y (u/xi) ng ✧.

where aesthetics meet functionality

PLATEFUL UX Case Study

January 2024 – May 2024

As an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, I took professor TJ Blanchflower’s 2024 Spring semester course, MEJO433: UX Strategy and Design. Some parts of the project were done with the help of Microsoft Edge’e Bingchat.

Our goal was to identify a problem college students faced and create a solution through a self-designed app. My problem statement was:

Many students face the problem of eating healthy, buying groceries, learning how to cook, and staying sustainable. This is a significant problem because it affects their physical health, environmental impact, personal skills, and financial situation.

GOALS

01

Recipe Discovery and Sharing

Enable users to discover new recipes.

Value to Users: Inspiration, variety, and learning opportunities.

02

Efficient Meal Planning

Simplify meal planning.

Value to Users: Time savings, balanced diets, and organized cooking schedules.

03

Enhanced Cooking Experience

Provide smart kitchen tools.

Value to Users: Better ingredient management and precise cooking.

Measure Success

User Takeaway: Users are able to gain and learn skills that will improve their day to day life.

User Satisfaction: Conduct surveys or usability tests to gather feedback on the redesigned interface

My Values

My unique angle is to bridge the gap between a social-media esque app while teaching young adults valuable skills. By catering specifically to college students and young adults, I want to create a platform that feels like an educational social media app, where users can create and discovery simple recipes and plan their meals.

INITIAL VALUE PROPOSITION

“This app helps you plan your meals, shop for groceries, and cook healthy recipes based on your preferences, budget, and availability. that way, you can eat healthy, save money, reduce waste, and learn new skills. This addresses the challenge of finding time, money, and inspiration to eat healthy and sustainable food, and the benefit of improving your health, environment, skills, and finances.”

Based on the insights gained from throughout the course, I have refined my value proposition to:

VALUE PROPOSITION

“This community platform connects you with other individuals who share your interests in cooking. You can discover, plan, and cook recipes that fit your budget, schedule, and preferences. You can also share your own creations as well as plan your meals, grocery trips, and manage your pantry.”

I made the following adjustments or refinements to my intial value proposition based on my research:

– I added the word “discover” to emphasize the discovery aspect of our app, which was important to our customers who wanted to find new dishes and cuisines, and to grow their cooking skillset.

– I removed the word “healthy” from the phrase “cook healthy recipes” because it was too vague and did not convey the specific value of our app. Instead, we added the phrase “fit your budget, schedule, and preferences” to show how our app can help our customers cook meals that are suitable for their needs and tastes.

– I refined the four main features of the app to be: meal discovery, meal planning, grocery shopping list, and pantry management.

Customer Segment + Biggest Problem

Demographic

The primary customer segment for the app is college students who live off-campus and have access to a kitchen. They are mostly between 18 and 25 years old, and have a low to moderate income level. They are interested in cooking and eating healthy and delicious meals, but may lack the time, skills, or inspiration to do so regularly.

Psycho-graphic

The primary customer segment values convenience, affordability, variety, and quality in their food choices. They are also influenced by social factors such as peer pressure, online reviews, or trends. They are open to trying new cuisines and recipes, and enjoy sharing their creations with others.

Behavioral

The primary customer segment uses the app to browse, select, and follow recipes from a feed of submissions from other college students or chefs. They can also rate, review, and share the recipes they try. They prefer recipes that are easy, quick, and budget-friendly, and that use common or seasonal ingredients.

Significance

The primary customer segment is significant and valuable to the product or service because they represent a large and growing market of college students who want to eat better and save money. They are also loyal and engaged users who provide feedback and referrals to the app.

Problem: The biggest problem that college students who live off-campus and want to cook healthy and delicious meals face is the lack of time, skills, or inspiration to do so. They often resort to eating out, ordering delivery, or skipping meals, which are unhealthy, expensive, and unsatisfying options.

Implications: This problem affects the daily lives and experiences of the customer segment in various ways, such as:

  • It negatively impacts their physical and mental health, as they consume more calories, fat, sugar, and salt, and less vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and other issues.
  • It reduces their financial well-being, as they spend more money on food than they can afford, which can cause stress, debt, and lower academic performance.
  • It limits their social and cultural opportunities, as they miss out on the chance to bond with their friends, family, or roommates over a home-cooked meal, or to explore and appreciate different cuisines and cultures through cooking.

Provisional Personas

Initial Provisional Personas

Revised Provisional Persona

My provisional personas for our community platform were based on our assumptions about college students who are interested in healthy and sustainable eating. I assumed that they would have similar challenges, needs, and expectations from our app. However, after conducting interviews with five different potential customers, I realized that our provisional personas were too broad and generic, and did not capture the diversity and complexity of my customer segment.

Therefore, I decided to modify and enhance our personas based on the information gathered from the interviews (see below).

Research Summary

I interviewed five potential customers for my cooking app: Sam, Gabe, Alex, Michelle and Jeanette. They are all college students who have different levels of cooking experience, skills, and preferences. I asked them about their background, habits, challenges, expectations, and motivations related to cooking and meal planning.

