Under Construction
Check again later to see how this project turned out!
Overview
The Taste app was created in order to address the need for making cooking more approachable to this new generation of home cooks. We’ve seen with the COVID-19 pandemic that people are staying inside and getting back in the kitchen. This app was intended to make the process of learning to cook, discovering new recipes, and getting started more approachable.
Timespan: 1.5 months
Role: UI/UX Designer
Team
Dylan Hardman (me)
Andrea Estrada
Cooking is a vital lifeskill that has been slowly being lost on the new generation with the rise of consumption of take-out and delivery food versus cooking at home. Additionally, the average American home discards 30-40% of the food it buys (according to the Agriculture & Applied Economics Association). This project thus tries to answer the question how can we use technology to encourage more cooking at home and also make new cooks more comfortable in the kitchen?
Problem Statement
After 10 rounds of user research we learned the following about young people who aren’t so savvy in the kitchen.
User Research Methods:
Semi-structured interviews
Surveys with Likert Questions
Cognitive Walkthroughs (Post-Prototyping)
Insights
Our participants were more motivated to try a new recipe when they know they have most of the ingredients already
Consequently they are also averse to trying recipes when they lack 2 or more of the ingredients in a recipe (depending on how critical they are)
Our participants were also more encouraged to try recipes that they see from social media influencers
On the tech side, we found that our participants preferred using a smartphone as their recipe companion in the kitchen over other such devices like tablets, laptops, and even paper.
Another major blocker for many cooks, both new and experienced is the fear of danger in the kitchen from things like knives and heat (specifically from hot oil splatter)
Our Design Must Therefore…
adapt to user’s life and conform to both what they have to cook with as well their skill level
be designed around a mobile interface that would be most desirable to the user’s cooking preferences
incorporate a level of interaction with social media that encourages the sharing of recipes within a community
Process
Research
Find user pain points and motivations. In context of this project: learn about what causes people to not want to cook. Additionally, set initial measurable goals for the project.
Ideation
Identifying potential solutions to the problem identified from research and narrowing down most viable paths.
Low-Fidelity Designs
Sketch out the design path of our choice and then proceed with wireframes that could be used to do initial user testing of our concept.
Design Testing
Do user walkthroughs to confirm our mental models with the users. Get initial feedback on what they wish to have within the app.
High-Fidelity Designs
Create high-fidelity designs that are a better representation of a minimum viable product (MVP)
“Final” User Testing
Test this high-fidelity design and confirm measurable goals set out at the beginning of the project.