salvadorfs.com

How did we fund MateCaps?

My Role

Leadership
Strategy
Branding
Web Design

Date

2022

Client

MateCaps is a product composed of plastic-free capsules and an innovative bottle that aims to introduce the benefits of yerba mate to the world and eradicate single-use containers.

My friend Marcos and I are the founders of MateCaps.

Design Team

Maximiliano Malisani
Lorenzo Balmaceda

Leonardo Martin

Lucila Perini

Joselina Brignone

Challenges

  • Introduce yerba mate to users who were unaware of its existence

  • Create branding and communications for a product that never existed before

  • Create a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise over $30,000

  • Design, map and analyze the experience from obtaining MC to using it

  • Create an online store

My role

At the beginning of the project, my responsibility was related to the visual and user experience aspects, mainly working on the web, the branding and the product. I had the opportunity to lead a small team composed of a 3D/graphic designer, a copywriter, and a community manager. We also had a part-time brand designer and a full-stack developer. At different stages of the process, I was able to step away from strategy to execute design tasks.

It's important to note that as a founder and entrepreneur, one ends up wearing multiple hats. There are many things that one has to learn on the go; for example, as the project grew, I began working more on marketing strategies and how they were connected to the business and its finances.

At the beginning of the project, my responsibility was related to the visual and user experience aspects, mainly working on the web, the branding and the product. I had the opportunity to lead a small team composed of a 3D/graphic designer, a copywriter, and a community manager. We also had a part-time brand designer and a full-stack developer. At different stages of the process, I was able to step away from strategy to execute design tasks.

It's important to note that as a founder and entrepreneur, one ends up wearing multiple hats. There are many things that one has to learn on the go; for example, as the project grew, I began working more on marketing strategies and how they were connected to the business and its finances.

At the beginning of the project, my responsibility was related to the visual and user experience aspects, mainly working on the web, the branding and the product. I had the opportunity to lead a small team composed of a 3D/graphic designer, a copywriter, and a community manager. We also had a part-time brand designer and a full-stack developer. At different stages of the process, I was able to step away from strategy to execute design tasks.

It's important to note that as a founder and entrepreneur, one ends up wearing multiple hats. There are many things that one has to learn on the go; for example, as the project grew, I began working more on marketing strategies and how they were connected to the business and its finances.

Process and Deliverables

Since we started MateCaps, we have reached many milestones that have allowed the project to continue progressing, always with an agile mindset of iterating and testing as soon as possible. For example, from a financial standpoint, it was important to secure seed funding from the government of Uruguay, equity-free. From a production standpoint, the most important milestone was the production of 2500 bottles in China. Currently, we have been able to start production of the new stainless steel bottle, and we are preparing for its launch in Q2 of 2023.


Below, I’ll describe some design and marketing-related processes and milestones.


Kickstarter → Launch strategy

We first focused on starting to generate awareness, so our goal was to collect as many users interested in the product as possible and convert them through a landing page with a form. It was an extensive job that involved contacting industry references, celebrities, and yerba mate enthusiasts one by one. At the same time, we were designing the KS campaign, which basically works like a store but for crowdfunding. To do this, we analyzed successful campaigns and their structures, and began to pare down the content–there was a lot to cover but we couldn't be excessive. We created a product presentation video where we added footage of actors, 3D animations, and sound design.

Thanks to the data we collected, we were able to generate a hype that reached the funding goal in just 3 hours. We also received recognition from Kickstarter, where we were added to the "Projects We Love" category, a manually curated list of the best campaigns on the platform.

View Kickstarter Campaign

Creating a custom e-commerce → Web design

I was responsible for creating the store. We had multiple iterations and many of them went live, since our approach was to launch small, progressive updates. It all started with a simple landing page to inform about the product and collect emails. Then we scaled it up, adding new pages to go into detail about the MateCaps proposal. Finally, after the Kickstarter launch, we opened the online store where we connected with the Shopify API for the development of a fully customized e-commerce. The latest features we added are the blog and the ability to subscribe to receive capsules on a monthly basis.

Check MC Website

Collecting feedback → User research

After delivering the 1500 orders, we worked on collecting and analyzing feedback from the first users of MateCaps.

