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DURATION
ROLES
User Research, UX Design
COOKBOOK
Cookbook is a platform where users can browse, collect, and share recipes, tutorials, and tips. Cookbook targets users who are completely new or just starting to learn cooking like students and young professionals who have limited time and resources.
The problem
Students and young professionals who lack resources in preparing a meal
The goal
Design a platform that allows users to learn to cook in a way that is convenient for them.
User Research
Interviews were conducted and empathy maps created in order to understand the users and their needs. A primary user group identified through research were college students and young working adults who has started to live on their own and have limited time and resources to cook meals.
Research revealed that time and equipment were not the only factors limiting users from cooking their won meals. Other user problems include:
Financial
100% of participants are motivated to work with a budget but not compromising on taste or nutrition.
"I'm a foodie but eating out all time is expensive!"
Relevance
75% of participants find recipe website do not meet their needs
"I feel like most of the recipes online expect you to know the culinary terms and ingredients. And those that are detailed are just too texty and overwhelming"
Reference
75% or participants need a way to to collect and organize the recipes they like for future reference
"I have a Word file of recipes and it's become to be a big file size.. It is getting a bit longer to find recipes. Not to mention lots of scrolling!"
Meet the Users
PRIMARY
Leigh
20 years old
Student, freelance designer
Single
Leigh is a 3nd year college student majoring in multimedia arts who lives in a dorm. His daily schedule is spent attending classes and accomplishing student and freelance projects. It’s his first time to live away from home and is missing his mom’s home cooked meals. He wants to learn to cook his favorite food instead of eating at food stalls or restaurants.
SECONDARY
Anika
31 years old
ESL Teacher
Single with 1 child
Anika is a mom to a grade school age daughter. She’s an online ESL teacher and has a busy daily schedule spent mostly on taking care of her daughter and work. She has more time during weekend, so she prefers to prepare their meals during these days. She wants to cook meals that are simple and healthy.
Site Map
Wire frames
Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app on paper ensured that the elements that made it to digital wireframes would be well-suited to address users' needs.
CHALLENGE 1: FINANCIAL
Customization of number of servings & yield
The number of servings and yield can be customized which will result to an adjustment of ingredient measurements ang amounts. This way, users can create accurate an shopping list and budget, as well as avoid food wastage.
CHALLENGE 2: RELEVANCE
Pop-up, tabs, & detailed content
Difficulty level and Time it takes to cook a recipe is shown on the list and detail views so that users can gauge if they are ready to do the recipe at a glance, instead of scanning the ingredients and procedure. Other categorical info like cooking method is shown in the intro section in the detail view.
Tabs are used in the detail view of recipes to avoid long and text-heavy pages. Additional tabs for uncommon yet necessary for beginners are added. These are the Glossary for culinary terms and Substitutions to take availability or diet preferences into consideration.
The detail view of recipes pops up and can be closed easily while the user stays on the same area on the list view. This is to avoid opening new windows or clicking back to the previous grid view where you might have lost the place where you left off. This is useful because of the large number of recipes in list view.
CHALLENGE 3: REFERENCE
Growing and organizing a Cookbook
Users can keep from the list, adding to their own cookbook account. In case users have a recipe from a source outside the platform, they have the option to add them in their cookbook.
Once a recipe is in the cookbook, users can use these features:
assign labels
bookmark the recipe
mark favorite
search using the mentioned features as well as by using the search bar and default categories
Desktop Wireflow
Some sections in the home page that were meant for new users are shown
as the 5 onboarding screens in the mobile version below:
Style Guide
The color theme are reflective of natural food colors. The handwritten typeface and hand-drawn style of the icons and buttons are used to evoke the quality of something personal and handmade.
Home & Onboarding Screens
Cookbook Views
Grid View
Detail View
Takeaways
It was a challenging project because of the volume of content, factors to consider, and seemingly infinite possibilities that can be taken. Adding a solution to users' needs can result to more features such as grocery lists and a social network within the platform. I think this is where the project leader is can be very valuable as they can keep the project focused, decide when a phase has been reached, and when a project needs to evolve.
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