Problem hypothesis

People aged 24-30 who live away from their families, cook at home. Many of them like to try new recipes and gather information from various sources instead of cooking the same things repeatedly. However, the internet is filled with overwhelming amounts of information, making it difficult to find reliable recipes.

Since many people use their smartphones to follow recipes, I wanted to discover if there were real needs by creating a mobile application that will offer an easy and flexible way for users to learn new recipes without overwhelming information.

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Part I: Discovery

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Potential Solution

After conducting research, I came up with the idea of a Cooking platform. This platform would allow users to cook recipes step-by-step based on the ingredients they have available. To simplify the process, users could scan their ingredients with their camera and add them to their inventory. With this approach, users could use an application that doesn't overwhelm them. By having an inventory of ingredients within the app, they could easily find recipes related to their available ingredients.

First, I examined existing cooking applications to see what features were already available and identify areas for improvement.

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Mentionable competitors

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Design Problem Opportunities

• A need for a personalised recipe feed based on available ingredients at home.
• The "groceries" section is time-consuming on other applications.
• The initial "personalisation surveys" only considered the difficulty of recipes as the main criteria.
• Some applications lacked complementary instructions. For instance, they only provided a plain video or text and picture instructions separately, not on the same page.
• Too many functions may be overwhelming or confusing for users, as stated in my problem hypothesis.

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Part II: Research

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Learning Goals

1. What’s the cooking learning style of beginner cooks?
2. Do intermediate-level cooks like instructions or they prefer to go with the flow?
3. Does this target group casually download new apps just to try them out? What would make them adopt them?

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Qualitative Research: Guerilla User Interviews

To gather more insights about users' cooking habits and define the design problem, I conducted 5-10 casual and semi-structured user interviews.

The target group for these interviews included individuals within the age range of 24-30 who live away from their families and cook at home.

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Mentionable findings after User Interviews

• Mobile Usage: Most users use their mobile phones to learn and cook recipes.

• Ingredient Skipping: Users often skip ingredients they dislike or find difficult to obtain.

• Recipe Search: Users find it challenging to discover new recipes but search based on main ingredients or dish types.

• Text and Video Instructions: Users appreciate both text and video instructions as they complement each other.

• Frustration with Results: Users feel frustrated when the outcome of a recipe differs from their expectations.

• Cooking Styles: Some prefer step-by-step instructions, while others enjoy improvising.

• Voice-Over Instructions: Fewer users prefer voice-over instructions.

• App Exploration: Some users are willing to try new cooking apps for experimentation.

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Quantitative Research: Survey

To complement the qualitative data from user interviews, I conducted a survey to validate certain points. The survey consisted of 10 demographic and behavioral questions and was completed by 38 individuals carefully selected to represent our target group.

The target group included individuals aged 24-30 who lived alone or with roommates while studying in another city, or who were currently full-time employed. These individuals were specifically chosen because they were beginners or intermediate-level cooks and expressed an interest in discovering new recipes.

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You can see all the results here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-J3ZXY78L9/

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Survey Findings

• Cooking Frequency: All participants reported cooking something new at home occasionally, with no one responding "never" and only one responding "almost never."
• Ingredient Skipping: Over 70% of respondents admitted to skipping ingredients they don't like during a recipe.
• Ingredient Availability: Less than 70% of participants reported skipping ingredients when they are not available at home.
• Preference for Step-by-Step: A clear majority of participants prefer following a step-by-step process for cooking.
• Text and Video Instructions: Users indicated a preference for both text and video instructions, suggesting combining them in a single section would be favorable.

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Research Conclusion

The results of the survey align with the qualitative information obtained from user interviews, validating the observations regarding ingredient omission, preferences for step-by-step guidance, and the effectiveness of combining text and video instructions.

You can see all the results here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-J3ZXY78L9/

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Proto-Personas

I developed two main personas based on the research data: one representing the younger demographic (18-29) and the other representing a more established persona with a family. Despite their shared motivations, their lifestyles differ. These personas will guide the design of the prototypes.

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Scenarios

I crafted individual scenarios for each persona, enabling a more structured design process and a clearer focus on addressing their specific needs.

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Part III: Design

Sketches

I sketched 20 drafts for the cooking section of the product, focusing on the interface for the first step of the recipe. These sketches were made without much deliberation to encourage diverse ideation. Each sketch is accompanied by a brief description of the ideas presented.

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System Inputs & Outputs

Before creating wireframes, I revisited my research findings to identify the key inputs and outputs that the system would encompass. This helped provide a clearer direction for my design process.

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Wireframes

Using Miro, I created wireframes for the following deliverables: Launch Screen, Login/Register screens, Dashboard-Profile Section, Inventory Section, Search Function, Recipe Instructions, and Ingredients Scanner. Post-it notes were used to categorize and present each component.

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Prototypes

I completed the initial design iteration of the prototypes, incorporating the mentioned sections and visualising the system inputs and outputs.

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Part IV: More Research

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User Testing

Based on feedback from 6-7 users, several changes were implemented to improve the initial design.

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The recipe overview overlay was better in full screen, reducing 1 extra screen (rather than having an extra screen later telling the recipe ingredients):

In the recipe section, I increased the text size from 16 to 21. There was a particular reason for that. When the user will be using the app during cooking, they will position the phone further while preparing all the stuff. So, they need to be able to read the instructions from a further distance easier:

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Users mentioned that there is already a competitor with a mobile cooking app with the primary color being orange. Additionally, I searched the psychology of colors, and red was a more suitable choice to go with (passionate, young, bold) considering the target group:

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Finally, I asked users what would their priorities in an app like this be. Initially, there were 3 categories on the footer navbar: Dashboard, Inventory & Profile. After feedback, I changed "Profile" with “Inventory”, since it was considered a primary function. I also brought the "ingrerdients scanner" to the center, as a competitive strength function:

Final Prototypes

You can view the design file here: https://www.figma.com/file/rW7H79SFTRHrgw2sjXvlKp/How-To-Cook---Concept-Project?node-id=604%3A1130

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UI Library

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Next Steps

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Heuristic Evaluation

In addition to user testing, I will conduct a heuristic evaluation based on Jakob Nielsen's 10 general principles for interaction design. This evaluation will aim to independently verify the system's user-friendliness.

More User Testing

Through continuous user testing, we can identify and address usability issues, ultimately creating a user-friendly experience. It is crucial to keep a balance between the value of improvements and the effort required for implementation, ensuring ongoing efficiency and effectiveness.