Simply Beef and Lamb Website
Project Overview
The Simply Beef and Lamb website is a consumer-facing platform run by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) to promote quality assured British beef and lamb. The site provides educational content, recipes, and cooking inspiration to UK families and food lovers. I was the sole UX/UI designer responsible for a complete redesign—leading the project from discovery through delivery.
Goals
The main goals of the Simply Beef and Lamb website redesign were to significantly improve usability —particularly for mobile users—by creating a more intuitive and responsive experience. A key objective was to modernise the brand’s digital presence through a complete visual refresh, aligning it with contemporary design standards while preserving its core identity. The redesign also aimed to boost user engagement with recipes and increase time spent on the site. Additionally, I needed to implement a flexible content system that allowed internal teams to easily update and manage content without technical support. Finally, ensuring full accessibility compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards was essential to make the site inclusive for all users.
Impact
➤ Increased mobile engagement by over 40% within 6 months
➤ Positive user feedback on clarity, visuals, and navigation
➤ Reduced bounce rate on recipe pages
➤ Strengthened AHDB’s digital presence in the UK consumer food sector
Process
Research
Define
Ideate
Prototype
1. Research
Understanding the needs and contexts of UK growers was critical to shaping this tool. I conducted 1-on-1 interviews with six farmers and agronomists from diverse regions and farming types.
Methods:
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Grower group interviews
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Observational insights from farm visits
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Empathy mapping
Key Findings
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Internet connectivity is unreliable or nonexistent in many growing areas.
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While some users still preferred the printed RL, most were open to a mobile alternative.
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Users valued the ability to filter by crop characteristics, such as yield, disease resistance, or market category.
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Older farmers needed printable formats, while younger ones expected modern UX patterns.
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Scared to try new things as they think digital tools are complicated
2 Define
With insights in hand, I defined core user personas , Emma the busy mum, and Oliver the wekend Foodie.
3 Ideate
During the ideation phase, I began by running a collaborative workshop with a bench of designers, incorporating brainstorming sessions and a comprehensive mood board to explore visual directions.
I carefully selected heading fonts to convey a sense that recipes on the site are modern, light, friendly and easy to follow. Building on this, I defined a cohesive colour palette—primary colour #D7E8E9 to evoke freshness, and secondary colour #FFB91A to suggest the rich tones of roast meat.
4 Prototype
I developed interactive prototypes using Adobe XD to validate key flows, Homepage engagement, Recipe browsing and filtering, Article and nutrition content, Cut guides with meat education.
These were tested with users remotely and iteratively refined based on feedback.
UI & UX Improvements
The redesign delivers a seamless, responsive experience optimised for both mobile and tablet devices, underpinned by a clearer information architecture and streamlined navigation. Users are greeted by visually rich recipe cards complete with intuitive filters for preparation time, dietary requirements and occasions, while the content hierarchy has been refined to boost search visibility and ensure SEO-friendliness. Overall, the site embraces an inclusive, photography-led approach that guides visitors effortlessly from inspiration to execution.
