Team
Myself
Duration
Fall 2021 | 8 Weeks
CHALLENGE
Many people suffer from malnutrition due to nutritional deficiencies and dietary imbalances. They may not consume enough nutrients or may overeat unhealthy food. I found that young adults, in particular, lack the time and knowledge to cook healthy meals at home. Searching for easy, quick recipes and cooking healthy meals can feel burdensome to them, often leading them to opt for unhealthy food choices. Moreover, they contribute to food waste by purchase ingredients in bulk.
I decided to design responsive website that delivers weekly boxes containing fresh ingredients and simple step-by-step recipes to users. The platform aim to help users learn how to cook healthy meals to be their own while minimizing food waste.
USER
RESEARCH
I conducted user interviews with six participants among young adults to understand challenges they face in maintaining a healthy diet. The interview questions covered their experience with daily meals, including recipe preferences, the condition of their refrigerator, grocery shopping habits, meal preparation, and other related experiences. Below are some of the questions that were asked:
How often do you eat meals away from home?
How interested are you in nutrition?
How do you feel when you don’t have any food ingredients in the fridge?
What methods do you prefer for getting recipes for meals?
How often do you go grocery shopping?
What are the pros and cons when you buy something at a grocery market?
What are advantages and disadvantages of cooking at home?
Research revealed that most participants were frustrated with preparing healthy meals due to a lack of cooking knowledge. They often relied to leftover meals from restaurants or skipped meals altogether, despite their interest in nutrition. Busy schedules made it difficult for them to prepare three meals a day, and they had limited time for grocery shopping. Another issue identified was food waste, with participants discarding about tho-thirds of food they purchased. Despite making meal plans and shopping lists, they bought ingredients in bulk at retail stores, leading to excess food that crowded their refrigerators and made it difficult to assess ingredient availability. Additionally, participants faced challenges such as sharing kitchen space with housemates, organizing their shared refrigerator, dealing with lengthy recipes, over-prepping ingredients, and other cooking-related obstacles.
USER
PERSONA
I created two personas based on the interview data to better understand user needs. These fictional users, representing different categories of people, were interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They were ideal candidates for the project, which aimed to help users learn how to cook healthy meals and reduce food waste.
EMPATHY
MAP
JOURNEY
MAP
After conducting user persona and empathy map exercises, I created two visual representations of the user journey map. These maps include actions, task lists, feelings, and improvement opportunities to understand how users prepare meals.
Jamie Lee
Elisa Hartt
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
Jamie is a hardworking graphic designer who needs easy, quick recipes to cook for her husband and herself because she frequently skips meals.
Elisa is a senior at university who needs a sufficient amount of food ingredients at home because she lives with her housemates and cannot stock food in the fridge.
GOAL
STATEMENT
Yorie aims to delivery a package of food ingredients and enhance users’ cooking skills, benefiting individuals in their early twenties and thirties who prioritize healthy eating. By adjusting to their dietary preference and subscribing to a weekly meal plan containing fresh ingredients and recipes, user will meet their daily nutritional needs and benefits from shared experiences and tips. Effectiveness will be measured through subscription, reviews, and blog posts.
I conducted a competitive audit To gain deeper insights into various concepts and marketing strategies. Analyzing three direct competitors and two indirect competitors, I identified several functions and features that users might need, which I believe could be valuable additions to my project.
INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE
WIREFRAME
USABILITY
TEST
Before finalizing the visual design details, I conducted the moderated usability testing for the low-fidelity prototype with five participants to gather insights. During the observation, I noted that most participants completed the assigned tasks within approximately 40 minutes, each expressing different tones of voice and offering various suggestion. I soon organized their feedback using an affinity map, categorizing it into sections such as, tone, confusion, needs, and getting started.
The insights from the usability testing are included:
Order Confirmation
All the participants are confused by the ordering process, as they were unsure whether their transactions had been successfully completed.
Dietary Preference
4 out of 5 participants need to improve customization options regarding dietary preferences. They suggested that users should be able to select their weekly meals according to their dietary preferences more easily when ordering meal kits.
Order History
3 out of 5 participants need an order history to know which meals have been ordered.
Blog Posting
3 users expressed confusion about adding a blog post. An insight is to hierarchically place the icon of adding post on the profile page.
Notification
Most participants are unsure of where the notification is located. An insight is to provide notifications on the navigation bar.
