  • - Advanced search capabilities combined with multiple filters, intuitive categorization, and an interactive map. 
  • - Fully interconnected content that intelligently suggests to the user the next step and the next relevant page. 
  • - Native higher ranking on search engines facilitated by the technical SEO work done.  
  • - Easy digital marketing management through the integrations provided by Umbraco CMS. 

The Results in Numbers

 In four months of operation, the platform achieved: