7 MIN READ | PASSION PROJECT

Itamae App

Designing an app that streamlines the cooking experience

Role

Product thinking
User Research
Interaction Design
Visual Design

Team

1 Designer
2 Developers

Timeline

Nov. 2020 -
Dec. 2020

Tools

Figma
Adobe CC

PROJECT CONTEXT

I love to cook! In my busy life as a university student, cooking is my way to relax and connect with friends. However, when cooking I find it frustrating and difficult to read online recipes.

To tackle this frustration, I designed a mobile app that streamlines the cooking experience by making it clear and easy to follow online recipes.

I am collaborating with two developers to create this app. As the lead product designer, I worked on end-to-end product design from user research, iterative designs/ prototyping, and finally high fidelity prototyping.

Problem

It is difficult to read and navigate online recipes while cooking which leads to a frustrating and time-consuming cooking experience.

Design Challenge

How might we make using online recipes easier during the cooking process?

Our Solution

Our team created an app where users can easily discover online recipes and follow them step by step during the cooking process.

Feature #1

Recipe Overview

A place where users can quickly understand a recipe and keep track of the ingredients they need.

Jump to Design Process

Feature #2

Guided Recipe Flow

An immersive experience that guides users through their recipes while they cook.

Jump to Design Process

Feature #3

Discover Recipes Feed

A feed for users to discover new online recipes right from the itamae app.

Jump to Design Process

DESIGN PROCESS

To learn more about the problem space, I conducted user research:

Building Empathy

I conducted 2 behavioural user interviews and distributed 6 online questionnaires to learn more about user goals and frustrations when cooking with online recipes. From the findings, I created a user persona:

Key Findings:

Online recipes are text-heavy which make them difficult and time-consuming.
Users want a centralized location for all of their recipes.
Users value photos and recipe length to make decisions.

Design Principles

1. Pictures are worth 1000 words

Users prioritize photos to make key decisions. Visual design is a great way to make recipes more user-friendly during the cooking process.

2. Less Text = Happier User

Too much information can overwhelm users making it hard for them to process the recipe. During user research, I found that users want recipes that are short and easy to read. Instead, break information up into smaller chunks!

Designing an Impactful Solution

Feature #1

Recipe Overview

This feature uses tabs to organize information, reducing the overall text and time it takes for users to read a recipe.

Design Process

Here are some designs I considered before reaching a final design:

Feature #2

Guided Recipe Flow

The guided recipe flow is like the Google Maps of cooking, it guides the users through the recipe making the recipe easier to follow for users.

Design Decisions:

Here are some decisions I considered before reaching a final design:

Immersive mobile experience

A full-screen flow improves productivity while cooking by reducing visual distractions.

All-inclusive cooking environment

There is an integrated timer in the recipe flow so that users don’t need to exit the app during the cooking process.

Progressive disclosure

By revealing the recipe steps one by one, users won’t get “lost in the sauce” (the recipe).

Feature #3

Discover Recipes Feed

Home cooks can search by keyword or dish to find their favourite online recipes from the itamae app.

Design Decisions:

Here are the key decisions I considered before reaching a final design:

Photo-focused search results

During user research, I found that users rely on photos to choose their recipes.

Freedom to search

Users are able to search by recipe name if they already know what they want to make, or by keywords, if they’re just browsing.

Next Steps and Key Takeaways

What I learned

→ Defining User Groups

At first, I was trying to define user groups based on their demographics, now I know that user groups are defined by their shared needs

→ Don’t try to reinvent the wheel

I began this project in 2020 (you can see the originals here). Now, one year later, (2021) I noticed a lot of design flaws caused by trying to create something “new”User’s don’t want a new wheel, having a well-designed wheel is much better.

Next Steps

Shipping designs to developers and validating design decisions with real users!

Thanks for dropping by, want to talk over coffee?

Email me at pywang9830@gmail
or, message me on Linkedin.