Rasing Cane's
role
Senior Product Designer
agency
DEPT® Agency
project engagement
Jan 2022 - Aug 2022
challenge
The Raising Cane's concept is simple and unique: To only serve their ONE LOVE – quality chicken finger meals. Raising Cane's is one of the fastest growing QSRs in the world with over 600 locations & expanding. With an average yearly unit sales of ~4M, they are 2nd in the QSR space behind Chick Fil A.
solution
→ Drive e-commerce sales by navigating visitors to order online and download the mobile app to stimulate online sales.
→ Easier to find and use by optimizing for SEO/SEM and improving UX across all devices and touch points to provide a consistent experience.
→ Balance messaging by reorganizing structure and hierarchy to display Raising Cane's breath of content, whilst allowing users to complete their tasks.
→ Foundations for growth by enabling technology to be more effective and efficient, while easily adding new capabilities to bring the brand to life.
my responsibilities
· Brand Direction
· Brand Strategy
· Wireframing
· Responsive & Adaptive Visual Design
· Inclusivity & Accessibility
· Marketing Playbook
creative team
Strategy: Jesse Stevens
Design Lead: Logan Bishop
Design: Erica Gallo
project management
Laura Peuquet
design director
Jake Welsh
Discover & Strategy
Our team started with building an information architecture that makes sense. This included a focus on primary site tasks, direct access to key functionality, easy navigation through brand education and a direct portal to merchandise and the Caniac Club offerings. Most importantly though, to drive conversion to start an order or download the mobile app.
Focused Site Map
The current Raising Cane's site was disorganized and split with every talking point being given it's own page. We aimed to distill the site map to few pages with more access to key functions. We identified pivotal elements and their purposes, arranged and interwoven key conversion points, and brought in a story-based approach to page structure.
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Treejack Testing
This phase allowed us to test our proposed new site map to validate the proposed website structure, find out where users go for information, and know where and why users got lost and how to fix it. This was split into three deliverables:
• Tasks - We aimed to make sure users could find their way - quickly- to key places and functions on the site.
• Results - Treejack gives you the option to conduct unmoderated tree tests, saving you time, resources and money.
• Analysis - We were able to gain detailed insights on task successes and where users look for content, and how quickly they could get there.
Insights & Findings
We created and launched our curated tests to validate and iterate on content strategy before entering any design phase. This allowed us to back up our recommendations with data from real people, and make it easy to share our study findings with key stakeholders.
Linking Community and Events
One example of a curated test asked the question, "You want to find out about community events in your area, where you you go to find that?" We were then able to see the exact Success rate (91%) and Directness of the path the user took to get there (74%). With the user taking 13.2s to complete the task, we then take this information back at an iterative phase and see where we can improve.
Priority Guides & Wireframes
We then took all our insights and developed eight main content types to guide our page page hierarchy and user journeys. These included communicated goals of driving craveability, direct menu item routing, direct route to community events, brand education, and the Raising cane's story. Raising Cane's also started a massive hiring initiative of 50,000 new employees over the course of 2021-2022 which allowed us to take an eager priority to get users to Apply Today.
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project success
83% of users are now starting their order through a mobile device.
DEPT® has contributed to a significant push in mobile online orders while simultaneously introducing a new audience to the Raising Cane's brand. The personality, loyalty, and quality of Raising Cane's has been brought to the forefront of our online presense.
Creative & Marketing
Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers
wireframes
Define & Design
The new content strategy allowed us to start creating interactive wireframes and prototypes to visualize the end user experience. We closely explored the mobile user journey through navigation, product routing and brand touch points to truly capture Raising Cane's ONE LOVE and community involvement.
Visual/UI Design
As a team outing, we toured Raising Cane's restaurants and examined the micro interactions that bring the human touch to the physical experience. The restaurants are filled with past mementoes of Todd Graves, the founder, and his journey from one restaurant in Baton Rouge to 500+ Globally.
Technology Architecture
Taking advantage of an atomic design approach to the new digital design system we moved from atoms, to molecules and ultimately organisms that became slices to be integrated with backend systems and a frontend CMS.
Digital Style Guide
We adapted Raising Cane's current brand personality into a new digital style guide for use in all future digital environments. This included colors, fonts, button styles, image treatments and laid the foundation for how the Raising Cane's brand can move forward in a digital world.
Prismic CMS
The tech stack for the website was built using Prismic CMS Templates that generated growth by rapidly creating on-brand pages and assembling them with re-usable website sections, aka Slices. Each slice was designed with a purpose centered action in mind from on one of the content types above. This allowed us to begin a page with a purpose based goal and content hierarchy and insert the appropriate design slices to drive conversion.
Client Playbook
We created an intricate system of Content Landing pages that aim to turn window shoppers into direct online conversions. These pages provide in-depth educational moments on Pelican's overall lifestyle offerings or more specific product lines such as their case series. While spotlighting key features and speaking to the heart of Pelican's passion for the outdoors, customers gain valuable insights and guides to the life a life of adventure.
These Content Landing Pages transition into key marketing campaigns and lead to custom Marketing Landing Pages for seasonal and new product launches.
A New, Modern Look
We preserved Raising Cane’s beloved brand identity by grounding every design and content decision in the company’s authentic voice, values, and visual style. From the storytelling elements throughout the site to the focus on craveable menu moments, community involvement, and the founder’s legacy, the soul of Raising Cane’s remained front and center.
At the same time, we elevated the digital experience through a modern, scalable design system, a restructured site architecture, and an intuitive mobile-first approach. User testing and performance insights shaped a smarter content hierarchy and conversion-focused interactions, all while keeping the experience unmistakably Cane’s.
The result is a future-ready platform that feels both familiar and fresh. It respects the brand’s heritage while enabling it to grow, evolve, and thrive in an increasingly digital world.
project retro
Key Takeaways
· Successfully restructured the website to prioritize key user actions like ordering online, downloading the app, and applying for jobs, driving measurable increases in conversion.
· Validated a simplified site map and content strategy through user testing, leading to clearer navigation, faster task completion, and a more intuitive experience across all devices.
· Designed and implemented a scalable atomic design system and digital style guide that modernized the brand’s online presence and ensured consistency across future digital initiatives.
· Integrated Prismic CMS to streamline content creation using reusable, purpose-driven page sections that enabled rapid publishing and ongoing site growth.
· Created interactive wireframes and prototypes rooted in user data to enhance craveability, brand storytelling, and direct engagement with Raising Cane’s community efforts.
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