L'Acquolina Pasta

UX Writing

L’Acquolina Pasta (which means “mouthwatering” in Italian) makes and sells a variety of fresh pasta.

Fresh pasta requires different preparation than dry pasta, and most people don’t have as much experience cooking it.

Since results can vary with even the slightest changes, L’Acquolina wants to make sure their mobile website offers clear, concise instructions that will help all customers prepare the pasta correctly. Many pasta boxes provide very vague instructions on how to cook the pasta properly, not including how much water, how much time, etc.

Most importantly, they want customers to feel confident, have fun, and enjoy cooking!

Stakeholder Research

I started stakeholder research by looking at existing writing from L'Acquolina Pasta, including Instagram posts, cooking instructions, and website descriptions.

After watching an interview with the Founder of L'Acquolina, I found several useful words & phrases

Fresh pasta has more water content, compared to dry pasta so it doesn’t need to be cooked as long 2-5 minutes versus 7-9 minutes.
Quick-cooking, timing is of the essence.
Time up so the sauce is ready for when the pasta is done.
Lots of water. Lots of salt. Rapid, rolling boil for the entire process. Don’t rinse the pasta! Save the pasta water. Taste as you cook. Al dente.
To mix. Finish the cooking process of the pasta by mixing it with the sauce and finish it together. Di mantecare. Soak up the sauce.

Voice & Tone by Scenarios

Competitive Research

I also conducted research from other sources to discover other useful words and phrases.

KitchenStories.com

Quick-cooking
Large pot
Generously salted

SeriousEats.com

Cooks rapidly
Taste
Cook less than 2 minutes

thekitchn.com

Large pot
Salt the water
Cook to al dente

Final Cooking Instructions

How to Cook Fresh Pasta

For 1 package spaghetti.

Bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil.
Add 1 heaping tablespoon of kosher salt to the water.
Drop pasta in the water and boil for 2-3 minutes, tasting regularly.
Remove pasta from water when al dente and mix with the heated sauce.
Add a little pasta water if the sauce is too thick or too dry for your preference.
Buon apetito!