First, we worked as a team to determine what we were trying to discover, defining the objectives and hypotheses of the research. Then, we worked on creating the survey with different sections, all in both English and Spanish.


Research objectives:

  • Discover findings to shape the product improvement roadmap.

  • Understand the added value of MateCaps from the perspective of its community.

  • Understand the daily usage of the product by consumers.

  • Identify points of friction during use.

  • Understand what motivated them to purchase the product.

  • Understand their initial reaction to the product.

Research hypotheses:

  • Users have difficulties when preparing their first infusions (how to do it well)

  • Unboxing is a pleasant moment for users

  • Users feel part of a community

  • Personalized follow-up makes pain points much smaller

  • Some users are annoyed by the consistency of the capsules

  • Some users are annoyed by leakage in the bottle

  • For those who are trying mate for the first time, it may taste a bit bitter


The survey was structured using the following sections: an introduction, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) section, a section on daily use of the product, a post-reception experience section, and a section about the community. We had a high response rate, with 248 users responding to the survey.

We transferred all the responses to a collaborative board and worked through each section and response, grouping them based on different patterns and similarities.


Finally, we compiled all the analyses into a report, summarizing the findings from each section. In the end, the two most important things that came out of the research were: an extensive section of takeaways and a section of "How Might We" questions, aimed at taking action on the various takeaways and insights that was yielded. Then the team came together collaboratively and answered all the "How Might We" questions during a workshop. From here, the most important pillars of the company's strategy were born, such as the redesign of the bottle, which is now a reality.

Collecting feedback → User research

After delivering the 1500 orders, we worked on collecting and analyzing feedback from the first users of MateCaps.

First, we worked as a team to determine what we were trying to discover, defining the objectives and hypotheses of the research. Then, we worked on creating the survey with different sections, all in both English and Spanish.


Research objectives:

  • Discover findings to shape the product improvement roadmap.

  • Understand the added value of MateCaps from the perspective of its community.

  • Understand the daily usage of the product by consumers.

  • Identify points of friction during use.

  • Understand what motivated them to purchase the product.

  • Understand their initial reaction to the product.

Research hypotheses:

  • Users have difficulties when preparing their first infusions (how to do it well)

  • Unboxing is a pleasant moment for users

  • Users feel part of a community

  • Personalized follow-up makes pain points much smaller

  • Some users are annoyed by the consistency of the capsules

  • Some users are annoyed by leakage in the bottle

  • For those who are trying mate for the first time, it may taste a bit bitter


The survey was structured using the following sections: an introduction, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) section, a section on daily use of the product, a post-reception experience section, and a section about the community. We had a high response rate, with 248 users responding to the survey.

We transferred all the responses to a collaborative board and worked through each section and response, grouping them based on different patterns and similarities.


Finally, we compiled all the analyses into a report, summarizing the findings from each section. In the end, the two most important things that came out of the research were: an extensive section of takeaways and a section of "How Might We" questions, aimed at taking action on the various takeaways and insights that was yielded. Then the team came together collaboratively and answered all the "How Might We" questions during a workshop. From here, the most important pillars of the company's strategy were born, such as the redesign of the bottle, which is now a reality.

Collecting feedback → User research

After delivering the 1500 orders, we worked on collecting and analyzing feedback from the first users of MateCaps.

First, we worked as a team to determine what we were trying to discover, defining the objectives and hypotheses of the research. Then, we worked on creating the survey with different sections, all in both English and Spanish.


Research objectives:

  • Discover findings to shape the product improvement roadmap.

  • Understand the added value of MateCaps from the perspective of its community.

  • Understand the daily usage of the product by consumers.

  • Identify points of friction during use.

  • Understand what motivated them to purchase the product.

  • Understand their initial reaction to the product.

Research hypotheses:

  • Users have difficulties when preparing their first infusions (how to do it well)

  • Unboxing is a pleasant moment for users

  • Users feel part of a community

  • Personalized follow-up makes pain points much smaller

  • Some users are annoyed by the consistency of the capsules

  • Some users are annoyed by leakage in the bottle

  • For those who are trying mate for the first time, it may taste a bit bitter


The survey was structured using the following sections: an introduction, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) section, a section on daily use of the product, a post-reception experience section, and a section about the community. We had a high response rate, with 248 users responding to the survey.

