Wok ’N Roll AZ

Wok N' Roll Arizona Restaurant Website Development

Description

The project was a complete website development for Wok N' Roll, a unique sushi and rock-and-roll themed restaurant in Arizona specializing in fresh sushi, Chinese cuisine, and Asian fusion with live entertainment. The project involved creating wireframes, designing in Adobe XD, and developing a fully responsive WordPress website with integrated MailChimp forms for reservations and marketing campaigns.

Client

Wok N' Roll Arizona, a rock-and-roll themed restaurant chain with locations in Scottsdale and Phoenix, specializing in fresh sushi, Chinese food, and Asian fusion cuisine with live entertainment including karaoke, acoustic shows, and special events.

Client Industry

The client industry was hospitality and entertainment dining, specifically casual dining restaurants that combine fresh Asian cuisine with live entertainment and rock-and-roll themed atmosphere for a unique dining experience.

Project Type

The project type was a complete restaurant website development from wireframes to launch, including responsive design, content management system implementation, third-party form integration, and comprehensive testing across multiple devices and browsers.

Goals

Client Problems Solved

The client problems solved included the need for a modern website that captured their unique rock-and-roll sushi concept, improved online presence to attract customers to both Scottsdale and Phoenix locations, streamlined reservation and contact processes, and effective marketing communication to promote daily specials, happy hours, and live entertainment events.

Key Objectives

The key objectives were to create a visually striking website that reflects the rock-and-roll theme while showcasing fresh sushi and Asian fusion cuisine, implement user-friendly reservation and contact systems, optimize for mobile users who discover restaurants on-the-go, showcase daily specials and entertainment events effectively, and create an easy-to-manage content system for ongoing menu and event updates.

Challenges

The challenges faced included balancing the fun rock-and-roll theme with appetizing food presentation, creating an engaging design that worked across all devices, integrating third-party services like MailChimp seamlessly into the user experience, ensuring fast loading times despite rich visual content, and designing for a diverse audience from sushi enthusiasts to entertainment seekers.

Approach

Stack Used

The stack used for the project included WordPress with custom theme development, Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) for flexible content management, custom PHP development for dynamic functionality, HTML5 and CSS3 with SCSS for organized styling, JavaScript and jQuery for interactive elements, Gulp for build process automation, and MailChimp integration for contact forms and email marketing campaigns.

Process Highlights

The process highlights included creating detailed wireframes that mapped out the user journey from discovering the restaurant to making reservations, designing comprehensive mockups in Adobe XD that captured the rock-and-roll aesthetic while maintaining food focus, developing custom WordPress components using ACF for easy menu and event management, implementing MailChimp forms for seamless lead capture, utilizing Gulp for efficient development workflow, and conducting extensive testing using BrowserStack across the most commonly used devices and browsers.

Collaboration

The collaboration involved working closely with the Account Manager who maintained constant communication with the client throughout the project, coordinating asset collection including food photography and rock memorabilia images, collaborating on MailChimp account setup and form configuration, regular client feedback sessions during wireframe and design phases, and coordinating with the client to ensure accurate representation of their unique dining experience and entertainment offerings.

Unusual Decisions

Some unusual decisions made during the project included creating a dual-personality design that balanced rock-and-roll energy with appetizing food presentation, implementing dynamic content areas for rotating daily specials and entertainment schedules, developing custom ACF layouts that allowed easy updates for non-technical restaurant staff, integrating MailChimp forms that captured both reservation inquiries and marketing sign-ups, and creating responsive designs that maintained the energetic visual impact across all screen sizes.

Outcome

Results

The outcome of the project was a visually striking and fully functional restaurant website that successfully captured Wok N' Roll's unique concept. Key results included improved online presence that better reflected the restaurant's rock-and-roll sushi experience, streamlined reservation and contact processes through integrated MailChimp forms, enhanced mobile experience for customers discovering the restaurant on-the-go, effective showcase of daily specials and entertainment events, and a content management system that allowed restaurant staff to easily update menus and event information.

Client Feedback

The client feedback was exceptionally positive, with restaurant management expressing complete satisfaction with the results. The client particularly appreciated how the website captured their unique rock-and-roll atmosphere while effectively showcasing their food quality and entertainment offerings. The MailChimp integration streamlined their customer communication, and the responsive design improved their ability to attract mobile users searching for dining options.

Personal Takeaways

Some personal takeaways from the project included the importance of thorough wireframing when balancing multiple brand elements like food and entertainment, the value of comprehensive testing across devices and browsers for restaurant websites, and how effective collaboration between developers and account managers ensures client satisfaction. The project also reinforced the importance of flexible content management systems for businesses with frequently changing offerings like daily specials and entertainment schedules.

My Role

My role in the project was as Lead WordPress Developer and UX Designer, responsible for the complete project lifecycle from wireframe creation through final launch. This included wireframing and user experience planning, Adobe XD design implementation, custom WordPress development with ACF integration, PHP and JavaScript functionality development, MailChimp form integration, Gulp build process setup, comprehensive cross-browser testing using BrowserStack, and coordination with the Account Manager for client communication and asset management.