Increased Home Cooks’ Confidence In The Kitchen With New Recipe Features
Mobile UX Design | 5-Day Google Ventures Design Sprint
I designed a mobile recipe app to help home cooks prepare meals through a 5-Day GV Design Sprint.
Savr Recipes is a mobile recipe app that allows users to find and follow recipes for a variety of meals. During the sprint, I created features to improve the experiences for cooks, including:
Ingredients/Tools List
Cooking Videos Throughout The Recipe
Step-by-Step Recipe Instructions
Scope
This was a modified 5-day design sprint, based on the Google Ventures design sprint template. The sprint was modified from the collaborative team structure to accommodate performing the sprint alone.
My Role
I was the designer responsible for design, prototyping, and testing.
UI/UX Designer
Timeline
1-week independent project.
Tools
Figma
The goal of the assignment was to help Savr Recipes, a new start-up, make it easier for people to follow new recipes and cook great meals at home.
Problem
Overview
Recent negative reviews reported recipes that involved many steps or more advanced techniques. Users didn't feel the instructions were clear or easy to execute.
How can we help users accurately and easily follow the cooking instructions?
User Concerns
Timing
Order of Steps
Learning New Techniques
Goals
Quickly test out a possible solution to address Savr Recipes' users' concerns
Make cooking new meals that are easy to follow and allow users to accurately learn new cooking techniques
Constraints
Recipes are written as text in ordered steps from start to finish
The solution needed to be a feature for Savr Recipes’ native mobile app
The focus needs to be on designing a better experience for users during the cooking process
Solution
Overview
A redesigned flow of how recipes ingredients and steps are presented using a step-by-step video, timer feature, and overview page.
Lessons Learned
The list of ingredients and tools being upfront was helpful.
The videos were helpful in some cases.
Short quick videos would be key!
The timing element did not help at all and added stress to the user.
My Recommendation
Iterate on prototype & continue testing with real video content.
The app solution with special features to address user concerns.
The Design Sprint Process
Day 1: Understanding the User
Research
Research Context
This design challenge was designed by https://bitesizeux.com/, therefore the research had been given to me. Through various quotes, interview recordings, and notes I learned about the user.
The Main Problem
How can we help users accurately and easily follow the cooking instructions?
User Persona
Nick, 29 years old, Los Angeles, CA
Cooking habits
Cooks 3x per week for himself (occasionally for him and his girlfriend)
Believes following the recipe is the best way to learn basic cooking techniques
Likes improving recipes, but doesn't feel comfortable improvising unless he is confident in the original recipe
Pain Points
Unsure if he's "on the right track" halfway through the meal preparation
Isn't clear on "what's next" and how to prep steps ahead
Disappointed if the meal doesn't come out as expected
Gets stressed referring back to his phone every time a new technique or step is introduced
Key Research Takeaways
Timing is a painpoint
Users want to know how to prepare from the start
Wants a helping hand while doing cooking
Efficiency and clean up are very important to the user
End-to-End User Journey
After unpacking the research, I created the following user journey to focus on.
Day 2: Sketch the Solution
Inspiration & Sketching
Lightning Demos
I turned to lightning demos for inspiration and competitive research. Each site explored a different objective. The following objectives helped me see how I could solve various problems the user was experiencing.
Cooking recipes — HelloFresh, Yummly, and Kitchen Stories
Managing multiple timelines — Monday.com
Learning a new skill — SkillShare, Duolingo
Completing a task — Nike Training Club
Crazy 8
After finding some inspiration, I turned to the most critical problem in the user flow, cooking the meal with ease. Then I quickly sketch 8 possible solutions.
Generating the Solution
I was able to quickly address possible solutions to this problem, sort through what would add value to the user, and parse together a real solution.
Solution Ideas
Overview page with ingredients, tools, and techniques to keep the user “in the know”.
A timeline and videos through the cooking process to teach the user every step of the way.
Day 3: Storyboard
Sketching My Solution Storyboard
When sketching my solutions I was overwhelmed with new ideas but stayed focused on testing one solution quickly. I referred back to my original user flow and remembered the goal was to focus on the actual cooking process.
Day 4: Prototype
Building the Prototype
I built a realistic prototype to conduct a usability test. The goal was to present something realistic and clear to understand. I was more focused on testing the idea of the solution rather than the UI design.
Day 5: Test
Questions To Test
Do users review the steps before they start cooking?
Do users watch the videos?
If so, when?
Do users feel more confident about cooking with the videos?
Is the overview page helpful in knowing the process before they start cooking?
Is the timer feature helpful for users?
The Testing Process
Participants
I tested the prototype with 5 users from the target audience, who:
Cooks several times per week
Uses recipes to cook with
Recruitment
Posting on Slack and individual outreach to my network
Bias
Some users were pretty advanced in cooking. If done again I would choose more beginner cooks. Also, several participants were aware of the UX Design Process.
Setup
All interviews were conducted virtually via Zoom. I asked primary cooking questions to learn about users' baseline habits and behaviors in the kitchen. Then proceed to prototype and presented the user with the task of cooking a particular recipe. Each participant walked through the process of cooking the meal while using the app.
Answers From Testing
Do users review the steps before they start cooking?
Yes
Do users watch the videos?
Yes and No. They would watch a video for certain steps but not all of them.
If so, when?
During the overview step of the user journey, probably not during actual cooking.
Do users feel more confident about cooking with the videos?
Only if the videos were short and sweet.
Is the overview page helpful in knowing the process before they start cooking?
Yes, the list of ingredients and overview were both things all users explored.
Is the timer feature helpful for users?
No, none of the users understood the intent of the timer. Each user brainstormed what it was meant for, but in every possible explanation, they were stressed out by the use of the timer.
Key Insights
The ingredients and tools list was helpful upfront and during cooking.
Users did not understand the "Start Cooking" button to lead them to guided steps.
Videos received mixed reviews -
Some users like that they led them through cooking.
Users were overwhelmed with videos at every step.
Video content was questioned by several participants.
The timer feature was not understood at all.
In Conclusion
This quick 5-day sprint was an efficient way to learn about a problem and test a possible solution without investing too much time. My solution included an overview page to prepare the user for cooking, video steps to add confidence throughout the cooking experience, and a timer feature to keep users on track.
Usability Test Learnings
The overview page with ingredients, tools, and steps with visuals was the most helpful.
Videos were helpful if done correctly.
Timers weren’t needed.
My Recommendation
My recommendation for the future would be to keep the overview page, remove the step-by-step cooking flow, and test various video content.
The biggest area of interest for users was what content the videos would include. By testing the content in the future you can get a better sense of how a user would interact with the product.