RED Sambusas
2026
Redesigning RED Sambusas's Website
Turning a first-time client brief into an order-ready website in 10 weeks.
Overview
What is RED Sambusas & Catering?
RED Sambusas & Catering is a family-owned business that has served the UCSD and San Diego community for nearly 20 years. Working with owner Mohamed Ali, I collaborated with a two-person team to redesign the website, focusing on removing the friction between a customer's interest and their completed order.
Problem
Unclear navigation of site and ambiguous ordering paths led customers to place incorrect or unintended orders.
Despite nearly 20 years of loyal, in-person customers, RED Sambusas' website worked against its own goal of driving orders.
Two separate, similarly-named forms — a general contact form and a catering form — regularly confused customers, creating duplicate work for both the owner and the person trying to place an order.
The visual design didn't reflect the brand's identity — the polish and warmth customers associate with RED in person wasn't carried through to the site, undermining trust for anyone encountering the business online first.
Menu information was unclear — items lacked consistent pricing, ingredient details, and dietary labeling, leaving customers uncertain what they were ordering or whether it fit their needs.
Research
What did I learn from users?
To have a better understanding about where users experienced issues when navigating through the site, I conducted multiple user tests, giving them a scenario and objectively watching how they execute the task. In addition to this, we also gained datapoints through user surveys.
Painpoints derived from surveys.
Ideation
Exploring interface directions
Through interviews and workflow analysis, I identified recurring patterns in how users reviewed balances, tracked transactions, and navigated everyday financial tasks. The biggest issue wasn’t financial complexity itself — it was uncertainty. Users often stopped to compare balances, reopen transaction details, or rescan multiple sections before taking action. Similar visual weight across the interface made it difficult to quickly identify what mattered most.
Site lo-fis by my team and I.
Testing interaction flows early
Before moving into high-fidelity designs, I tested early interaction flows using low-fidelity paper prototypes. These quick sessions helped validate navigation patterns, layout hierarchy, and task completion behavior before investing time into polished UI design.
