FRAGMENT
Project Overview
Wai Wai is South Asia's original Ready to Eat noodle, born in 1984 and loved by generations across Nepal and North East India. On the shelf it is a cultural icon. Online it had no home that matched that love. The objective: build Wai Wai's first owned digital experience. One that carries a regional legend into every Indian kitchen, makes a 30 plus flavour range easy to navigate, and turns the brand's one true difference, its versatility, into the reason to choose it. Fragment handled the engagement end to end, from brand strategy and research through design and development.
Deliverables
A unified storefront across the cookware range, from the cast iron collection to everyday nonstick, built to educate the shopper and convert.
Brand Strategy
UI/UX Design
Content System
Shopify Development
Conversion Rate Optimization
Naming & Positioning
Mobile First Design
Content & Photography Direction
30+
Flavours organised into one intuitive system
4 Country experiences on a single platform (India, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh)
The Problem
Business Challenges
Regional Legend, National Stranger
A Flavour Range With No Map
30 plus flavours across Dynamite, X-press, Cheese, Brown and more, with no way to discover the right one.
Young Brand, Ageing Presence
A Gen Z audience and a superstar ambassador, met by a digital experience that carried none of the brand's energy.
No Digital Home
The brand lived on packaging, television and store shelves, with no owned platform to tell its story or build a community.
A Superpower Nobody Knew About
Its true difference, eat it dry, cook it, soup it, snack it, was invisible to anyone outside its heartland.
User Challenges
Can I really eat it straight from the pack?
The versatility that defines Wai Wai was a mystery to first time buyers.
Which flavour is for me?
Thirty options with no guidance turned choice into confusion.
Isn't instant noodle just junk?
The health question went unanswered, even though the Brown and Atta ranges had the answer.
Where do I even find it?
No clear path from craving to cart.
How is this different from the noodle I already buy?
Nothing framed why Wai Wai beats the pack sitting next to it on the shelf.
What do I actually make with it?
No inspiration for turning a packet into a meal or a snack.
THE PROCESS
Project timeline - 8 Week
1.
STRATEGY
Goals and approach + Roadmap + Brand positioning + Versatility as the core idea
2.
RESEARCH
Pain points + Insights + User personas + Category and competitor analysis + User journey
3.
IDEATE
Architecture + User flows + Low fidelity wireframes + Brand tone + Flavour system + Mood board
4.
DESIGN
High fidelity + Design system + Brand identity + Motion + Clickable prototypes + Recipe and content modules
UX research Process
Extensive research was conducted to understand the target audience's preferences, pain points, and motivations
USER PERSONA
We conducted user research to identify 7-8 distinct user personas. This allows us to tailor the website experience for each unique audience segment.
Information Architecture
Reorganised the brand into a clear, scalable structure that leads with what makes Wai Wai different and makes a huge flavour range easy to explore.
1.
Organize Around Real Kitchens
Built the whole site around Munch it, Soup it, Lunch it, so the first thing a visitor understands is the freedom no other noodle offers.
2.
Map the Flavour Universe
Grouped 30 plus flavours by mood and format, with the bold sub brands given room to stand out.
3.
Answer the Health Question
Surfaced the Brown and Atta ranges up front so the biggest objection is met before it becomes a reason to leave.
4.
Build a Living Content Home
Created a recipe and community layer so the site keeps giving people a reason to come back.
User Journey
Mapped the end to end journey to move a visitor from first impression to craving, exploring, and belonging.
Discover
Land and instantly understand what Wai Wai is and why it is different.
Crave
Let the versatility and the flavours trigger real appetite.
Explore
Browse the range, find the right flavour, get recipe ideas.
Connect
Follow the community, find where to buy, come back for more.
HOW WE SOLVED THE PROBLEMS
Each screen is annotated to the element doing the work, and read through the two lenses a product designer holds at once: the user's doubt it removes, and the business outcome it drives.
Open with what makes it different, not just what it is.
PROBLEM
A first time visitor saw an instant noodle like any other. The one thing that sets Wai Wai apart, that you can eat it any way you like, was nowhere in the first impression, so the brand looked interchangeable with the shelf full of competitors.
SOLUTION
A hero built around the Ready to Eat promise and a single idea: Munch it, Soup it, Lunch it. The first thing a visitor understands is not a flavour or a price, but a freedom no other noodle offers.
Turn the one true difference into the spine of the whole experience.
PROBLEM
Wai Wai's versatility was treated as a fun fact on the back of a pack. It was never used to organise how people meet the brand, so its biggest advantage did no work.
SOLUTION
We made Munch it, Soup it, Lunch it the organising idea of the site. Three ways to eat became three ways to enter, letting a visitor start from how they want to eat rather than which pack to decode.
Make a sprawling range feel like a playground, not a puzzle.
PROBLEM
30 plus flavours across Dynamite, X-press, Cheese, Brown, White and Atta arrived as an undifferentiated wall. Choice became friction, and the most adventurous part of the brand felt overwhelming.
SOLUTION
A clear flavour system that groups the range by mood and format, with the bold sub brands given room to stand out. Discovery becomes part of the fun, and the breadth becomes a reason to come back rather than a reason to leave.
Answer the health question before it becomes a reason to leave.
PROBLEM
Instant noodle carries a junk food reputation. For a health aware buyer that doubt ends the visit, even though Wai Wai's Brown and Atta ranges are a genuine answer.
SOLUTION
A dedicated moment for Brown Noodles, made from whole wheat, positioned as the allrounder. The health story is told up front and in the brand's own playful voice, turning a common objection into a point of pride.
Turn four decades and a global footprint into instant credibility.
PROBLEM
A new audience had no reason to trust a name they had only just discovered. The scale behind Wai Wai, its origin in 1984 and its presence across more than 30 countries, was invisible, so the brand read as small.
SOLUTION
A heritage moment that carries the CG Foods and Chaudhary Group story, from a single Kathmandu factory to a brand loved across five continents. Legacy becomes proof, and a regional favourite earns the authority of a global icon.
Turn a two minute snack into a lifestyle and a following.
PROBLEM
Once a visitor knew the product, there was nothing to keep them. No inspiration for what to make, and no reason to come back or belong.
SOLUTION
A recipe system built around Munch it, Soup it, Lunch it, paired with a Follow the Noodle community feed that pulls the brand's social energy onto the page. The brand stops being a product and starts being a habit.
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