When I started working on the new digital ordering system for Cancun Juice, a local Mexican restaurant founded by Antonio Alvarez and his family, I knew this project had to be more than just another food-ordering app. It needed to be personal.
Too often, when people think about Mexican brands, they reduce the culture to stereotypes of sombreros, mariachis, and maracas. But Mexican culture is much deeper, richer, and more nuanced. My goal as a Hispanic Product Designer was to create something that celebrated those deeper roots, something that resonated authentically with the community.
Cancun Juice itself was born from this idea: to bring the natural roots of Mexican juices and traditional foods, like my personal favorite, Tortas Cubanas into the daily lives of people far from home. The Alvarez family built their brand with inspiration from Mayan culture, a civilization where high-quality foods and drinks were once reserved for kings and leaders of Mesoamerica. In many ways, Cancun Juice reimagines that tradition making these foods available for everyone, especially immigrants who long for the flavors of home.
A Personal Story of Connection
I first met Antonio back in 2001. At the time, I was a hungry student working across the street in a tasteless fast-food chain (let’s just say it rhymes with “B-King”). During my lunch breaks, I discovered a small corner spot called Cancun Juice.
The first time I walked in, I ordered a Vampiro juice (orange, carrot, and beet) and a Torta Cubana. With that first bite and sip, I was transported back to my childhood in Mexico City. It wasn’t just food, it was memory, identity, and comfort.
I became a regular customer, often bringing my girlfriend (now my wife). I admired the food so much that one day I asked to meet the cook. The cashier pointed me to a young man washing dishes in the back. That man was Antonio. I complimented him, and from that day on, our friendship began.
Years later, when I ran into him at a different fast-food restaurant where our kids were playing, I asked if he was still working at Cancun Juice. With a smile, he proudly told me, “Yes! I’m still the dishwasher. Because I’m also the owner.”
That moment struck me. His humility, authenticity, and resilience embodied what Cancun Juice stood for. Today, Antonio has grown the business to eight locations across Orange County, CA, but he remains grounded in the values that built his first restaurant: community, tradition, and honesty.
Designing With Culture at the Core
This story became the foundation of my design approach for the Cancun Juice digital app. It wasn’t about making another generic ordering platform. It was about capturing authenticity.
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Audience: First-arrival immigrants, first-generation families, and anyone who knows what a real Mexican juice or Torta Cubana tastes like.
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Connection: The design had to speak to them personally, in a voice they trusted and understood.
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Visual Identity: We drew inspiration from Mayan culture, translating traditional imagery into modern iconography and clean UI. This wasn’t decoration it was a way of honoring history while making it accessible to new generations.
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Experience: The app had to be easy to navigate, uncomplicated, and direct just like ordering at a local taquería.
Lessons From Antonio and the Hispanic Market
The Hispanic community is known for its loyalty to authentic brands. When something feels real, we bring our families and friends along for the experience. In this way, customers become ambassadors.
Working on Cancun Juice reminded me that design is not just about pixels and prototypes it’s about human connection. Antonio built trust by staying true to his roots. My challenge as a Product Designer was to translate that authenticity into the digital space.
And that’s what we did. The Cancun Juice App is more than an ordering tool it’s a cultural bridge, built on stories, memories, and traditions that run deeper than the screen.
Culture, Connection, and UX
How to Connect with Your Audience on a Cultural and Human Level
As a Hispanic Product Designer, my approach is always rooted in building trust and emotional resonance. Working with Antonio and Cancun Juice deepened my awareness that design isn’t simply about usability, it’s about identity, memory, and belonging. NN/g teaches that human-centered design is about meeting users where they are, not where we wish them to be.
Here’s how I translated that philosophy into practice:
1. Build Relatedness Through Empathy and Authenticity
NN/g emphasizes that users stick with experiences that show them they’re understood and respected. This builds the foundational psychological need of relatedness. By incorporating Mayan-inspired visuals and culturally resonant storytelling, we cultivated that needed sense of connection and belonging.
2. Foster Trust Gradually Through Design
Trust isn’t binary it’s earned step by step. NN/g’s “Hierarchy of Trust” explains that users need to feel safe and credible before committing to interactions. For Cancun Juice, this meant introducing the brand’s cultural story slowly, through welcoming visuals, authentic names, and simple UX to ensure the platform felt familiar and trustworthy.
3. Balance Emotional Design Across Levels
Don Norman’s emotional design framework, visceral (first impressions), behavioral (usability), and reflective (meaning), guides how people form lasting connections with products.
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Visceral: The cultural iconography and color palette deliver emotional impact at first glance.
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Behavioral: Smooth, intuitive ordering reinforces satisfaction.
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Reflective: Knowing the brand’s story, “A humble immigrant’s journey,” deepens emotional loyalty.
4. Honor User Autonomy with Flexible Design Paths
NN/g reminds us that autonomy, the freedom to make personalized choices, is a core human need. Instead of forcing rigid flows, the app allows users to customize orders, return to favorites, or explore cultural stories at their own pace, empowering them and respecting their preferences.
5. Use Personas as More Than Documents. Make Them Memorable
Well-crafted personas anchor design decisions in real human motivations. As NN/g states, personas keep diverse needs front and center throughout a project. In this project, personas of first-generation immigrants, nostalgic customers, and culturally curious newcomers shaped everything from tone to layout, ensuring the app felt inclusive yet authentic.
✅ Final Thought: As designers, when we connect with people at their cultural core, we don’t just create better products we create experiences that people carry with them, share, and return to again and again.
👉 I’d love to hear your thoughts. How do you connect culture and design in your own work?