MEALEASY application
REDESIGN A RECIPE, GROCERY SHOPPING AND MEAL PLAN APPLICATION.
MealEasy applicat ion is a all-in-one solution for seamless meal planning, efficient grocery shopping, and inspired recipe creation. In the hustle and bustle of daily life, finding the time and energy to organize meals can be a daunting task. That's where this application steps in, revolutionizing the way people approach food.
Imagine a world where planning weekly meals is not only stress-free but also enjoyable. With MealEasy application, people can create personalized meal plans tailored to your preferences and lifestyle.
— MY ROLE:
UX Researcher
UX Designer
overview
— DURATION
2 months
— TOOLS:
Figma, Miro
THE PROBLEM
People have busy lives and struggle to maintain a healthy life because of inflation. They are worry about time and money when it comes to cooking.
They need a tool to help them save money on expensive takeout and meal delivery services. It also help them reduce food waste by allowing them to use up ingredients in creative and delicious ways.
I applied the UX process to help me discover user's pain points, find the solution and create the design.
USER RESEARCH AND COMPETITOR RESEARCH
I researched food costs and discovered that restaurant orders are five times more expensive, and meal kit deliveries cost three times more than cooking at home. Grocery and supermarket food prices increased by 9.3% in 2021. Additionally, I conducted interviews with five individuals who met my criteria—cooking at home at least three times a week and grocery shopping at least once a week—after surveying a total of 10 participants.
Based on my competitor research, I found other application's problem as below:
PLATEJOY
PAPRIKA
EAT THIS MUCH
There is a lack of integration between recipes, shopping lists, and meal plans.
The design doesn't catch my eye. It's outdated.
There is a need for an application that helps users do their tasks effectively and is easy to use.
AFFINITY MAPPING
I used Affinity Mapping to analyze the interview report, identifying recurring patterns and categorizing them into Recipe, Grocery, and Behavior for key research findings.
persona
“HOW MIGHT WE help Lucy reduce food waste, plan meals and shop grocery effectively ?”
I created a persona, defining her personality, goals, interests, and frustrations, to inform the design of an application aimed at helping her find recipes based on her available ingredients and enhancing her shopping list management.
Users want to cook healthy food which means more vegetables and protein but they want to keep in budget.
Users struggle with using up current ingredients to cook a new dish.
Users like to explore new recipes and save those recipes on paper or in a phone note.
Users need a better tool to keep their grocery shopping list and household shopping list.
I created the sitemap to plan all the neccesary screens to solve Lucy's problem. This sitemap can keep me on track when I start to sketch the wireframe.
Then I created user flow based on what I understood from user research. Users have 3 main tasks that they want to finish. Those tasks are recipe, meal plan and grocery list.
I sketched the application screen and ran the guerilla test with 5 people I met at the coffeeshop.
Based on my test, I identified flow issues due to a lack of images and information, causing user confusion.
To address this, I made improvement about text, images, CTA button and hierarchy.
Reduced text for clarity.
Added more screens and images.
Placed the CTA button strategically.
Introduced a recipe details screen.
Iterated on the design based on peer feedback for wireframe refinement.
I created the wireframe after collecting the user’s feedbacks.
Styde Guide
The color palette I created is based on the purpose of bringing a fresh and healthy-looking feel to users because I found that users want to eat fresh and healthy food.
THE SOLUTION
I designed this application to help users simplify their tasks. Users can effortlessly discover recipes, compile shopping lists, and efficiently plan their meals through this application. To enhance user satisfaction further, I've incorporated a special feature that enables users to make the most of their existing ingredients, thereby reducing food waste.
HIGH FIDELITY DESIGN
This design offers a fresh and inspiring user interface with easy navigation for recipe access, meal planning, and shopping via bottom navigation.
Users can select recipes on the main screen, view instructions and ingredients, and take notes.
Adding ingredients to the shopping list and incorporating recipes into the meal plan is simplified through a CTA button.
This ensures a seamless user experience, saving time and promoting budget-friendly choices.
PROTOTYPE
testing
What did I revise after getting feedback from the user through the usability test?
I revised my prototypes and added more screens to have better flows. I reposition the feature ‘ find recipes based on ingredients they have at home’ to the center of the main screen.
I built an additional screen for the meal plan to let the user know that they can choose the date and the course to add the recipe to their current plan.
The user was confused if they add all ingredients to the shopping list or if they can choose which ingredients to add to the shopping list. To fix this issue, I added the checkmarked icon next to ingredient items. So the user can check which ingredients they want to add to the shopping list.
I also restructured the shopping list to make it clear and flexible to Lucy. When she goes to the grocery store, she can check off items that she bought.
feedback from users
“Everything looks seamless. It is so clear. I can easily go see and pick the thing I want”
- Susan -
“ I like the idea that I can find the recipe, save it on the shopping list and create a meal plan. I think this is a good idea. I’ve never seen an app that has this combination”
- Cynthia -
reflection
During the process, I consistently referred back to my hypotheses and conducted user tests to identify the solutions that best met the users' needs.
Through this iterative approach, I developed a sense of empathy towards the users' goals and frustrations in finding a solution to their problems.
Throughout the design process, I gained user research, low-fidelity and high-fidelity design, and user testing skills.
NEXT STEP
Developed the shopping list screen for the user to customize their list.