I was at Fraiche Yogurt in Palo Alto earlier. It’s a lovely fresh and frozen yogurt shop in Palo Alto, actually started by 2 Wharton MBAs - not the traditional MBA type of business! I had their “natural” - organic frozen yogurt with strawberries and granola. The place was packed - the whole experience made me start to ponder why Fraiche is so successful, compared to other local shops and other yogurt shops in the area.

One immediate thing is the design of the store - there’s a lot of white. White yogurt, white storefront, white walls, white tables (if I remember correctly) … everything looks very clean and wholesome. My yogurt came in a cylindrical paper container, like the type you see by the soup at cafeterias everywhere, except Fraiche’s containers had a clean white design with their logo and philosophies. A quick glance at the underside of the container, however, reveals that it’s an 8 oz. paper cup from the Solo Cup Company, of beer-pong-16-ounce-Solo-cup fame and probably one of the biggest cup manufacturers.

The counter was very well-designed as well… the toppings were all on open display, behind a pane of glass, and you could see everything that the employees were doing. All the ingredients looked very fresh and a sign proudly proclaimed that all Fraiche yogurt was made from scratch, in-house, with organic milk. The actual yogurt was terrific - overall, a very good user experience!

My point is that Fraiche is a great example of a design-centric business and shows how smoothening the whole experience makes your customers happy. Having a great product doesn’t hurt at all either. :)