Here are the key insights and findings from our interviews:

All five customers cook for themselves at least occasionally, but they face various challenges such as time constraints, lack of inspiration, budget limitations, dietary needs, and roommate conflicts. They also have different sources of inspiration, such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or even family members.

All five customers expect the app to have features that would make cooking more convenient and fun, such as recipes, shopping lists, meal planners, personalization, and potluck or event features. They also value information such as cooking tips and nutritional details.

All five customers are interested in trying recipes shared by other users, but they have different likelihoods of sharing their own recipes. This is mainly dependent on their experience and confidence level in their skills.

Some of the surprises or unexpected discoveries that I found during the research are:

  • Most of the participants that I interviewed did not plan their meals ahead of time or make any sort of planner/note, except one.
  • Cooking for some of them were a means to an end, and they did not find joy in cooking.
  • Some participants live in a dorm, and although each floor is given a kitchen, they hardly utilize it.

The interview results align with some of our initial assumptions about my customer segment, such as:

  • They are busy college students who need quick and easy recipes that fit their budget and schedule.
  • They are interested in learning new cooking techniques and tricks, as well as discovering new dishes and cuisines.
  • They want to eat healthier and more varied meals, but they face obstacles such as lack of inspiration, motivation, or access to groceries.

The interview results diverge from some of our initial assumptions about our customer segment, such as:

  • They have different levels of cooking experience, skills, and preferences, which require different levels of guidance and personalization from the app.
  • They have different sources of inspiration, such as social media platforms or family members, which influence their cooking choices and styles.
  • Not all the participants use an online resource to create meals.

IMPACT ON VALUE PROPOSITION

The interviews validated most of our assumptions regarding what matters most to our customer segment, such as:

  • They want to eat healthy and sustainable food, but they face obstacles such as lack of inspiration, motivation, or access to groceries.
  • They are interested in learning new cooking techniques and tricks, as well as discovering new dishes and cuisines.
  • They want to save money and time by using features such as recipes, shopping lists, and meal planners.

IMPACT ON PROVISIONAL PERSONAS

  • I added more personality traits and goals to our personas, such as their values, attitudes, beliefs, and motivations. This helps me to understand the psychological and emotional influences on their behavior, and to empathize with their needs and pain points.
  • I added more dislikes and frustrations to our personas, such as their obstacles, challenges, and complaints. This helps me to identify the problems and gaps that my app could solve and fill, and to avoid features or functions that could annoy or disappoint our customers.
  • I added more expectations and preferences to our personas, such as their desired features, information, and benefits. This helped me to prioritize and design the features and functions that would meet or exceed my customers’ expectations, and to tailor the app to their personal preferences.

Competitive Research and Analysis Brief

Intro to Competitors

Yummly

Personalized meal planner and and smart grocery list that suggests recipes.

Epicurious

A hub for individuals to discover recipes and learn how to cook based on their preferences.

Mealime

Personalized meal planner and and smart grocery list that suggests recipes.

RecipeBox

Store recipes from other apps and websites, create meal plans and grocery lists. 

Cooklist

Scan grocery receipts to update digital pantry, then suggests recipes and shopping list.

I will be spotlighting 3 prominent competitors, elucidating their competitive advantages and the reasons they pose a substantial challenge to my product.

Yummly

Value Proposition

  • With Yummly, you can discover over 2 million recipes from the best sources on the web, tailored to your preferences, diet, allergies, and food tastes. You can also plan your meals, shop for groceries, and use smart features like the smart thermometer, the smart shopping list, and the cooking timer.

Strengths:

  • Offers over 2 million recipes from the best sources on the web, tailored to your preferences, diet, allergies, and food tastes
  • Includes smart features like the smart thermometer, the smart shopping list, and the cooking timer
  • Allows users to plan meals and prepare grocery lists

Weaknesses:

  • Does not have a social or community feature to share or rate recipes
  • Does not have video guidance on cooking
  • No feature to manage your pantry

10M

Revenue yearly

4.8 Stars

140k Reviews

Cooklist

Value Proposition

  • With Cooklist, you can connect your grocery loyalty cards and automatically import your purchases into a digital pantry. You can also discover over 1 million recipes that match your pantry ingredients and preferences. Cooklist helps you plan your meals, create a smart shopping list, and reduce food waste.

Strengths:

  • Connects to over 75 grocery store loyalty cards and automatically imports past and future purchases
  • Keeps track of pantry inventory and expiration dates
  • Matches over 1 million recipes to the groceries in the fridge and pantry
  • Generates a smart shopping list with only the ingredients that are missing
  • Compares prices and availability of grocery items at local retailers

Weaknesses:

  • Does not have a nutrition or calorie tracker
  • Does not have a social or community feature to share or rate recipes
  • Does not have a week view or a date-based meal plan
  • Does not have a diverse range of recipes for users

4M

Revenue yearly

4.8 Stars

8.5k Reviews

Epicurious

Value Proposition

  • With Epicurious, you can discover over 50,000 recipes from the biggest names in cooking, watch videos of your favorite dishes, and get personalized recommendations based on your preferences. 

