Modern Foodie

A personal project to create a food ordering app for a contemporary, healthy restaurant.

My Role

End-to-end UX/UI

designer

Tools

Canva, Figma, Zoom, Anima,

Flair pens, paper

Timeline

4 weeks

8/2/22-8/30/22

Process

1

DEFINE

Project Overview

Modern Foodie needed a food delivery app that makes online ordering easy for people on the go with busy schedules who want to eat healthy and enjoy the aesthetics and stylings of modern foods but do not have time to cook or time to eat out at a restaurant.

Goal Statement

Our food app would allow users to order healthy, locally-sourced fast food, which will affect health-conscious consumers who have little time to cook by providing them with healthy, modern, fast food that can work with people across budget ranges.  We measured effectiveness by conversion rates of visitors, order fulfillment time, and quality of reviews.

2

Research

Methodologies & Reasoning

Competitive Market Analysis

I started my research for this project with a CMA, which I ran to compare Modern Foodie to other peer-to-peer restaurant companies. I used the CMA to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, and features offered peer-to-peer restaurant apps.

Findings

  • Possibility to link to local farms and ranches that supply produce and proteins

  • Can also provide customized recommendations from the restaurant

    • “Try it this way…”

    • “We recommend…”

  • Pair possible specialized beverage options with meals (i.e. the cucumber mint water as a pairing with the balsamic salmon salad, etc.)

    • Maybe allow users can add their own recommendations

  • Extension of ingredients list to provide health benefits of each dish and/or specific “power foods” and benefits found in each dish– especially important to the health conscious demographic of consumers

  • Including pictures of customization options (foods) may increase consumer likelihood of adding on foods and increasing overall cost/ spending more

Survey

I created a survey that received 75 responses to find out more about food app user frustrations, likes, and dislikes.

Research Goals

  1. I want to understand the common challenges involved with different types of users with busy schedules who want to order food via an app.  

  2. I want to identify frustrations people face when ordering food through an app and resolve those issues with the design of a new food delivery app.

How I Gathered Information

  • I interviewed stakeholders and tech development team to better understand their goals and challenges.

  • I conducted an online survey to receive feedback on likes and dislikes of food delivery apps with the incentive of discount coupons for the restaurant.

Interview Questions

To Development Team

  1. Can you describe your vision for this food delivery app?

  2. Do you have a preexisting app?  If so, what would you like to see changed or improved?

  3. Who is your primary customer?  What is the demographic you want to target?

To Consumers

  1. How often do you order modern cuisine for delivery?

  2. What do you like or dislike about food delivery apps?

  3. What features make it easier and faster for you to order food from an app?

  4. Can you describe your current schedule and how you balance your responsibilities with meal planning?

  5. What challenges do you face in the ordering process? How does this make you feel?

Findings

Were there any surprises?

Yes! I was surprised to discover issues with the inconsistencies of menus between apps and websites. I was also surprised that users tend to feel overwhelmed with text-heavy apps. Surveyors expressed desire for a more straightforward, clean, and simple design for easier usability.

Personas

The Working, Single Mom

The College Student

The Stay at Home Mom

Value Proposition

Customer Ethos

Through analyzing customer personas and the customer journey map, I found ways to add value to the Modern Foodie App that directly target the ethos of their customer base. Key strategies to increase value include:

  • Linking to food sources of ingredients because these are customers who care about the quality of the foods they consume.

  • Adding in suggested food alteration ideas and substitutions to fit the specific dietary needs of consumers who might be vegan, gluten-free, etc.

  • Including recipes of dishes for consumers to know what they are eating.

3

Ideate

Brainstorming & Sketches

I thought through various ways to approach the design of this app in order to meet the ethos of both the company and the users. I wanted to provide access to food sources as well as special dietary needs of customers while also representing the brand stylings of the restaurant. The first iterations of the design included links to food sources and the company’s ethos from the main page, but usability testing showed that this format was too cluttered, so links to food sources would ultimately move to the dropdown menu in the navigation bar as well as in the “our story” section provided at checkout.

Wireframes

4

Test

I wanted to see how participants would use the app to order food and how they would use (or not use) links to food sources, recipes, and customization suggestions. Results from my usability test called for a more simplified app with food sourcing information available through the navigation bar and recommended customizations or pairings available with each individual food option.

Test Objectives

The design problem I tried to resolve was how to integrate food sourcing information along with pairing/customization ideas into the traditional structure of a food ordering app. The results of this study will help to inform how users use this information (and if they use it) to help inform design decisions of where to integrate this information into the app without interrupting the user flow.

Specifically, I wanted to understand the challenges users faced in placing an order, processing payment, and how to repair user flow issues accordingly all while integrating specific traits of the brand.

I discovered that…

Users struggled to find and use recommendation options. They wanted to be able to access recommendations from the restaurant as they ordered, so I moved the link to recommendations as the first option along with each dish.

Food source information was better placed in the navigation bar and also on the checkout page where users can read more about the restaurant’s story while they wait to pick up their orders.

Design Revision #1

Customization button added to each dish

Design Revision #2

Relocation of Food Sources and Recipes to Main Navigation

Reflection

While designing Modern Foodie’s app, I realized that the process is recursive just like any other creative design process.  It is in constant flux per feedback from usability studies and peers.  Working together with a group is the best way to “see” necessary changes and iterate a highly functional app.

You made it!

Thanks for reading… ALL the way to the end!

Design Kit