McDonald's x Tribal DDB

A digital fast-food feast

McDonald's, a globally renowned brand, needs no introduction. It has a unique local flavour in Australia, celebrated affectionately as 'Macca's'. In 2019, responding to a global directive to adopt new brand guidelines, McDonald's AUNZ embarked on a mission to refresh its website design. 

Collaborating with Tribal DDB, we were tasked to create a distinctive and engaging mobile-first platform that improved usability, emphasised the brand's commitment to food quality, and encouraged downloads of MyMacca's mobile ordering app.

I led the UX overhaul and facilitated the establishment of a new digital design system. Working closely with the Managing Director/CX Lead, Creative Director, and UI Design team, I helped shape the new vision for the website by creating a brand experience deeply rooted in storytelling.

New McDonald's website designs.

Discovery & Challenges

Our initial analysis, consisting of user testing, focus groups, website heuristic reviews, data and SEO analysis, uncovered critical issues with the old website.

The website suffered from usability issues like confusing navigation and poor accessibility. Despite being the primary digital touchpoint for customer support, the website experience fell short of meeting basic expectations.

The previous McDonald's website design struggled to convey the brand's joyful moments.

Inspired by the Head Chef's stories about sustainable food sourcing and an ever-evolving menu reflecting the brand's commitment to food quality, we seized an opportunity to emphasise emotive storytelling. We wanted to reinforce brand values, showcase competitive advantages, and build customer trust.

While the scope limited us from developing an e-commerce solution, data-driven personalisation and intelligent customer support at the time (though these have been proactively implemented across various channels), we focused on immediate experience problems. Simultaneously, we were set to anticipate how evolving business goals would align with customer journeys.

Solution

During the Discovery phase, we set out to provide our price-conscious and time-poor customers with convenience, seamless interactions, and high-quality service synonymous with the McDonald's brand. We wanted to create a feel-good experience throughout the site, infuse brand playfulness and cater to future business initiatives.

Design

Inclusive, engaging and purposeful design driven by creative use of data to provide customers with extra value.

Technology

Seamless, relevant experiences and customer support backed by intuitive and empowering tech solutions.

Content

Stories that connect, engage and inspire customers through various relevant channels.

Flavoursome Foundations

Armed with our initial findings and focus areas, I set out to create a site structure and navigation pattern that embodied the ease, delight, and playfulness of the brand.

My approach was to prioritise the content that encourages engagement and conversion and to enhance the contextual discovery of supplementary content and features. 

An in-depth site content audit uncovered a pattern in customer content engagement that laid the foundations for the new site architecture. 

Persona and journey mapping led to a comprehensive content and data audit, revealing hidden dependencies and content gaps.

After defining the requirements, I drafted a new website architecture that simplified the primary navigation and expanded the footer to cater to generic, unique, and SEO-driven queries.

The initial McDonald's sitemap created in 2019 has since evolved to incorporate new offerings and content.

Concept & Design

While developing wireframes and prototypes, I initiated the art direction, serving as an efficient way of conveying the experience strategy to the design team.

Our objective extended beyond selling burgers and fries; it was about narrating the heartwarming tale of McDonald's — one of high-quality ingredients from local farms, ongoing commitment to diverse and healthier menu options, community engagement, and the joy associated with every meal.

Our creative approach incorporated lifestyle and mouthwatering food photography, playful illustrations, purposeful motion design, bold typography, and ample white space to guide customer interactions.

An evolution of the website wireframes into the final UI designs. 

Agile Design Approach

Employing an agile approach during the design phase allowed us to continuously refine the customer experience, from establishing design system foundations to infusing emotions into the website's fabric.

This approach also involved mentoring designers and fostering deep team collaboration. While evolving the initial concepts and wireframes, we aimed to create an experience that would resonate with customers long after their website visit.

Among other bespoke solutions, we created a full-screen primary navigation menu inspired by the iconic fries and a hamburger icon transformed into a floating action button to ease access to the food menu.

Lasting Impact

Our collaborative efforts, strategic and creative approach, and unwavering customer-centric dedication have not only revitalised the McDonald's AUNZ website but also set the stage for future digital endeavours.

Explore more of my work

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Case study coming soon.

Let's talk

I’m open to new opportunities, so please feel free to reach out.

© Natalia Esakova-Owen, 2023