Ben & Jerry’s had just rolled out a new CMS infrastructure across 24 countries and was in the middle of redesigning its pint packaging and Scoop Shop interiors. Eager to be able to finally update its global presence in one place, we were tasked with developing a content strategy, architecture, and user experience that could reach Ben & Jerry’s fans across markets and devices.

Ben & Jerry’s wanted to dedicate its new site to its ice cream, socially responsible initiatives, and fans. Beyond looking for an increased rate of return visitors, Ben & Jerry’s wanted the website to embody the spirit of the brand—for it to be an experience that was playful, exploratory, and inclusive.

To help their team embrace smaller screens, understand this new responsive approach, and champion a create-once-publish-everywhere attitude, we concentrated on a modular level to figure out what types of content needed to be elevated and reused across markets. Then, working through 12 core pages (templates) of the site, I collaborated with designer Sophie Shepherd to take our content ideas and transform them into responsive, HTML wireframes. The UX artifacts we created acted as blueprints for the graphic design, content creation, and development phases that followed.

Homepage sketch
Flavors listing sketch
We worked quickly and iteratively. We brainstormed, generated low-fidelity ideas, and vetted sketches with the client team to make sure we were on track.
Homepage
The homepage’s modularity could easily extend across markets depending on maturity and content needs.
Flavor detail page
We wanted customers not just to be able to locate flavors and information, but celebrate the stories behind them. We looked for page-specific opportunities to bake in sharing opportunities and feature user-created content. If Ben & Jerry’s fans could play a more inherent role in the content on the site, they would feel as connected to the brand there as they do on social networks.
Homepage
Using a marriage of predictive content and smart UX, a contact form anticipates fan needs and questions.
Throughout our engagement, we worked closely with Ben & Jerry’s internal design department, web development team, and CMS partner.