Strengths

  • Features videos of your favorite dishes and personalized recommendations based on your preferences
  • Has a large and engaged user base of over 4.7 million users
  • Has a low-cost subscription option for unlimited access to recipes and extra features

Weaknesses

  • Does not have a nutrition or calorie tracker
  • Does not have a meal planner or smart grocery tracker
  • Does not have a social or community feature to share or rate recipes
  • Does not have a week view meal plan

2.3M

Revenue yearly

4.7 Stars

93k Reviews

Based on the analysis, the cooking app market can be categorized as a Red Ocean. This is because there are already established players like Yummly, Cooklist, and Epicurious, indicating a competitive marketplace. 

  • Personalization: All three apps (Yummly, Cooklist, Epicurious) offer personalized recipe recommendations based on user preferences. This indicates a trend towards personalization in the cooking app market.
  • Integration with Grocery Shopping: Both Yummly and Cooklist have features that integrate with grocery shopping. This suggests a move towards providing an all-in-one solution for users, from meal planning to grocery shopping.
  • Subscription Models: Yummly and Epicurious both offer premium features through a subscription model.. This indicates a recurring revenue model trend in the market.

Storyboard Value Innovation

The images above are generated by Microsoft Edge’s Bingchat.

Prototyping and User Research

Paper Prototype

User Onboarding

Discovery Page

Meal Planner

I created a rough draft of the prototype on my ipad with quick sketches based on my prototype research. Above shows a quick snippet of a few drafts.

Prototype

I created an interactive prototype of the base app “Plateful” on Figma.

User Research

Hypothesis

01

Key Feature Hypothesis

Users will mainly be interested and use the app for the discovery feature.

02

Key Feature Hypothesis

The meal planning feature will help users manage their week and eating habits.

03

Key Feature Hypothesis

The pantry management feature will reduce the time users spend planning and shopping.

04

Value Proposition Hypothesis

The community platform aspect of the app will lead to increased user retention as users will find value in connecting with others who share their passion for cooking.

05

Business Model Hypothesis

Users are willing to pay for premium features such as advanced pantry management tools and exclusive community events, indicating a viable subscription-based revenue model for the app.

Research Summary

Link to google drive of research summary:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wO6t6t5JxKcgH-8BC7zsTIjjkEItXZuSz1DMKo1Sc8I/edit?usp=sharing

POSITIVE FINDINGS

Image of User Onboarding for Plateful.

Overall opinion was positive!

Most of the users found the app to be useful, intuitive, and aesthetically pleasing to its purpose. They like the flow of the onboarding and the colors chosen to represent the app. The overall layout and UI of the app was regarded positively and users appreciated the main features of the app.

Search Function

“I really like the search bar!! It allows me to find the ingredients I want to add without having to be too specific. I can just type in “milk” instead of “2% milk.”

Meal Planning

“This would help me budget and use ingredients sparingly and cut down on food waste and help me be more efficient with the way I make food.”

NEGATIVE FINDINGS

The Sustainable Tips Layout

“The multiple sustainable tips is throwing me off. It’s being shoved down my throat – overwhelming. Maybe put all the tips at the top or people will scroll right past them. “

Solution: Have a post that features tips, tricks or facts about sustainable cooking rather that separate tabs of tips that are likely to be overlooked or clutter up space

Not enough organization that mimics real life kitchen

“For example, my shopping cart in my notion workspace mimics the way you would walk through a grocery store. It is separated by food categories such as protein, grains, etc.”

For the pantry, have multiple pantries or cabinets that sort food into different sections for each food type. For the shopping list, make sure that the list has categories instead of one large list of groceries

Target audience would not pay for a subscription model

“Honestly would not pay for it. I would use all the features because they seem very useful especially for those who are just starting a new kitchen like a college student moving in, but i don’t think i have the money to pay for a monthly subscription.”

As one user suggested, have ads implemented into the discover page like how instagram does it. not pop ups, but sponsored posts from perhaps cooking channels or companies that sell groceries or kitchen supplies.

IMPACT ON UX STRATEGY

ADDITIONAL FEATURES TO ENHANCE KEY FEATURES
– Recipe of the day, most viewed recipe in the last hour, etc., full interactive calendar on the meal planner, cook mode, updated timer system, AI chatbot

BETTER UI ON THE DISCOVER PAGE, IMPLEMENTING THE AD SYSTEM TO GAIN REVENUE AND CONDENSING THE TIPS
– Redesign how the sustainable tips are laid out, add additional features and sections to allow horizontal and vertical scrolling for recipe discovery, ads as post integrated seamlessly into the feed

BETTER UI IN THE PANTRY, MEAL PLANNER, AND GROCERY LIST TO ALLOW CATEGORIES FOR EASIER NAVIGATION/ORGANIZATION
– Add categories for different types of ingredients

A BETTER LOGO AND STRONGER BRAND IDENTITY!
I would need a graphic designer for this probably!

Conclusion

In the dynamic landscape of culinary apps, Plateful emerged as a purposeful solution for college students and young adults. By seamlessly connecting users with shared interests in cooking, it transcends mere functionality.