The Problem
People who want to cook something to eat don't want to spend too much time searching for what to cook or how to cook it
The Solution
So, I decided to build a recipe app that allows users find recipes to help them decide on what to cook and how to prepare it. It will also help users find recipes based on the ingredients they have.
My Role
We set out to create a recipe app that was easy to use, included detailed recipes and allowed them add ingredients they had available and see recipes that they can cook with those particular ingredients
I led the project and worked on all aspects of creating the recipe app which included conducting interviews, creating user flows and high fidelity designs.
Initially, the project proved daunting because there was so much to learn in this world of cooking. I thought I would never make headway amongst thousands of recipes and ingredients.
Empathize with Users
I interviewed people who cooked for themselves most of the time to find out about their experience and problems while cooking. The result of my findings are displayed below
The persona above describes Andrew Fresh. A young individual who really loves food and cares about food.
The persona above describes Cynthia Makpa. A student who is really confidents about what she can cook with her ingredients.
Define the problem and Ideate solutions
Next, I analyzed the findings from my interviews and created a problem statement. Then I carefully looked at the problem from different perspectives to generate some ideas.
Next, I analyzed the findings from my interviews and created a problem statement. Then I carefully looked at the problem from different perspectives to generate some ideas.
After creating the user flows I started sketching my design. At this stage, the solution quite difficult to conceptualize but after a few sketches, I began to get a clear picture of what I was going to design.
Testing Our Design
I went further to develop some wireframes and a prototype and also conducted a usability test on my design. At this point I really thought my design was flawless even superfluous but I had to go back to the drawing board and effect some changes
Final Results
The recipe app had a high number of user errors after testing so we had to tweak the design a little to make it more user friendly. However most users were successful performing tasks on the app.
At the beginning, I could not imagine building a recipe app that was both unique and usable to my users but I had faith in the design process and I ended with an amazing product.
