Nice
RESEARCH and Design for the food obsessed
Beans
Glazed Cake Co.
At a glance
Tools to understand different customer profiles and brand positioning to better communicate with them
Insights to improve the experience of using the product, and guidance for the next gen of packaging
Facilitation to help the founders understand their biggest challenges and strategies to meet them
Based in Toronto and founded by two recipe developers, Glazed Cake Co. makes high quality boxed cakes that are quick and easy to make with on trends flavours and premium ingredients.
Nice Beans worked with Glazed Cake Co. to help with their biggest challenge: scale. The company had grown to the point where the demand for the product outweighed their ability to meet it. As well as sourcing new co-packers, they wanted a longer term strategic plan, a better picture of their target customers, and to address user experience issues with their packaging and baking instructions.
the approach
Interviews with people who are not necessarily home bakers, but with a general interest in the topic to understand the market and form a series of archetypes that will make it easier to narrow down a target demographic
Run usability studies with people who have never used the product before and observe any impressions, struggles, confusion etc. they have following the directions without any help or intervention
Facilitate two workshops, one for setting a long term vision for the company, and the second to develop a strategic plan
Customer archetypes
We interviewed a dozen people and came away with four strong archetypes. From those archetypes we were able to tease out situations in which someone might purchase a boxed cake, and what the value proposition of the product is to each archetype.
Usability studies
We conducted usability studies with 5 users, 3 in person and 2 remote. They baked the cakes from the instructions with no intervention or help and we observed the process.
User journeys of the process revealed moments of confusion or even places where users read the wrong quantities of ingredients or mixed up the packets inside the bag.
From these we developed wireframes and a design brief for their packaging designer to improve the usability of the product.
Strategic planning
To gain clarity of purpose and craft a shared vision for the product, we facilitated workshops with the co-founders. The client felt that they had gained more of a mutual understanding of their challenges and mission.
We also conducted a SWOT analysis, and developed tools for the client to better plan and roadmap together as well as track KPIs to be able to make informed decisions about how to scale. We also identified some opportunities around new markets.
results
As Glazed Cake continues to redesign their packaging, diversify their marketing, develop relationships with new partners, and overhaul how they plan and track their progress, they are better positioned to scale and meet their demand.
In 2025, they launched local online purchasing and deliveries.
Nice
RESEARCH and Design for the food obsessed
Beans
Glazed Cake Co.
At a glance
Tools to understand different customer profiles and brand positioning to better communicate with them
Insights to improve the experience of using the product, and guidance for the next gen of packaging
Facilitation to help the founders understand their biggest challenges and strategies to meet them
Based in Toronto and founded by two recipe developers, Glazed Cake Co. makes high quality boxed cakes that are quick and easy to make with on trends flavours and premium ingredients.
Nice Beans worked with Glazed Cake Co. to help with their biggest challenge: scale. The company had grown to the point where the demand for the product outweighed their ability to meet it. As well as sourcing new co-packers, they wanted a longer term strategic plan, a better picture of their target customers, and to address user experience issues with their packaging and baking instructions.
the approach
Interviews with people who are not necessarily home bakers, but with a general interest in the topic to understand the market and form a series of archetypes that will make it easier to narrow down a target demographic
Run usability studies with people who have never used the product before and observe any impressions, struggles, confusion etc. they have following the directions without any help or intervention
Facilitate two workshops, one for setting a long term vision for the company, and the second to develop a strategic plan
Customer archetypes
We interviewed a dozen people and came away with four strong archetypes. From those archetypes we were able to tease out situations in which someone might purchase a boxed cake, and what the value proposition of the product is to each archetype.
Usability studies
We conducted usability studies with 5 users, 3 in person and 2 remote. They baked the cakes from the instructions with no intervention or help and we observed the process.
User journeys of the process revealed moments of confusion or even places where users read the wrong quantities of ingredients or mixed up the packets inside the bag.
From these we developed wireframes and a design brief for their packaging designer to improve the usability of the product.
Strategic planning
To gain clarity of purpose and craft a shared vision for the product, we facilitated workshops with the co-founders. The client felt that they had gained more of a mutual understanding of their challenges and mission.
We also conducted a SWOT analysis, and developed tools for the client to better plan and roadmap together as well as track KPIs to be able to make informed decisions about how to scale. We also identified some opportunities around new markets.
results
As Glazed Cake continues to redesign their packaging, diversify their marketing, develop relationships with new partners, and overhaul how they plan and track their progress, they are better positioned to scale and meet their demand.
In 2025, they launched local online purchasing and deliveries.