We transferred all the responses to a collaborative board and worked through each section and response, grouping them based on different patterns and similarities.


Finally, we compiled all the analyses into a report, summarizing the findings from each section. In the end, the two most important things that came out of the research were: an extensive section of takeaways and a section of "How Might We" questions, aimed at taking action on the various takeaways and insights that was yielded. Then the team came together collaboratively and answered all the "How Might We" questions during a workshop. From here, the most important pillars of the company's strategy were born, such as the redesign of the bottle, which is now a reality.

Collecting feedback → User research

After delivering the 1500 orders, we worked on collecting and analyzing feedback from the first users of MateCaps.

First, we worked as a team to determine what we were trying to discover, defining the objectives and hypotheses of the research. Then, we worked on creating the survey with different sections, all in both English and Spanish.


Research objectives:

  • Discover findings to shape the product improvement roadmap.

  • Understand the added value of MateCaps from the perspective of its community.

  • Understand the daily usage of the product by consumers.

  • Identify points of friction during use.

  • Understand what motivated them to purchase the product.

  • Understand their initial reaction to the product.

Research hypotheses:

  • Users have difficulties when preparing their first infusions (how to do it well)

  • Unboxing is a pleasant moment for users

  • Users feel part of a community

  • Personalized follow-up makes pain points much smaller

  • Some users are annoyed by the consistency of the capsules

  • Some users are annoyed by leakage in the bottle

  • For those who are trying mate for the first time, it may taste a bit bitter


The survey was structured using the following sections: an introduction, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) section, a section on daily use of the product, a post-reception experience section, and a section about the community. We had a high response rate, with 248 users responding to the survey.

We transferred all the responses to a collaborative board and worked through each section and response, grouping them based on different patterns and similarities.


Finally, we compiled all the analyses into a report, summarizing the findings from each section. In the end, the two most important things that came out of the research were: an extensive section of takeaways and a section of "How Might We" questions, aimed at taking action on the various takeaways and insights that was yielded. Then the team came together collaboratively and answered all the "How Might We" questions during a workshop. From here, the most important pillars of the company's strategy were born, such as the redesign of the bottle, which is now a reality.

Collecting feedback → User research

After delivering the 1500 orders, we worked on collecting and analyzing feedback from the first users of MateCaps.

First, we worked as a team to determine what we were trying to discover, defining the objectives and hypotheses of the research. Then, we worked on creating the survey with different sections, all in both English and Spanish.


Research objectives:

  • Discover findings to shape the product improvement roadmap.

  • Understand the added value of MateCaps from the perspective of its community.

  • Understand the daily usage of the product by consumers.

  • Identify points of friction during use.

  • Understand what motivated them to purchase the product.

  • Understand their initial reaction to the product.

Research hypotheses:

  • Users have difficulties when preparing their first infusions (how to do it well)

  • Unboxing is a pleasant moment for users

  • Users feel part of a community

  • Personalized follow-up makes pain points much smaller

  • Some users are annoyed by the consistency of the capsules

  • Some users are annoyed by leakage in the bottle

  • For those who are trying mate for the first time, it may taste a bit bitter


The survey was structured using the following sections: an introduction, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) section, a section on daily use of the product, a post-reception experience section, and a section about the community. We had a high response rate, with 248 users responding to the survey.

We transferred all the responses to a collaborative board and worked through each section and response, grouping them based on different patterns and similarities.


Finally, we compiled all the analyses into a report, summarizing the findings from each section. In the end, the two most important things that came out of the research were: an extensive section of takeaways and a section of "How Might We" questions, aimed at taking action on the various takeaways and insights that was yielded. Then the team came together collaboratively and answered all the "How Might We" questions during a workshop. From here, the most important pillars of the company's strategy were born, such as the redesign of the bottle, which is now a reality.

Link to Research Miro Board

Journal

Work

+Info

Journal

Work

+Info

Journal

Work

+Info