Project Context:
After my full-time tenure with Hamilton Beach Commercial, I developed a research-driven concept for a redesigned digital experience. Drawing on my familiarity with the brand, product ecosystem, and commercial foodservice audience, I explored how the website could better organize product information, strengthen its visual presentation, and support product discovery.
Challenge:
Explore a clearer, more contemporary website direction for Hamilton Beach Commercial that could better serve commercial foodservice professionals while presenting the brand’s products, capabilities, and value more effectively.
Tools: Google Docs · Google Forms · Sketch · InVision
My Contributions:
User research, competitive analysis, UX strategy, information architecture, interface design, and high-fidelity prototyping.
Understanding the Brand & Project Context
Before developing the redesign concept, I drew on my previous experience working with Hamilton Beach Commercial and stakeholder input to better understand the brand’s digital needs and the expectations of its professional foodservice audience.
The opportunity was to explore how the website could move beyond relatively static product presentation toward a more engaging experience that made the commercial product line easier to understand, navigate, and evaluate.
Stakeholder Context
Business Need:
Hamilton Beach Commercial needed its digital presence to communicate the quality, reliability, and breadth of its professional appliance portfolio more effectively. The existing experience presented an opportunity to strengthen product storytelling and create a more contemporary, engaging web experience.
Design Objective:
My objective was to combine stakeholder context with user research and competitive analysis to develop a clearer UX and visual direction. I focused on improving navigation, product presentation, information hierarchy, and overall interface design while remaining consistent with the established Hamilton Beach Commercial brand.
Understanding the User
The redesign concept needed to serve professionals working in commercial foodservice environments, where purchasing decisions are shaped by practical considerations such as reliability, functionality, durability, and ease of maintenance.
To better understand those priorities, I conducted a survey with foodservice professionals and used the findings to identify which product attributes and types of information should receive greater emphasis in the digital experience.
User Survey
I surveyed foodservice professionals to better understand what they prioritize when evaluating commercial kitchen equipment and what information would be most useful during the purchasing process.
The responses consistently emphasized durability, functionality, reliability, and ease of use. Participants also identified factors such as energy efficiency and ease of maintenance as important considerations when evaluating equipment.
These findings helped establish which product benefits should receive greater emphasis in the redesign concept and informed how product information was structured and presented.
Key Findings:
Durability
Durability emerged as a major consideration for professionals working in demanding commercial environments.
Functionality & Ease of Use
Respondents valued equipment that performs reliably while remaining straightforward to operate.
Practical Product Features
Energy efficiency, reliability, and ease of maintenance were among the features users considered when evaluating equipment.
Brand Confidence
Survey responses also indicated positive recognition of Hamilton Beach Commercial around reliability and quality.
Competitive Analysis
I reviewed comparable commercial appliance websites, including Vitamix, Waring, and Blendtec, to understand how competitors approached product discovery, navigation, visual presentation, and responsive design.
The analysis highlighted opportunities for Hamilton Beach Commercial to improve interface clarity, product presentation, navigation, and overall visual polish, while maintaining the brand strengths already recognized by users.
Research Conclusions
The user survey and competitive analysis pointed to a clear direction for the redesign. Foodservice professionals prioritized durability, functionality, reliability, and ease of use, while competitor sites generally presented products with stronger visual hierarchy, navigation, and responsive experiences.
These findings suggested that Hamilton Beach Commercial did not need to reinvent its product story; it needed to present that story more clearly and effectively. The redesign therefore focused on improving product discovery, strengthening visual presentation, simplifying navigation, and creating a more polished experience across screen sizes.
This research became the foundation for the design direction that followed, helping connect user priorities with opportunities identified in the competitive landscape.
Design Ideation
With the research direction established, I began translating the findings into design concepts for the website experience.
The exploration focused on four priorities: clearer navigation, stronger product presentation, responsive behavior, and a more polished visual system. I developed and refined concepts iteratively, using the research findings and competitive analysis as a reference point for evaluating design decisions.
Stakeholder feedback helped shape the direction further, and the concepts were progressively developed into higher-fidelity mockups and prototypes aligned with the Hamilton Beach Commercial brand.
FINAL DESIGN
The final high-fidelity concept brought the research and design direction together into a cohesive website experience for Hamilton Beach Commercial. The design focused on clearer navigation, stronger product hierarchy, improved product presentation, responsive behavior, and a more contemporary visual experience while remaining grounded in the existing brand.
The concept shown below represents the design work developed for this project. It was later used as a significant reference for Hamilton Beach Commercial’s subsequent website redesign.
Project Takeaways
This project gave me the opportunity to combine firsthand familiarity with the Hamilton Beach Commercial brand with a research-driven UX process. User research and competitive analysis helped move the work beyond a purely visual redesign and toward a digital experience structured around the priorities of commercial foodservice professionals.
It also reinforced the importance of connecting visual design decisions to user needs, product information, and business context rather than treating interface design as an isolated exercise.