/ Overview
Baja Fresh® Mexican Grill is a fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurant chain founded in 1990 and now part of Kahala Brands, known for its commitment to fresh, handmade ingredients and bold flavors. Baja Fresh emphasizes fire-grilled proteins, fresh produce, and a vibrant menu that includes burritos, tacos, salads, and specialty items — all served with free chips and a variety of freshly prepared salsas.
The Baja Fresh Website Redesign project was created to elevate the brand’s digital presence by delivering a clean, modern, and user-friendly responsive website that reflects Baja Fresh’s fresh-forward identity while helping users complete key tasks with ease. This included showcasing the menu clearly, making it easy to order or find a location, highlighting catering and rewards options, and reinforcing the brand’s core positioning of freshness and quality.
/ Problem
The original Baja Fresh website faced several usability and brand alignment challenges that limited its effectiveness in converting visitors into customers and communicating the full breadth of offerings:
Inconsistent Information Hierarchy: Visitors had difficulty quickly locating core elements like the full menu, nutritional details, and ordering options. Despite rich content, the site lacked a clear visual structure that prioritized key user goals.
Mobile Experience Limitations: With an increasing number of users browsing and ordering on smartphones, the experience needed stronger mobile optimization, clear interactive cues, and streamlined navigation.
Brand Expression: The digital experience did not fully reflect Baja Fresh’s emphasis on fresh ingredients, bold flavors, and vibrant personality. A stronger visual identity and messaging strategy were needed to match the fresh quality of the food.
The redesign was scoped to solve these problems by improving clarity, reducing friction in high-value user tasks (like finding the menu, ordering online, or discovering catering options), and aligning the digital experience with Baja Fresh’s vibrant and fresh brand essence.
/ Design Process
The redesign followed a user-centered, iterative approach to balance visual appeal with functional clarity:
a. Discovery & Brand Research
Brand Audit: I reviewed Baja Fresh’s menu diversity, brand values, and competitive positioning in the fast-casual Mexican space to understand what differentiates the brand (fresh ingredients, fire-grilled proteins, and customizable meals).
User Goals: I mapped typical user needs — such as browsing the menu, finding location and hours, ordering online, exploring rewards, and discovering catering services — to guide content prioritization.
b. Information Architecture & UX Mapping
Site Structure: Redesigned the content hierarchy to center around primary user tasks: “Explore Menu,” “Order Now,” “Find a Location,” and “Catering & Rewards.”
Navigation Redesign: Developed a simplified header and global navigation structure that made these core tasks immediately visible regardless of where users landed.
c. Wireframing & Layout Exploration
Low-Fidelity Wireframes: Sketched layout structures for key pages (homepage, menu categories, location finder, catering, and rewards) to establish visual hierarchy and content blocks without visual noise.
Responsive Planning: Prioritized a mobile-first approach to ensure navigation, buttons, and key interactions worked seamlessly on phones and tablets before scaling up to desktop.
d. Visual Design & UI
Color & Typography: Refined a vibrant color palette that reflects the fresh ingredients and bold Mexican flavors, paired with clean, readable typography for menus and calls to action.
Imagery & Mood: Integrated high-impact food photography and dynamic visuals that help communicate freshness and appetite appeal.
Component System: Built reusable UI components (cards, buttons, menus, and navigation patterns) to maintain consistency and support future scalability.
e. Prototyping & Usability Feedback
Interactive Prototype: Created a clickable prototype to simulate primary user paths such as browsing the menu and placing an order through the Baja Fresh app or third-party integration.
User Feedback: Iterated based on feedback to improve touch targets, reduce cognitive load, and refine how information appeared across breakpoints.
f. Final Delivery
Delivered high-fidelity screens for all major breakpoints (mobile, tablet, desktop).
Developed a style guide outlining color, typography, component rules, and patterns to support developer handoff and future updates.
Included clear interaction specifications for navigation behavior, responsive states, and key call-to-action transitions.
